The talk Susanna Ashton gave at SCSU was one of the best I’ve heard, pitched perfectly to an audience of undergraduates who may not have known beforehand just how interested they really were in the ways “old” literary texts intersect with their contemporary concerns and how “scholarly” research can help them answer their own questions. Those in the audience who were not undergrads—literary scholars and historians alike—were treated to a compelling argument about the origins of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and about the kind of cross-disciplinary methods required to make it.

-Dr. Cynthia Stretch, Southern Connecticut State University

In her public presentations, Professor Ashton conveys the excitement and energy she brings to her literary detective work. She’s an accomplished scholar of slave narratives and a highly engaging storyteller.

-Dr. Scott Peeples, The College of Charleston

Susanna Ashton is a captivating speaker because she takes her audience along on her research process, sharing her excitement about piecing together clues in the archives, making new discoveries through serendipitous encounters, and experiencing the rewards of studying the historical record closely. When we hosted her at my previous institution, students were so interested in her research presentation that they sought me out later to ask for an update on her new findings: they were invested in her work and were cheering her on! Based on the success of that presentation, I plan to invite her back to my current institution to share the story of John Andrew Jackson ​with my campus community.

-Dr. Emily Todd, Eastern Connecticut State University

Professor Ashton knows how to captivate a crowd with her deep knowledge of nineteenth-century American literature. She makes historical research sound not only fun but amazingly worthwhile.

-Dr. Tess Chakkalakal, Bowdoin College