Susan Garneau

Senior Lecturer

Contact

sgarneau@luc.edu

312.915.6501

Lewis Towers 401

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sgarneau1/

Education

Ph.D., 2012, Loyola University Chicago, M.A., 2006, Northern Illinois University
B.S., 2002, Northern Illinois University

After earning her PhD in History from Loyola University Chicago in 2012, Garneau joined the SCPS faculty ranks in 2014. Her courses include American Pluralism (HIST 103), American History to 1865 (HIST 211) and American History Since 1865 (HIST 212).

Why do you enjoy working with professional degree students?

I enjoy teaching to SCPS/professional degree students because so many of the students are coming back to college and bringing their insights from work and life into class discussions and materials. Whether nursing, paralegal, or business students, they are also making connections that connect the history topics with their professional interests. Additionally, their lived experiences often connect really well with the social justice topics we cover from the past. Not only does it help them engage with the course, but they are able to help further engage each other as well.

How has your experience at SCPS impacted you as an instructor and professional?

Teaching for SCPS has helped ensure that I provide flexibility in each of the courses I teach (whether for SCPS or not). Recognizing that students often have outside commitments, I have added a few extensions and other elements to allow students to enjoy some flexibility with due dates, while still ensuring that students are engaging in a rigorous course.

What impact has being an instructor at SCPS had on your community?

I enjoy teaching for SCPS as it helps me to remain connected to developing technologies that I can use as an instructor in these and other courses I teach. I am continually reworking classes to ensure that they are engaging and innovative. Through blog assignments, journals, etc I am often incorporating improvements from SCPS courses into the other classes I teach as well.

What are some highlights of SCPS that you will remember going forward?

Highlights include the faculty meetings to see what other instructors bring into their classes to see if I can modify or tailor such ideas to improve my courses. I also enjoy the discussion and engagement between students in the forums. Seeing their interactions to course materials is great. Often, they are bringing in professional or lived experiences to connect to the materials in a meaningful way - which is wonderful.

What do you want those outside of SCPS to know about SCPS students?

Students are really engaged with the materials. I find they respond very well to readings that reflect the voices of those often less studied in history courses. Even if they are taking the courses for core, they are implementing Ignatian principles into their studies. They are curious about the past and seek to ensure that past social injustices are not carried into the present/future. They are often busy with families, professional careers, and as an instructor, they often inspire me.

Courses Taught

"Dr. Garneau was excellent. She was able to take a dry, difficult subject and make it engaging and interesting. Will definitely not look at history the same way from now on."

Publications

2023 “Separating the Men from the Boys: The John Worthy School (1891-1916),” in The Journal of Urban History, (December 2023), https://doi.org/10.1177/00961442221139348.

2012 “The History of Crime and Punishment in America: 1801-1850,” in The Social History of Crime and Punishment, Wilbur Miller, ed., (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2012), p. 2063-2077.

Profiles