I’m Tim Bruno. I’m a literary historian researching American literatures of rebellion, and I teach literature and writing at Howard Community College in Maryland. In particular, I study depictions of Black rebellion in the 1800s and early 1900s US—enslaved revolts, of course, but also worker strikes, conspiracies, so called “race riots,” and liberation armies. I also have broader interests in rhetorics of rebellious violence, the lived experience of revolution, and protest literature.
I was trained as a C19 Americanist and African Americanist. Now I research these literatures while teaching as a generalist, with emphasis on American lit in comparison. My work engages literary studies, American Studies, Black Studies, racial capitalism and the Black Radical Tradition, and “critical race theory” (to quote Billy Bragg, “If you have a blacklist, / I want to be on it”).
I also teach writing. I’m especially interested in how to teach writing via social justice topics, how to get students to feel like writers, and “ungrading.” Some of my most significant teaching experiences have been in prisons or in developmental classrooms, so prison ed and developmental ed have both become important interests of mine.
Lastly, I’ve begun building a Critical University Studies framework specifically for community colleges. This is a longterm project that has so far required a lot of invention and learning on the fly. Which is to say that if you’re doing similar work or want to join in, then let’s talk.
You can find my CV here.
And you can reach me at tbruno at howardcc dot edu or mail at tbruno dot net.