Susan Tomlinson ’89is a professor of late 19th- and early 20th-century American and African-American literature, literary history, gender, and modernism at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Why did you choose Sarah Lawrence?
Gut instinct; I never considered going anywhere else.
Did you have a favorite class?
Literature of Exile my senior year withBella Brodzki ’72was my first and best graduate seminar. Bella taught us to take a position and modeled the pleasure and urgency of theorized reading. We became scholars and critics together.
What was your favorite spot on campus?
Andrews House kitchen and Bates dance floor.
What is your favorite book?
Edith Wharton'sThe Age of Innocence. Harrowing stuff—psychological precision, brittle humor, emotional violence—what could be more satisfying? When academic politics and national disaster drive me under the covers, this novel keeps me there for a few more hours but for happier reasons.
What are you most looking forward to at Reunion 2019?
Catching up on who we’re still becoming.