Ann Ryan, Ph.D.

Ann M. Ryan is Professor of American Literature at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York. She is the past president of the Mark Twain Circle, the former editor of The Mark Twain Annual, and co-editor of Cosmopolitan Twain. Her research focuses primarily on issues of race and racism in Mark Twain’s life, his writings, and in the society that produced him. She also writes on the intersections of the gothic and humor in American culture. Her current project is entitled The Ghosts of Mark Twain.

In addition to her work on Twain, Dr. Ryan teaches courses on nineteenth-century American writers including Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, Charles Chesnutt, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Margaret Fuller, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. She also teaches courses on topics such as the American Gothic, the Harlem Renaissance, The Salem Witch Trials, and the American Citizen. Much of Dr. Ryan’s course work contributes to the American Studies minor at Le Moyne, which is an interdisciplinary program designed to explore both the geographic and philosophical dimensions of American history and identity. It’s open to students from all majors.

Dr. Ryan often integrates travel into her courses, taking students to Harlem, Concord, Amherst, and Washington D.C. Even when students are seated in her classroom at Le Moyne, she hopes the experience feels like a journey.

Dr. Ryan was honored in 2014 with the Henry Nash Smith Award for Contributions to the Field of Mark Twain. Presented by the Center for Mark Twain Studies. She served as the O’Connell Professor of the Humanities at Le Moyne College, 2014-2017, and in 2003 she was named Teacher of the Year.