Cynthia Bartlett

Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders

Her serendipitous discovery of speech-language pathology during her senior year in college changed the course of Cindy Bartlett’s life and opened her eyes to a profession that encompassed all her interests. “Medicine, analysis of language, psychology, and interpersonal connections—everything was pulled together in one field.”  A week after a professor introduced her to the idea, the French and Spanish major began applying to graduate programs in speech-language pathology, and started on a career path that eventually led to a Ph.D and her current position as Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor at Emerson College.

In her work at Emerson, Cindy draws on her 15 years of experience as a clinician treating adult patients in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and chronic care facilities. Working in the field, she had the opportunity to team with patients and other professionals at all levels, from the hospital to the home. Cindy treasures the opportunity to help her students evolve into highly skilled professionals, and strives to foster the same non-competitive, collaborative environment among her students, and between students and faculty members, in which she thrived as a clinician. To this end, the department hosts regular forums, which allow graduate students to discuss whatever is on their minds. “You have to create a supportive climate where real communication can happen.”