Kelly Ryan, assistant professor of history, doesn’t focus on the traditional topics of history. Some of what she teaches includes history of African-Americans and also sexuality in women.

Ryan said she is passionate about history and loves to teach it. She said she’s even been known to sing in some of her classes.

“I always knew I wanted to teach. I didn’t know it was going to be history until I started college, though,” Ryan said.

She said she started off thinking of going into the education field, possibly as a high school teacher. That changed when she took a class on African-American history, which captivated her interest.

“After that African-American history class, I took similar classes in history and literature and loved it,” Ryan said. “That’s when I decided to pursue history as my field.”

Ryan went on to get her master’s degree at Boston College, and her doctorate at the University of Maryland. After graduation, she began teaching there.

She said coming to IU Southeast was a bit of a surprise to her.

“I had grown up on the east coast and in Hawaii, but had never really looked at the middle part of the country,” Ryan said. “So, I saw the job listing, I thought about it for a while and decided to make the jump and come to Indiana.”

This semester, Ryan is teaching a First-Year Seminar for the first time. The FYS is added on to her American History I class.

One student in the FYS said she was thankful Ryan decided to teach it.

“I love her, she is a great teacher,” Caitlyn Workman, elementary education freshman, said.

Similar sentiments were said by many other students, including Tia Watson, elementary education freshman.

“I love how she keeps us entertained with the random singing,” Watson said.

Chelsie Phillips, informatics freshman, said.

“I really like this class, she keeps us interested. The way she presents the material keeps us focused and helps us learn,” she said.

Ryan, who teaches several of the history classes at IU Southeast, said her favorite classes to teach are the ones where students are interested.

“I love when they really get into it,” she said. “It gets me excited. I love to see them learning and really diving into the material.”

Aaron Smallwood, psychology senior, said Ryan does a great job of getting students excited.

“She is a wonderful professor,” Smallwood said. “She makes it fun and interesting and I really enjoyed taking her class.”

Ryan said she also enjoys teaching her History of Sexuality in Women class. It’s an upper-level class, so the people taking it are generally in the history field or really enjoy history, which is why she loves teaching it.

Aside from teaching, Ryan is also working on a book, which she hopes will be done by the end of next year.

She said the book will focus on the changes in sexual regulation that occurred between 1740 and 1820.

In her spare time, one of Ryan’s hobbies is visitng different historical places.

She said one of her favorite places is the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

“It’s very well done. I like how it is just focused on one historical event,” Ryan said.

Around town, she said a place she likes to visit is the Falls of the Ohio.

“I like to walk around outside and see the fossils,” Ryan said. “It’s very close to nature and I really enjoy that.”

Ryan said one of her favorite historical figures is Maria Stewart. Stewart was an activist for human rights in the days when women were seen and not heard.

“She tried to galvanize the African-American community in Boston to push for their rights,” Ryan said, “but, she not only pushed for racial rights, she pushed for women’s rights, as well. She was very courageous and I admire that.”

By LINDSAY VEITZ
Staff Writer
lkveitz@umail.iu.edu