Heidi Boerstler

When Heidi Boerstler (Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts ’26—expected) received the title of Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado Denver Business School, where she teaches ethics and health law, she was ready to try something new. “I decided to go back and study things I’d never studied before,” she recalls. “I had always been so focused on raising my daughter, getting tenure, teaching, doing research and all. Now that I have a little more time, I wanted to take some classes that interest me.” After completing (and immensely enjoying) the interdisciplinary Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) program at the University of Pennsylvania, Heidi wanted to keep right on learning—and Penn’s Master of Philosophy in Liberal Arts (MPhil) allowed her take more exciting courses and continue developing her passion project. “I didn't know what I would get out of this program, but what I found is that my whole view of the world has changed and expanded,” says Heidi. “When you take a step forward, a whole world opens up.”

At Penn, Heidi dove into intellectual exploration—starting with online courses about the Iliad and the Odyssey, which she had never read—and found it both challenging and fun. “The role of being a student is so different from being a professor,” she reflects. “I was really looking forward to just absorbing material and asking questions and exploring new concepts and ideas. I was worried that I would be too different and feel out of place, and that has absolutely not been the case,” says Heidi. Although there aren’t many other MLA and MPhil students who hold both tenure and a law degree, Heidi’s classmates come from a wide range of ages, professional experiences, and educational backgrounds. And while logging on from Denver means that Heidi must be particularly creative and adventurous in choosing from courses that are available online, the small class sizes ensure that she enjoys meaningful connections and conversations with her peers. “I teach large classes at the University of Colorado, and I don’t always get to know my students as well as I’d like to, because I have so many. But I’ve never had a class at Penn that had more than 12 students,” Heidi marvels. “It’s a real privilege to get to know the faculty. They’re excellent teachers, and very open.”

That openness applied not only to in-class assignments but to her final degree project: Heidi’s advisors told her she could do anything she wanted for the MLA capstone. “That’s actually quite difficult!” laughs Heidi. “I’m used to checking off every box. I didn’t think there would be so much emphasis on individual creativity and new ways of knowing.” But with the wide world of academic subjects open to her, Heidi gravitated toward the theory of narrative identity. “What narrative identity tells us is that our identities as individuals are largely formed by the stories we tell ourselves and others, beginning at an early age: Are we a hero? Are we a victim? Are we the star of the show?” she explains. “And every story has a turning point.” For her project, Heidi recruited a diverse group of senior subjects: men and women who grew up in different parts of the United States with different racial and ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations, but all over 65 years of age. In a series of interviews, Heidi asked her subjects to look back over their lives and identify a turning point, or more than one turning point. “It’s a delicate process, but I ask each one of them about the factors that helped make the choice to move in a new direction or stay put,” she says. “I found extraordinary stories. It was really just incredible.” As she analyzed her transcripts for patterns, Heidi noticed a distinct theme: “They are all redemption stories,” she says. “Each person had challenges in life, but somehow found positive meaning in difficult events.” And their life stories indeed all have turning points—across a wide range of ages. One of her interviewees identified a critical turning point at age 68, while another experienced his at age 8. “One is never too old or too young to have a turning point in life. You are never too young or too old to move in a new direction,” Heidi muses.

After completing her MLA, Heidi decided to continue her studies in the MPhil program, which would allow her to broaden and deepen her subject matter expertise in narrative identity theory; she is interested now in looking more closely at how cultural context influences the stories a person hears and tells about their own life. As an MPhil student, Heidi has taken classes in fiction writing, the history of witchcraft, and performance studies. “I have a whole new perspective on performance in everyday life—and performance and selective storytelling is an important part of narrative identity,” she says. “But best part was the support and encouragement for creativity and exploring new ideas.” Even a niche topic like the history of witchcraft is informative and valuable for her long-term project, says Heidi; anything that encourages a deep dive into culture and narrative can offer insight and tools she can apply to her project.

As she works toward the next phase of her research and analysis of narrative identity, Heidi enjoys sharing what she’s learned with others; for example, she recently gave a talk about her research at Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Denver. “People want to hear stories,” she says. “When you talk about turning points, people start thinking about turning points in their own lives.”

To students like herself—hungry for knowledge and ready to explore all the expertise an Ivy League university has to offer—she encourages the leap. “Everybody’s afraid when you’re trying something new. You tell yourself a story that you’ll never make it,” she observes. “I say, look at this as a life experiment. You cannot lose by trying.”