Dr. Colin Dewey - About
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Before entering academia, I spent nearly two decades at sea, serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, working on tankers, container ships, and tugboats, and eventually becoming captain of the California, the offshore pilot vessel for the San Francisco Bar Pilots. I hold U.S. Coast Guard licenses as Master (200 tons) and Mate (1600 tons), and I’m still an active full book member of the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific.
My academic path began at Laney Community College while working full time and led to a BA from UC Berkeley and a PhD in English from Cornell University. My research focuses on British literature, critical theory, maritime culture and the oceanic humanities, with recent work on maritime autonomy, the infrastructure of global shipping, and the cultural history of seafaring. I collaborate internationally with scholars in literature, anthropology, legal studies, and history, and I’m currently developing a project on “reading the ocean” in Romantic and modern literature.
At Cal Maritime, I teach both lower- and upper-division courses, including Intro to Literature, Critical Thinking, British Literature of the Sea, and Globalization of Culture. My courses are designed to be rigorous yet responsive and adaptable to student needs and interests. Our shared inquiry shapes the curriculum in real time and I've never taught exactly the same syllabus twice. I strive for relevance in my institutional environment, by which I mean my pedagogy is shaped by the Cal Maritime student experience and grounded in intellectual curiosity, historical awareness, and respect for ambiguity. I encourage students to explore complexity, honor their own voices, and stay with questions that resist simple answers. I believe that the classroom should be a place where we ask hard questions -- not hoping for definitive answers, but to find deeper, more complex questions, where discovery is shared, and enlightenment comes through participatory dialogue.
I’ve been honored with Cal Maritime’s Outstanding Scholarship, Teaching, and Service Awards, as well as recognition as CSU Outstanding Faculty from the Chancellor's Office. I currently serve as a trustee of the Nautical Institute and on the Murray Endowment Committee of the Melville Society.
I’m always happy to talk about literature, maritime life, or our programs at Cal Maritime. Please feel free to reach out or stop by my office.
Please return to Dr. Dewey's main page and explore the tabs at the top for selected publications and presentations, course materials, students' work, and public media.