At 88, New PhD Graduate Finds Endless Excitement in Education

For Joan Bernstein BA’08, MA’10, learning is an essential part of life. So even after she receives her doctoral degree in literature this spring and becomes the oldest-ever University of Texas at Dallas PhD graduate, Bernstein will continue to expand her education.

“I can’t even call it learning — it’s like air. It’s an inner excitement,” she said. “When I look something up or find something out, and then when I can connect that to something else, it’s so exciting.”

Bernstein, who is 88, has attended UT Dallas for more than 20 years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in literary studies and art and performance and a master’s degree in arts and humanities from UTD. She previously attended Columbia University in New York and Richland College in Dallas.

She will be among 104 students who will receive PhDs this month. UTD will honor its newest doctoral graduates, including an additional 12 who will receive audiology doctorates, May 12 during a hooding ceremony at the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building Lecture Hall.

After taking a class from Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth, professor emeritus of literature and history who founded the Holocaust Studies Program at UTD, Bernstein began focusing her studies on 18th-century German writers, specifically Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.

“Everyone looked at their works as entertainment, but they wrote it to teach human development,” she said. “This was a time of really strict censorship, when it was forbidden to educate common people.”

In addition to her love of learning, Bernstein has been passionate about social issues for a long time. Before coming to Texas, she was a charter member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which organized Freedom Rides and played a pivotal role in applying nonviolent resistance during the Civil Rights Movement. She also was a speaker for the League of Women Voters and joined activist groups in the Dallas area.

Through all her activities, even as a child, Bernstein was writing and demonstrating her creativity. A poem she wrote in 2004 reflected on a child’s perspective during the civil rights era that Bernstein witnessed. It is now part of the online Civil Rights Movement Archive.

For Bernstein, the road to earning a PhD was not easy and took more than 12 years. Her dissertation advisor, Dr. David Patterson, professor of literature and history and Hillel A. Feinberg Distinguished Chair in Holocaust Studies, said she put in the work to rewrite drafts and add more sources.

“Joan refused to give up, and she loved her subject matter,” he said. “She ended up with an excellent dissertation.”

Bernstein credited her dissertation committee, which included Patterson; Dr. Sean Cotter, professor of literature and translation studies; Dr. Thomas Riccio, professor of visual and performing arts; and Dr. Michael Wilson, associate professor of history, with helping her finish her doctoral goal. She also said her family has been extremely supportive as she continued to study and do research.

“The professors at UT Dallas are just so inspirational,” she said. “They don’t just pick up the book and read it to you. They are brilliant.”

Bernstein not only successfully defended her dissertation, but she finished with a 3.75 GPA and was invited to join national honor society Phi Kappa Phi.

Even after she is recognized at the hooding ceremony and officially receives her doctorate, Bernstein said she will stay focused on taking classes.

“What brains I have left want to be satisfied,” she said. “I’ll still be researching, and I’ll do more writing.”

Patterson said Bernstein is a great example of achieving great things at any age.

“You’re never too old to learn while achieving more and contributing more,” he said. “Regardless of your age, you have a unique insight that you can bring.”