THINKING AND BREATHING
IN ENGLISH

Growing up in Shakespeare’s own neighborhood, the Cotswolds, was a fine inspiration for Dr. Susan Ahern. “Elizabethan English is the language that I think and breathe in,” Dr. Ahern says. Because she has a specialty in women writers of the Renaissance era, her teaching lends particular value to students who are in the process of defining their own voices in a male-dominated world. Young women find similarities and defining role models in the historical women that they study.

Dr. Ahern’s teaching philosophy is centered on the students’ needs: She reflects, “I am interested in developing students’ critical thinking and communication skills so they will be equipped for the future they choose to devise.” In addition to her academic credentials, Dr. Ahern’s business career includes managerial positions with Sears and Proctor and Gamble, as well as founding a hospice in Charleston, South Carolina. She says, “These experiences make me realize how critically important it is for people to be able to think and write well.”

Now fully immersed in her teaching career and the culture of Saint Joseph College, Dr. Ahern finds her most gratifying moments to be witnessing firsthand the excitement of student breakthroughs. She maintains, “That is the greatest gift of teaching.”

- From Spotlight Archives, Saint Joseph College.