51成人导航

Susan Ray

Susan Ray

Associate Professor of English

Ph.D.

Marple Campus, Rm 4315 901 S. Media Line Road, Media, PA 19063
Phone 610-723-1365
Email sray8@dccc.edu

Education

B.A. – English, Pennsylvania State University

M.A. – English, General Literature & Rhetoric, Binghamton University

Ph.D. – English, General Literature & Rhetoric, Binghamton University

Personal Introduction

A lifelong love of fiction led me to academia, but the adventure of teaching lies at the heart of my career. Over the past eighteen years, I鈥檝e remained committed to student-centered learning. My classes emphasize collaborative discussion, peer review, group activities, and frequent low-stakes writing that encourages experimentation and authentic growth. I tell my students that the most important accomplishments they can take from a college English class are the abilities to write confidently and think critically, skills that matter far beyond the classroom.

 

I may open a lesson with a brief lecture, but student participation is always central. Assigning relatable, well-written texts fosters lively discussions and prompts students to ask not only, 鈥淲hy is this a strong piece of writing?鈥 but also, 鈥淗ow could it be better?鈥 In composition courses, I always offer revision opportunities to emphasize that writing is a process and that revision鈥攏ot perfection鈥攊s the key to good writing.

 

More recently, my work has expanded to include the ethical and equitable integration of AI in the community college writing classroom. With the support of a grant for my project Bridging the AI Gap, I鈥檓 piloting a curriculum that teaches students to use AI tools transparently and responsibly. For me, AI is not a replacement for critical thinking or voice development: it鈥檚 a tool to help students get there.

Academic Biography

SELECT PUBLICATIONS:

鈥⑩淚 Embraced AI in My Community College English Class.鈥 EdSurge.聽(July 2025).
鈥⑩淩ethinking Madness and Marginality: A Neo-Victorian Reading of the Life of Isabella Thackeray,鈥 Vernon Press. (Forthcoming 2025)
鈥 鈥淒isney鈥檚 Coco: The Power of Celebrity and its Impact on the Adolescent Mind.鈥 Social Order and Authority in Pixar Films. Rowan and Littlefield Publishers. (2023)
鈥 鈥淭he Experiment.鈥 Prosopisia Journal of Creative Writing. Ed. Moizur Khan (Fall 2019)
鈥 鈥淭he Imprint of the Western Dime Novel on Hard-boiled Pulp Fiction.鈥 Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Series. Gale Cenage. (2015)
鈥 鈥淓mpty Houses: Theatrical Failure and the Novel by David Kurnick.鈥 (Book Review). George Eliot鈥擥eorge Henry Lewes Studies. (September 2012)
鈥 鈥淭hackeray: Poking Holes in the Narrative of Empire.鈥 Victorians: a Journal of Culture and Literature. (Spring 2011)

SELECT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
鈥 鈥淭ranslating Victorian Insanity.鈥 Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies. Cincinnati, OH (March 2024)
鈥 鈥淭he Complaints of an English Curmudgeon: William Thackeray鈥檚 Accounts of International Travel.鈥 Interdisciplinary Nineteenth Century Studies. Knoxville, TN. (April 2023)
鈥 鈥淓lwell鈥檚 Little Nell: The Monument Dickens Never Wanted.鈥 INCS. Dallas, TX. (March 2019)
鈥 鈥淭racing William Thackeray鈥檚 Premonitions of a More Inclusive England.鈥 North American Victorian Studies Association. St. Petersburg, FL. (October 2018)
鈥 Conference Organizer and Co-Host. INCS. Philadelphia, PA. (March 2017).

Scholarly Interests

Composition studies; Victorian studies; Postcolonial studies; Pop culture studies.