Mark Bracher, professor of English in the College of
Arts and Sciences at Kent State University, earned the
university's Outstanding Research and Scholarship
Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty members
for their scholarly contributions that have brought
acknowledgements to their fields of study and to Kent State.

For the last 30 years, Mark Bracher, professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at Kent State University, has been trying to answer one question: how is literature beneficial?

“We always hear that literature broadens one’s horizons, but what that exactly means has not really been explained,” Bracher says. “I believe that teaching and studying literature is very important and that’s what my research has been about. I’m trying to develop evidence for the benefits of literature and educational strategies for maximizing those benefits.”

Bracher’s literary research earned him the 2015 Kent State Outstanding Research and Scholarship Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty members for their scholarly contributions that have brought acknowledgements to their fields of study and to Kent State.

Bracher's teaching and research focus on how literary studies can help students become fulfilled individuals and productive and socially responsible members of society. Drawing on the methods and findings of the social, cognitive and neurosciences, Bracher investigates the development of capacities and habits of perception, analysis, reflection and feeling that are necessary for recognizing social injustice, understanding its root causes, formulating effective counteractions and motivating people to act against injustices. On the basis of these findings, he then formulates strategies through which literary study can help to reduce social injustices like racism, colonialism, sexism and homophobia, as well as the growing disparities in wealth and well-being in America and the world.

“It felt great,” Bracher says of receiving the award. “It’s a humbling experience. When I look at the other two recipients of the award this year and recipients in past years, it makes me feel that I’d better get to work so that I can come to deserve the honor.”

Bracher received his Ph.D. in English literature with a minor in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 1981 and has been teaching full time at Kent State since 1985. He says he has seen people and programs come and go throughout his career at Kent State, but sees the university as the perfect place for his work.

“The support that we get for the humanities from the university is really unusual in many respects,” Bracher says. “We have more opportunity for research leaves and summer support than most people in the humanities at other universities do.”

Bracher is currently organizing an international conference, “Why the Humanities: Answers from the Cognitive and Neurosciences,” which will take place at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center from July 9-12. The conference will highlight the contributions humanities education makes to personal well-being, responsible citizenship and social justice.

To learn more about or register for “Why the Humanities: Answers from the Cognitive and Neurosciences,” visit www.kent.edu/cas/why-humanities.

For more information about Kent State’s Department of English, visit www.kent.edu/english.