Cosgrove was a specialist in 18th century British literature. He taught courses on Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson, as well as feminist theory and feminist writers during that period, according to his biography on the College's web site. He was also interested in Irish literature, and developed and taught a first year seminar on Cold War culture during his time at the College.
"He was very learned and quirky he often seemed to be laughing at an inner joke that couldn't be communicated," english professor Jonathan Crewe wrote in an e-mail to The Dartmouth. Crewe is the Leon D. Black Professor in Shakespearean Studies.
Katherine Roddy '11, who took his first-year seminar, said that Cosgrove took the time to speak to her about how to adjust to college level class discussions and interactions.
"Though I am a math major, his English class was my favorite class I've ever taken at Dartmouth," Roddy said. "Professor Cosgrove helped to temper me the overzealous, over-achieving high schooler into a more aware contributor in the college classroom."
Colleagues of Cosgrove said that he was a creative and friendly person.
Crewe also said that he was also impressed by Cosgrove's intellectual curiosity.
"Although he was an 18th century specialist, he had an unbounded mind and curiosity that both colleagues and students enjoyed," Crewe wrote. "In the 18th century, they would have called him an original.'"
Cosgrove published a well-received book in 1999, titled "Impartial Stranger: History and Intertextuality in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.'"
"Impartial Stranger is packed with insightful and provocative passages, and will provide scholars of historiography and Gibbon specialists much to consider," Kevin Berland, a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Pennsylvania State University, wrote in a review.
Cosgrove's other journal publications included work on the adaptation of 18th century literature into more modern films.
Cosgrove received his doctorate from Columbia in 1989 and came to the College soon thereafter.
According to the Valley News, members of Cosgrove's family current reside in Ireland. The Dartmouth could not reach members of his family for comment.
Cosgrove's memorial service was held Monday at the Lyme Congregational Church, where Cosgrove had previously served as a deacon, according to the Valley News.
The announcement in the Valley News did not indicate Cosgrove's cause of death, only that it came after a "short illness."
