Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg (February, 1957–) was born to Gaither and Julia Stewart in Munich, Germany. She has four siblings: Jennifer (1956-1958), Anthony (1959–), Elizabeth (1961–), and John (1968–). Both of her parents were journalists working in Germany, but later moved the family to Rome, Italy in 1968. There, Stewart-Steinberg attended the German School of Rome, where, in addition to learning Italian, she continued her education in German. For her last two years of high school (1973-1975), Stewart-Steinberg attended the Forum School, an experimental liberal learning school in the heart of Rome. It was here that she started studying and writing in English for the first time.
Upon graduating, Stewart-Steinberg attended the University of Essex, where she studied Sociology. This was her first encounter with poststructuralist Marxism, Antonio Gramsci's work, and Eurocommunism. At Essex, Stewart-Steinberg began translating Italian texts into English, and under Ernesto Laclau (who at the time had just written his first major book on Populism), she wrote her honours thesis on Gramsci. Stewart-Steinberg notes that Laclau was extremely influential in her choice to pursue political economy. After leaving Essex in 1978, Stewart-Steinberg went to Yale University to write a dissertation on the partition of India and Pakistan, and Pakistani populism in the Political Science department. The department believed the political situation to be too dangerous for fieldwork at the time, so she then switched to political theory, and completed a thesis on Rousseau, Levi-Strauss, Marx, and Freud with David Apter as her thesis advisor. Also while at Yale, Stewart-Steinberg studied under significant academics such as Frederic Jameson and James Scott, and this is where she first encountered the Derridians, and began working on deconstruction.
In 1980, after completing her comprehensive exams, Stewart-Steinberg moved to New York City, where she married Joseph Sweet and had her first two children, Jonah (1983–) and Ben (1985–). In 1985, they moved to Ithaca, New York, where Sweet studied Visual Arts at Cornell University. They separated in 1989. At Cornell, Stewart-Steinberg continued working on her dissertation, and later in 1990, she submitted her thesis. Stewart-Steinberg also started lecturing at Cornell in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, where she taught Italian. She received a second graduate degree in 1995 in German Studies, for which Dominick LaCapra and Sander Gilman were her advisors.
In 1998, Stewart-Steinberg was remarried to Michael Steinberg and their daughter, Anna, was born in 1997. Michael and Suzanne Steinberg continued to teach at Cornell until their move to Brown University in 2005. Michael and Suzanne later divorced. Brown University awarded Stewart-Steinberg tenure in 2007. She teaches Comparative Literature, Italian Studies, Modern Culture and Media, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Stewart-Steinberg is also the director of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, and the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship in 2017. She has published three books: Sublime Surrender: Male Masochism at the Fin-de-Siècle (1998), The Pinocchio Effect: On Making Italians (1860-1920) published in 2007 and translated into Italian in 2011, and Impious Fidelity: Anna Freud, Psychoanalysis, and Politics (2012). Additionally, Stewart-Steinberg has written numerous published articles, chapters in books, and book reviews, and she has lectured at various institutions around the world. She is still teaching at Brown University whilst completing her latest book, Grounds for Reclamation: Italian Fascism, Post-Fascism and the Making of Consent.
This collection consists of the papers of Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, a professor of Italian Studies and Comparative Literature at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The collection documents Stewart-Steinberg's professional life including drafts and proofs of her various publications, extensive research, professional files, teaching files, and valuable print material dating from approximately 1919 to the present. The collection is arranged into seven series.
Series I, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL, 2006-2016, contains several of Stewart-Steinberg's personal agendas, documenting her teaching, appointments, and meetings from 2006 to 2011. This series also contains her Curriculum Vitae. The series is arranged alphabetically by content.
Series 2, CAREER DEVELOPMENT, 1996-2016, records Stewart-Steinberg's professional activity from 1996 to the present, significantly highlighting her activity at Brown University, as well as several other conferences around the world. In addition to several annual reports, professional profiles of colleagues, and various newsletters, this series notably contains a self-study of the Department of Women's Studies at the University of California at Berkeley written by Judith Butler. This series is arranged alphabetically by institution followed by record type.
Series 3, CORRESPONDENCE, 2002-2012, consists of personal and professional correspondence, each separated alphabetically into their own folder.
Series 4, RESEARCH JOURNALS, 1982-2012, is a dense series of handwritten notes in numerous journals throughout Stewart-Steinberg's career. Early entries include annotations and explanations of her dissertation, original poetry, and other topics explored by Stewart-Steinberg throughout her career. In addition to notes on her writing, there are also accounts of courses Stewart-Steinberg either taught or in which she participated. The series is arranged alphabetically by subject of the research.
Series 5, TEACHING, 1997-2012, documents a few of Stewart-Steinberg's courses at various institutions, including Brown University, Cornell University, and a summer course in Rome, Italy. This series mostly consists of various syllabi from throughout Stewart-Steinberg's teaching career, as well as a few readings and other related course material. The series is arranged alphabetically by course title.
Series 6, WRITING, 1975-2011, is the largest series of the collection, as well as the longest spanning series, beginning with graded papers written in high school and moving into Stewart-Steinberg's established career. This series documents Stewart-Steinberg's focuses and interests over the span of almost 40 years, including early high school writings in German, Italian, and English, her dissertation drafts in her late education, and various drafts of her book publications. This series also contains an article that was never published entitled "For the Birds." The series is arranged alphabetically by title of the writing, however certain papers are grouped together by course title, also listed alphabetically within the series.
Series 7, PRINT MATERIAL, 1919-1932, is a valuable set of books that Cesare Lombroso's niece gifted to Stewart-Steinberg while she was writing the Pinocchio Effect. The books and articles, some of which date back to 1919, come directly from Lambroso's library in Italy, and contain written works by his daughter, Gina, as well as his son-in-law, Guglielmo Ferrero. The entire series is mostly in Italian, with a few articles in French. The series is arranged alphabetically by author's last name.
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, available on the John Hay Library website or by request, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research use. The collection can only be seen by prior appointment because some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg papers, Ms.2012.022, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
This collection is arranged into 7 series by record type.
Gift of Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg in 2012.