Robert Norton

Biography

Robert E. Norton is a cultural and intellectual historian who specializes in European, and especially German, history and thought from the Enlightenment to the early twentieth century. His work ranges across a variety of disciplines, including moral philosophy, political theory, aesthetics, and literary history.

Norton has pursued a career in higher education spanning more than three decades, having taught at private liberal arts colleges and at a major research university. He spent a total of eighteen years serving as Chair of his respective departments and four years as Associate Vice President for Internationalization in the Office of the Provost at the University of Notre Dame.

Although his tenure home is in the Department of German, Norton also holds concurrent appointments in the Departments of History and Philosophy. He teaches courses for students across the university as well as others that are open only to students enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters.

Norton's teaching reflects his wide range of interests and his interdisciplinary approach. He has offered College Seminars on "Decline and Fall," "Love, "Money, "Truth," War," and most recently "Death."  For Philosophy, he has taught courses on "Marx, Nietzsche, Freud," "Existentialism," and "The Death of God."