Faculty & Staff
Cynthia Cochran
I have the best job in the world: teaching writing and figuring out how writing happens. When I witness my writing students create their own writing voices in their best work to date or when a student researcher and I discover a pattern in our data, I am delighted with their creativity. And while nothing compares to helping a first-year student discover newfound confidence and power in writing, I also love hearing from alumni who have continued to write in their careers and communities.
Cynthia Cochran teaches creative and expository writing, and English Studies; designed and ran the Campus Writing Center for twenty years; coordinates the Secondary Education program in English; and conducts writing studies research. She works with Forte, the student literary and arts journal. Her current research involves approaches to teaching writing, and developing an English program at the University of Pinar del Rio in Cuba. Professor Cochran is on editorial boards of two open-access book publishers for the Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse and on the Writing About Writing steering committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Outside of academics, she helps in local pet adoption and enjoys gardening.
Dr. Cochran reignited my passion for writing.