Bauerlein has taught at Emory University since 1989, with a two-and-a-half-year break in 2003–‘05 to serve as the Director, Office of Research and Analysis, at the National Endowment for the Arts. Apart from his scholarly work, Bauerlein publishes in popular periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, TLS, and Chronicle of Higher Education. Bauerlein earned his doctorate in English from UCLA.