Alan M. Wald
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Alan M. Wald Professor Emeritus |
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|---|---|
| Born | Alan Maynard Wald June 1, 1946 Washington, DC, USA |
| Occupation | Professor, writer, researcher |
| Language | English |
| Education | Antioch College |
| Alma mater | University of California at Berkeley |
| Period | 20th-Century American literature |
| Notable awards | ACA Mary C. Turpie Prize, Longfellow House Resident Fellow[, Guggenheim Fellowship, ACLS Fellow |
| Years active | 1974–Present |
| Spouses | Celia Stodola (1975–1992, her death), Angela Dillard (since 2007) |
| Children | 2 daughters |
Alan Maynard Wald, usually Alan M. Wald or Alan Wald, is an American professor emeritus of English Literature and American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and writer of 20th-Century American literature who focuses on Communist writers; he is an expert on the American 20th-Century "Literary Left."
Wald was born on June 1, 1946, in Washington, DC. His parents were Haskell Philip Wald, an economist with the Federal Government and Federal Reserve Bank, and Ruth Jacobs, a special education teacher.
In 1969, he received a BA in Literature from Antioch College. In 1971, he received an MA and, in 1974, a doctorate, both in English from the University of Califorina at Berkeley. Frederick C. Crews directed his doctoral dissertation.
Wald taught English Literature and American Culture for four full decades. In 1974, he became a lecturer at San Jose State University. In 1975, he became an associate in English at his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley. In 1975, he began his career at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, first as assistant professor (1975–1981), associate professor (1981–1986), and professor (1986–2014). He also served as director of the Program in American Culture (2000–2003) and as H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor (2007–2014). He retired as professor emeritus on May 31, 2014.
As not only professor but also researcher and writer, Wald's subjects have included: 20th Century United States Literature; Realism, Naturalism, Modernism in Mid-20th Century U.S. Literature; Literary Radicalism in the United States; Marxism and U.S. Cultural Studies; African American Writers on the Left; Modernist Poetry and the Left; the 1930s (Literature); New York Jewish Writers and Intellectuals; 20th-Century History of Socialist, Communist, Trotskyist and New Left Movements in the U.S.; the 1960s Politics and Culture; Cold War Culture and Resistance; Old Left/New Left in U.S. Politics and Culture; and Film Noir and the Left.
People about whom he is considered an expert and scholar include: James T. Farrell, Richard Wright, Mike Gold, Lorraine Hansberry, and John Brooks Wheelwright among many other writers on the Left. Some of the hitherto lesser known writers in whom he has expertise include: Ann Petry, Jo Sinclair, and Willard Motley.
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