Susan James

• Faculty Senate President

Biography

Dr. Susan Densmore-James is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Emerald Coast Writing Project for the School of Education. James had dual majors when she earned her Ph.D. at Florida State University in 2011. The majors were Language Arts and Reading Education, and both figure heavily in research by James.

In her research she has explored ways to enable students to become better readers and writers, and she examines methods for teachers to tap their students skills. She also has conducted research on undergraduates’ perspectives concerning spirituality and education.

Among the peer-reviewed publications carrying research by James: Schools: Studies in Education, The Florida English Journal, Journal of Research on Christian Education, and Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth. She also has published peer-reviewed interviews with prominent authors of young adult literature.

James was instrumental in making UWF an official member of the Emerald Coast Writing Project. As a Emerald Coast Writing Project site, UWF provides a three-week summer training program for Pensacola-area teachers. The project gives teachers more tools for teaching writing and helps them show other teachers how to boost students’ writing skills. James, a graduate of a Emerald Coast Writing Project program, said she considered it the best professional training she received while she was teaching in middle and high school.

At UWF she teaches both online and face-to-face courses to both graduates and undergraduates.