Charles Caramello

Dr. Charles Caramello assumed the position of Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School on July 1, 2006.

Dean Caramello joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1978 and has served the campus in various academic and administrative positions, including Chair of the Department of English from 1998 to 2006, and Acting Director of the Comparative Literature Program from 2003 to 2006. Prior to becoming Chair, Dr. Caramello was Director of Graduate Studies in English from 1994 to 1998, and he directed the English Department’s endowed lecture series, the Bebe Koch Petrou Lectures, from its inception in 1990 through 2006. He holds academic appointments as Professor of English, Affiliate Professor of Comparative Literature, and Affiliate Professor of American Studies.

Dean Caramello earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee , where he was affiliated with the Center for 20th Century Studies. He received his B.A. with a double major in English and Religion from Wesleyan University. He is the author of Silverless Mirrors: Book, Self, and Postmodern American Fiction, a study of postmodern literature and poststructuralist literary theory; Henry James, Gertrude Stein, and the Biographical Act, a study of the biographical writings of two iconic modern American authors through the prism of gender; and numerous book chapters, articles, and reviews. He has been a Fellow of the Center for Humanities at Wesleyan University and of the National Humanities Center.

Under Dean Caramello’s leadership, the Graduate School has instituted Flagship Fellowships and the Society of Flagship Fellows; Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowships; University and Dean’s Fellowships; the University Distinguished Dissertation Award; and the Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award. The School also has completed Excellence in Graduate Education, a review of all campus doctoral programs, and a Mentoring Survey of campus mentoring, advising, professional development, and placement policies and practices; it has instituted Policies for Graduate Assistantships and a Graduate Student Parental Accommodation Policy; and it has recently formed campus Task Forces on Graduate Student Writing and on Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarly Ethics.