biography
Eric Wertheimer was born and raised in New Jersey, receiving a BA from Haverford College
and a PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania. Poetry and tennis, in addition
to writing about early American cultural history, are among the things that keep him
curious, happy, and healthy. Prior to Stony Brook, he spent twenty-three years at
Arizona State University.
A Professor of English and American Studies, Dr. Wertheimer is the author of Underwriting: The Poetics of Insurance in America, (Stanford University Press, 2006) and Imagined Empires: Incas, Aztecs, and the New World of American Literature, 1771-1876, (Cambridge University Press, 1998; paperback 2009). He was the founder and past
Director of ASU's Center for Critical Inquiry and Cultural Studies. He is, with Monica
Casper, the co-editor of a volume of essays, Critical Trauma Studies: Understanding Violence, Conflict and Memory in Everyday
Life (NYU Press, 2016). He has published articles on topics in early and nineteenth century
American literature in American Literature, Early American Literature, Nineteenth Century Literature, The Canadian Review of American Studies, boundary2, and Arizona Quarterly.
Dr. Wertheimer has been a contributor to many professional organizations, including
the Modern Language Association’s Publication Committee, editorial board member forEarly American Literature, NEH review panelist, board member for the Nineteenth Century Studies Association,
and a reviewer of manuscripts for numerous major journals and university presses.
His teaching has been honored with a Barrett Honors College ASU Faculty Fellowship
and he has been twice nominated for ASU Professor of the Year. He has led inter-university
and international projects funded by the Mellon Foundation and the Luce Foundation.
Professor Wertheimer has also published poetry in Exquisite Corpse, Tupelo Quarterly, Perihelion, Diagram, Shampoo, Adirondack Review, Muse Apprentice Guild, among other journals. His book of poetry, Mylar, was published by blazeVOX Press in 2012. His most recent book of poetry, Regulus, was published by Hoot & Waddle/Four Chambers Press in 2018.
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