Brett Bourbon, PhD
Professor, English
Phone: (972) 265-5829
Email: bourbon@udallas.edu
Office: Braniff Graduate Building #368
Office Hours: MWF 10 - 11 a.m.
About
Brett Bourbon received his Ph.D. from Harvard, where he studied 20th century literature and philosophy. He was a professor at Stanford, and is now a professor at the University of Dallas. He has received many awards, including a Fulbright to the University of Lisbon, a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Stanford, the Harvard English Scholar award, and the top teaching awards from both the University of Dallas and Stanford. He is also a recurrent visiting professor in The Program in Literary Theory at the University of Lisbon, and is on the selection committee at the Gulbenkian Institute of Advanced Studies.
He has published many essays and five books, including [1] Finding a Replacement for the Soul: Meaning and Mind in Literature and Philosophy
(Harvard UP, 2004), [2] Everyday Poetics: Ethics, Love, and Logic (Bloomsbury Press, 2022), [3] Jane Austen And the Ethics of Life (Routledge Press, 2022), and [4] Thinking with Words: A Literary Groundwork (with Miguel Tamen) (Routledge Press, 2024), and [5] Organized Skepticism in the Age of Misinformation (with Renita Murimi) (CRC, March 2025). He occasionally publishes poems and stories.
Bourbon also works in computational social science and the philosophy of technology. He has published and presented a number of papers on human/computer interfaces, information and misinformation diffusion, and the politics of social media. His most recent book—Organized Skepticism in the Age of Misinformation—arises out of this work.
In addition to his scholarly work, Bourbon is also a strategy and leadership consultant
and facilitator. He has worked on successful projects for top international and national
technology companies, as well as a host of start-ups. He has also worked as a marketing
and strategy consultant and facilitator for institutions of classical education. He
is the co-founder and director of the Masters of Leadership program at the University
of Dallas (with J. Lee Whittington), in which he teaches two core courses: Critical
and Strategic Thinking and Storytelling for Business and Life.
B.A., UC Berkeley
- King/Haggar Scholar 2023/24 and 2014, University of Dallas
- Visiting Professor, University of Lisbon: 2011-present
- The Program of Literary Theory
- Haggerty Teaching Award, 2010, University of Dallas (University of Dallas’ Highest Teaching Award)
- Walter J. Gores Teaching Award, 2005, Stanford University (Stanford University’s Highest Teaching Award)
- Fulbright Lecturing Award, Comparative Literature, University of Lisbon, Program in Literary Theory, 2003
- Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Stanford University, 1996-98
- Dexter Traveling Fellowship, Harvard University, 1993
- English Scholar Award, Harvard University, 1990-1992
- Member Signet Honor Society, Harvard University
- Professor of English, University of Dallas
- Director of the Masters of Leadership, University of Dallas
- Visiting Professor, The Program of Literary Theory at the University of Lisbon
- Advisory Board Member, Gulbenkian Advanced Institute
- Strategy and Leadership Consultant