Influential Woman · Higher Education

Elizabeth Rohan

PhD

Professor, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Grosse Pointe Farms, MI

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree PhD (2002) Degree Master's degree from DePaul University in Chicago Degree Bachelor's degree in American Culture Cert PhD Member Faculty Senate (Chair)

Her Story

About Elizabeth

I've always been interested in writing - my dad was a journalist, and my great-grandfather was a scriptwriter. Both my grandmothers liked to write poetry and short stories and were artists too, though not professionally. When I got to college, writing about literature didn't interest me as much as writing about society and culture, so I ended up majoring in American culture and took creative writing classes. I struggled a little bit because to get a PhD with writing, you often still need that English degree. But meanwhile, this field was growing of writing studies, or composition rhetoric, with people a little bit more like me who were interested in studying writing and the history of writing, not necessarily about literature and fiction, but just how writing works in the world. When I started my master's program at DePaul in Chicago, it just came naturally to me. All the conversations, the homework was easy, I just kind of fell in love with the field. So it kind of picked me, and I kind of found it just as it was kind of hitting its stride in the mid-90s. I got my PhD in 2002, and I've been lucky to have good mentors and hit a sweet spot before budget cuts started hitting universities. Another thing that got me into writing studies was keeping a diary all these years, which seemed like this adolescent pursuit, but over the years I've really come to value the reflective exercise that you can engage in when you keep records of your daily life and your thoughts.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Elizabeth

01What do you attribute your success to?

What's helped me succeed has been staying in touch with the people who were supportive, like my grad school friends. I would say try and find community of support, wherever you are, whether or not it means staying in touch with people from your past or developing those relationships at your institution. I've also focused on boundaries with time and coming up with a plan so that you're not always working. I used to try and finish everything by Friday night so I had weekends, or at least one day where I wasn't working, because our kind of jobs, you can always be doing something and that can lead to burnout. I would also say choose projects that really personally engage you and not just things that are trendy, because those will sustain you over the long haul. Sometimes if you just pick something up that you think is gonna sell or that other people will like, it doesn't follow through as well, especially when we get really busy. My passion can really pull us through and keep us going.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I think what's helped me succeed has been staying in touch with the people who were supportive, like my grad school friends. Unfortunately, I'm hearing about some people who didn't have so much support in grad school because of COVID and things going online, so I would say try and find community of support, wherever you are, whether or not it means staying in touch with people from your past or developing those relationships at your institution. I would also say focus on boundaries with time and coming up with a plan so that you're not always working. I used to try and finish everything by Friday night so I had weekends, or at least one day where I wasn't working, because our kind of jobs, you can always be doing something and that can lead to burnout. And then I would say choose projects that really personally engage you and not just things that are trendy, because those will sustain you over the long haul. Sometimes if you just pick something up that you think is gonna sell or that other people will like, it doesn't follow through as well, especially when we get really busy and there's demands on our time. My passion can really pull us through.

03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think we're still kind of trying to get ourselves out of the COVID years, because students coming out of high school having taken online classes got some holes in their learning, so there was a lot of catch-up and some mental health strains. Up until maybe now, I would say we're kind of back to normal and I feel like I can have ideas again and invent. I think I am interested in doing a little bit more with writing and spirituality and intuitive knowing, especially to compete with this AI culture that I think is dumbing down writing and making it kind of a mechanical exercise, like just trick the teacher to hand in whatever looks good enough, as opposed to thinking that writing is something that is thinking and can develop your identity and shape your goals. I think I'm gonna lean more into those types of assignments and maybe with my scholarship as well. I find myself writing more about reflective writing and keeping a diary, which seemed like this adolescent pursuit, but over the years I've really come to value the reflective exercise that you can engage in when you keep records of your daily life and your thoughts. I think I'm gonna be writing more about that and teaching more about reflective writing and taking breaks from screens and thinking about how to manage our time so that we're not always on social media or feeling that we have to be performative online.

04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

I've always been an exercise freak, so even when I'm super busy, I always will go for a run, I swim, I play tennis. In the summer I paddleboard, and I need that recharge time. I'm a little bit of an introvert, so those activities are related to my interest in reflective writing and being reflective. I have a son who's in middle school, so he takes up a lot of my time, just worrying about him. He's a great kid. I guess being part of my community is important - I happened to live kind of where I grew up, which wasn't planned, so I know a lot of people where I live and I love that. I love how I can just walk down the street and see people that I've met because of my son or just because I grew up here or from the dog park. It's a walkable community, so I run into people that I know. That really sustains me a lot, just being part of a friendly, walkable community of people. I think they kind of have my back.

Keep Exploring