Cynthia Baer

Lecturer, English and Comparative Literature

“I’ve known since I was five years old that I wanted to be a teacher.”

Recipient of the university’s Outstanding Lecturer Award, Baer keeps an old-fashioned chalkboard in her office. Why? She loves writing on it. It’s also a reminder: “Chalkboard lessons and mock quizzes” were her choice of play as a child. Baer started teaching in 1981, age 22, with a passion for “stimulating minds” that continues. Graduate student John Perchalski describes Baer’s enthusiasm for her students as “phenomenal” and “infectious.” “I’m in this to help my students discover themselves,” Baer says, “but I’m still discovering myself, too.” A member of the Writing Center’s faculty-in residence, Baer also coordinates the Stretch English program.

Department: English and Comparative Literature
College: College of Humanities and the Arts

Photo: Thomas Sanders, ’15 MFA Photography


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