Dr. John Robbins

Areas of Expertise

English language, community organizing

Biography

Dr. John Robbins works in community organizing, nonprofit leadership and education. He earned his Ph.D. in English at Cornell University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Tufts University. His teaching experience includes literature at Cornell and Tufts, mathematics in a Maryland public school and English instruction for refugees and children in Turkey.

He joined Penny Appeal USA as its second CEO in 2021, following his role as founding Executive Director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. His experience includes fundraising, organizational development, civil-rights advocacy and youth engagement. He has also served as Social Impact Advisor at Harvard Innovation Labs, mentoring mission-focused ventures, and on the board of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. His writing has appeared in national and regional outlets on public affairs, Muslim communities and social issues.

Selected Publications and Work

Robbins, John. Displacing Female Bodies on the Eighteenth-Century Stage. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024. Robbins, John. "Documenting Terror in Elizabeth Inchbald's The Massacre." SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 57, no. 3 (2017): 605-619. Robbins, John. "Negative Spaces: British Women Playwrights And The Staging Of Absence, 1770-1830." (2013).

Selected BIS Teaching

• IRL-722 Public Speaking and Communication

These are courses taught at BIS. For current academic information, explore the graduate program.