Susan Ray

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’ve 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, “Why is this a strong piece of writing?” but also, “How could it be better?” In composition courses, I always offer revision opportunities to emphasize that writing is a process and that revision—not perfection—is 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’m 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’s a tool to help students get there.

SELECT PUBLICATIONS:

•“I Embraced AI in My Community College English Class.” EdSurge. (July 2025). Read article
•“Rethinking Madness and Marginality: A Neo-Victorian Reading of the Life of Isabella Thackeray,” Vernon Press. (Forthcoming 2025)
• “Disney’s Coco: The Power of Celebrity and its Impact on the Adolescent Mind.” Social Order and Authority in Pixar Films. Rowan and Littlefield Publishers. (2023)
• “The Experiment.” Prosopisia Journal of Creative Writing. Ed. Moizur Khan (Fall 2019)
• “The Imprint of the Western Dime Novel on Hard-boiled Pulp Fiction.” Twentieth Century Literary Criticism Series. Gale Cenage. (2015)
• “Empty Houses: Theatrical Failure and the Novel by David Kurnick.” (Book Review). George Eliot—George Henry Lewes Studies. (September 2012)
• “Thackeray: Poking Holes in the Narrative of Empire.” Victorians: a Journal of Culture and Literature. (Spring 2011)

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

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