How would you describe Professor Leah Cohen? Some may describe her as a well-known author with multiple literary recognitions while others may simply describe her as an English professor at the College of the Holy Cross. However, very few people would mention her “finger storytelling” past or that, at one time, she was a stilt dancer.
Professor Cohen is the W.H. Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, which is a five-year fellowship that requires her to teach three courses a year as well as one faculty seminar a year. She is also involved in recruiting speakers to campus and hosts a reading each year. In addition, Professor Cohen recently published a book, I don’t know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance (Except When You Shouldn’t), that was recognized by Oprah’s Book Club as “Book of the Week”. The book encourages people to own up to their own ignorance, as it addresses the common issue of people pretending to understand a certain topic when in reality they lack all knowledge of that subject. She says, “The topic is applicable for everyone, including myself at times, and I learned there were so many more facets to the concept than I initially thought. ”
Though she has always loved to write, Professor Cohen originally thought, “I would get a job to earn money and then write for myself on the side. I had no ambitions for being published because it is so rare, which is why all of my success is such a lovely surprise.” She also loves teaching and really enjoys interacting with young men and women who are “genuine and earnest students and are open to exploring their own processes as writers. I am ready to transmit my knowledge, and I want to pass on the gifts my teachers gave to me to my own students.” Writing and teaching have always been a part of her life; as a young girl she used to name her fingers after characters in her stories and use them in dictating her tales to her mother. She says, “When I was little my mother recognized my interest in storytelling and wrote down each of my stories until I was able to write myself. She supported and encouraged my passion for writing.”
However, her mother also encouraged other interests, one of them being stilt dancing. Professor Cohen admits, “My mother took me out of school for a month to learn how to become a stilt dancer. I enrolled at this avant-garde theatre, Bread and Puppet Theatre, and learned everything, and when I was seventeen, I spent a summer in Nicaragua as a stilt dancer.” While her days of walking on stilts are over, her success as a writer and professor is not, so do not hesitate to read her book or take one of her classes.