Around the seminar table and around the globe, Sarah Lawrence students and alumni are connected by an education that challenges common assumptions and encourages multifaceted viewpoints. So we queried revelers celebrating Reunion 2018: How did Sarah Lawrence prepare you to be a global citizen?
Interviewed by Joanna Bettelheim ’09
“Studying abroad and volunteering with Right-to-Write were vital experiences, but literature-heavy classes helped me step into the lives of others and learn empathy. Diverse reading lists made me aware of my own culpability in injustice. Professors like Bella Brodzki ’72 (literature), Lyde Sizer (history), Ferdinand Jones (psychology), and Julie Abraham (LGBT studies) stretched my intellect, opened my mind, and instilled a sense of global responsibility.”—Kristin Maffei ’08
“I learned how to ask a lot of questions—and not settle for answers that don’t make sense.”—Bernice Rosenthal ’73
“Sarah Lawrence has always respected diversity. I never had any incidents where I was not accepted. That gave me the sense that I could be accepted outside my own comfort zone. It was a really enriching experience.” —Dawn Cook ’81
“You couldn’t hide in a seminar, and you learned to defend your ideas.”—Jess Hamilton Huang ’08
“What I learned most was critical thinking—and a larger perspective. At Sarah Lawrence, I took courses in ceramics, theatre, and Chinese history, and I studied abroad in Tel Aviv. I needed all four years to explore!”—Candice Nakrin ’78
“It gave me the opportunity to meet people who had lived in, or who came to SLC from, other countries. I learned how American my perspective was and that my understanding of things like race and politics was not a universal understanding.” —Melanie Hood-Wilson ’93, MSEd ’94
Photos by Dana Maxson, Quyen Nguyen, Maria Quiroga, and Chris Taggart