Susan Gordon
PhD in Creativity
Susan Gordon is a wine writer based in New York City; she focuses on the wines of Italy. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing/Fiction from the New School and a WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) Level 3 certification. She has written for the Daily Meal; Eater; Forbes; Vogue.com; the Wine Advocate online; and Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book, due out in 2020.
The two week-long immersion program was life-changing. To work so closely with eight other passionate and driven people in such disparate fields as we explored creativity techniques in theater, writing, visual art, design and pastry-making, to name just a few areas, has already given me years of material to use as both inspiration and methodology for my own work. The three faculty members were extraordinary guides through all the materials we read, saw and listened to.
Dissertation
I’m writing a book about Asolo and Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, the two zones in northeast Italy where top-quality Prosecco wines are made, with an emphasis on the forms its language and structure will take in response to the research materials I cover. I will also consider the roles Italian, local dialect and American English play (and have played) in accurately representing these two areas and their wines.
Committee
Marilyn Krieger, PhD, Director of Public Relations, Trade Media & Events, E. & J. Gallo Winery
William W. McIlhenny, Senior Fellow, German Marshall Fund of the United States
Robert Lumley, Professor Emeritus at University College London