Babson College English professor Elizabeth Swanson Goldberg has published Beyond Terror; Gender, Narrative, Human Rights (Rutgers University Press, 2007).

In Beyond Terror, Swanson Goldberg argues that after human rights violations have occurred, the realm of representation – actual and fictional – is precisely the ground upon which struggles for justice and peace are waged in legal, emotional, and cultural terms. Moving beyond the myriad of fictional accounts that have portrayed the carnage of World War II, the Holocaust, and the Vietnam War, Goldberg focuses on emerging narratives about recent abuses, including those in South Africa, Rwanda, and Iraq.

In traditional narrative contexts – legal, psychoanalytic, and documentary – the ethics of representing violations of human rights are widely acknowledged. But what are the principles that guide the creation and dissemination of historically based fictional narratives? Are such representations capable of shaping, changing, or even effectively depicting "real" human atrocities? How do existing ideas about gender influence the way these narratives are written and perceived?

Through the lens of literary, feminist, and human rights theory, this book examines the meaning and influence of films such as Cry Freedom, Three Kings, and Salvador, and novels such as Gil Courtemanche's A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, Pat Barker's Double Vision, and Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones.

Goldberg teaches international literatures and human rights, as well as interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities foundation courses. Her articles in the areas of multicultural literature and pedagogies, gender studies, and human rights have been published in journals and edited collections. She is currently co-editing a collection of essays on torture since 9/11, along with a special issue of the journal Peace Review devoted to literature, film, and human rights.

Last year, Goldberg was named Teacher of the Year by undergraduate students, and earned the Dean’s Teaching Award.

Goldberg earned both a B.A. and M.A. at Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. from Miami University of Ohio. She lives on Cape Cod with her husband David and daughter Marcelle.