When I visited The Jewish Museum in the Upper East Side of New York City, where an exhibit on Morocco was on display, I found myself remembering a professor, Susanne Zantop. Little did I realize that a class I took in my sophomore year of college would continue to impact my thought process more than three years later. Little did I know that less that a week after I visited the museum, she would be found in her house, murdered, alongside her husband.
Not too many professors, even at an elite Ivy League college in the middle of New Hampshire, inspire changes in the way a student interprets (not understands) ideas. Susanne Zantop was certainly the only one who had that type of effect on me. I studied literature from the Enlightenment era under the auspices of the Comparative Literature department with Susanne. At the outset, there seems very little connection between a Moroccan exhibit in New York and a course on the Enlightenment that I took my sophomore year in college. The reason I thought of Susanne that day was because I found my self looking at the artifacts on display -- the paintings, the clothes, the jewelry, the literature -- and understanding the various connections between all these things and the reflections of a culture's beliefs in all of these things. These are all things I learned to do in her class. I have caught myself several times after that class making similar comparisons in other classes of mine. I can safely say that almost no other professor inspired this in me.
Susanne had a way of inspiring her students. She made her class incredibly fun. She was a devoted teacher, one of the few that I would say "taught" in what I consider the true sense of the word. How did Susanne's course differ from those of other professors? Were these differences merely a reflection of my enjoyment of the subject matter, the small size of the class and the interactive teaching style that I found so enjoyable? Was my respect for her only due to the friendship we developed outside of class? Perhaps. However, there certainly was not another professor who managed to spark my interest in a literary era that I had found quite boring before (has anyone tried reading "Pamela?"). I think the most important thing about her class was the fact that I enjoyed it so much! And the reason it was enjoyable was because Susanne made it so. Her assignments were fun (we compared a painting to written literature once); her attitude was fun (we took our classes outside in the sun when the weather was nice); her teaching style was entertaining (she walked around class and taught with animation) and informative at the same time. I don't think I've remembered more about a literary era than I did about the Enlightenment. Susanne Zantop was a professor who was able to place literature within the context of the cultural values of its time AND make that an enjoyable learning experience. She was also a professor who gave true credit to the meaning of the word mentor.
Susanne Zantop's impact upon me was very real and will most likely stay with me for the rest of my life. Susanne's teachings did change the way I looked at paintings and literature and the clothing of an era, making me realize that all these were intermingled with the beliefs of that time and not isolated from each other.
More importantly, however, Susanne taught me that everything in the world is within a greater context. Susanne's teachings stay with me still today, and it was with incredible shock that I learned that she would no longer transfer those same important lessons to other students. She was a wonderful teacher, one whom I hold the fondest memories of. Not many teachers make the rather difficult transition from teacher to friend, and not many teachers are fortunate enough to impact students in so many different ways as Susanne was able to. Susanne Zantop was certainly one of those professors that most of us only ever read about or see in a movie. I and some fortunate others were lucky enough to experience this first hand. God bless her soul.
