Jennifer Downer

Upper School Instructor, School of Logic (7th-9th) Composition, 7th Grade Logic, 9th Grade History
B.A. in English Literature, Arizona State University
, M.A. in Humanities, The University of Chicago, Ph.D. in English Literature, Arizona State University

My vocation to the literary arts began when I read The Chronicles of Narnia as a child. As I matured, so did my passion for the role of literature in spiritual formation and cultural witness, first and continually sparked by the work and example of C.S. Lewis and the other Inklings. 

My doctoral focus was the literature of the English Renaissance, and my dissertation explored shifting perceptions of time in the Seventeenth Century and how these shaped the poetry of the era. I have published on the work of Seventeenth Century poet and Anglican priest, George Herbert, and have enjoyed attending and sometimes presenting at the George Herbert Society Conference. I have visited the United Kingdom four times and remain a lover of all things English and Scottish. 

After teaching English at the college level for a number of years, I pivoted to teaching middle school English at a charter school in 2018. Since then, God has confirmed my calling toward middle and high schoolers, enabling me to gain experience within the classical tradition specifically.

I attend Living Faith Anglican Church in Tempe, a community shaped by the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer and the church calendar. In my spare time, I enjoy a good cup of loose-leaf black tea (the stronger the better), reading poetic and imaginative literature, drawing, and writing fiction. Other interests include symbolism from a biblical worldview, mythology and folklore, and plotting the renaissance of the Christian imagination.