Sara Cohen joins the Upper School English department after serving as a visiting fellow at Drexel University’s Great Works Symposium.

Cohen, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature at Occidental College and both a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at UCLA, hopes to utilize her knowledge of different styles of literature in her classroom.

Not only does Cohen have an extensive background in Jewish and Yiddish literature, she has also studied pop culture in literature.

In the past, she developed several elective courses around the topics of ghost stories, monsters and zombies in literature.

“I can see the ways that different literatures are in dialogue with each other,” Cohen said. “I have a unique perspective that offers a lot of context because I never worked with just English literature, but with multiple languages.”

Cohen will teach English II and English III: Living in America.

During her move from Philadelphia, she took a road trip through New England, visiting landmarks of famous writers, an experience which she hopes to incorporate this experience in her English III class.

Cohen said she looks forward to joining the English department and collaborating with other teachers to create unique lesson plans.