[4] Cohen’s "ability to negotiate nimbly among three disciplines: scholarship, pedagogy, and theatre-making" has influenced theatrical and pedagogical practices in the United States and abroad.
[citation needed] Cohen joined the faculty of James Madison University in 1973, where he taught courses in playwriting, film, early modern literature, and in particular Shakespeare.
"During his decade-long tenure as director of study abroad, Ralph collaborated with JMU faculty members Kathleen Arthur, Carmenza Kline and David Ley to establish semester programs in Florence, Italy; Salamanca, Spain; and Paris.
Inspired by the success of a minimal production approach to Shakespeare by companies such as Cheek by Jowl during the JMU semesters in London, Cohen developed an interest "in Elizabethan staging practices and recreating those for audiences today.
[15] Those conditions drew enthusiastic support from scholars and multiple bookings at campuses across the country — a decade after its founding, the SSE had traveled to 47 states and 7 foreign countries — and an annual invitation to stage their three-show rep at the Folger Shakespeare Library Theatre in D.C.[16] As a director, Cohen prioritizes sound over sight and reminds his actors that Shakespeare’s audience went to “hear” rather than “see” a play.
[19] The success of Cohen and Warren's Shenandoah Shakespeare Express and that of the new graduate program at MBU were the result of their work at the intersection of performance, education, and research.
In 1995 Cohen entered discussions with a group of businessmen and the Director of Financial Development from nearby Staunton VA, who were interested in having the company build a theatre.
The ASC’s Education department subsequently published study guides for twenty of the plays showing how to teachers can use figures of speech to clarify work and to produce set of flashcards “ROADS to Rhetoric."
In 2005 Cohen and Warren decided, as a cost-cutting measure during January through March when ticket sales were low, to have their most veteran actors mount their productions without directors.
A year later Tiffany Stern’s groundbreaking Rehearsals from Shakespeare to Sheridan validated the authenticity of this practice, and the fifteen-week “Ren Season” became a fixture of the ASC’s yearlong calendar.