Joanna L. Grossman '90
Joanna L. Grossman
Current Home:
Dallas, Texas
Place of Birth:
Madison, Wisconsin
Education:
B.A. Amherst College (1990)
J.D. Stanford University (1994)
Why did you choose to come to Amherst?
I always knew about Amherst (even though I grew up in Wisconsin, a world away from the Northeast) because Professor Austin Sarat was a family friend. I came for a pre-college visit and fell in love. I was drawn to the school for lots of good reasons—small classes, interesting faculty, and deep intellectualism in an impossibly beautiful setting—and one bad one: I never wanted to take another science class, and Amherst did not have any distribution requirements. My drive to avoid science seems funny now, since I’ve spent a lot of my adult life telling people I am an AMD (almost medical doctor) and diagnosing diseases, usually correctly, despite zero relevant education. I’ve never regretted my choice—and will be proud to see my niece, Natalie Morgan, start as a freshman this fall!
Most memorable or most influential class at Amherst:
I hate to list just one because so many changed me and my world views. I was dazzled with tales of soma highs in eastern religion with Bob Thurman and entertained by the fact that his daughter was a movie star (yes, I’m just that superficial). Health Economics with Jim Hughes was one of the first classes that lead me to choose econ as a major—and see its power (and allowed me to know, decades earlier than our current president, that health care markets are complicated). Law, Politics, and Society with Austin Sarat cemented my sense that I was born to be a lawyer (and now I am). But Philosophy 11 with the late Professor Joseph Epstein stands out as one of the very best. I still remember when he returned our first papers, most of which had pretty awful grades scrawled across the top. He warned students not to tell him that they understood the concepts but just couldn’t put them in writing. “It just isn’t true,” he explained. “If you can’t write it, you don’t understand it.” I was one of the lucky few who got an A on that paper, handed back with an endearing “you get this” from Professor Epstein, who I adored, in part because he reminded me of my grandfather. His matter-of-fact statement about the connection between thinking and writing has stayed with me.
Most memorable or most influential professor:
Daniel Barbezat, Economics Department. He began his career at Amherst as I was finishing my time there. I packed in as many classes with him as I could during my senior year and benefited from advice, mentorship, and inspiration. And, while he may not remember this, he also told me I would probably hate economics graduate school—and I’m perhaps most grateful for that piece of honest advice!
Research Interests?
Law and policy surrounding gender, work, and families. My research has focused primarily on sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, and questions of parentage—which adults belong to which children—in the age of the new family.
Awards and Prizes:
David J. Langum Prize for Best Book in American Legal History 2010 (for Inside the Castle: Law and the Family in 20th Century America)
Favorite Book:
I’m much more likely to be caught carrying a dog-eared copy of the Constitution than a favorite novel. If “favorite” is judged by how many times I’ve read a book, then the award goes to the All of a Kind Family children’s series. Best book I’ve read recently was The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, which was both fascinating and a good reminder about all the things in the world I don’t know or understand.
Favorite Author:
Catharine MacKinnon, a feminist legal theorist whose work always helps me see the path forward.
Tips for aspiring writers?
One of my law school mentors, Barbara Babcock, wrote a foreword to Nine to Five, in which she praised my writing as being designed to “inform rather than impress.” I take this as a high compliment because I work hard to make my writing accessible to anyone who might find it interesting. Knowing your audience is such an important aspect of the craft of writing—so always figure out first who you would like to read what you plan to write.
Tell us a bit about your path to becoming an author:
I’ve been a law professor for almost twenty years. I first wrote because I had to—publish or perish—and then because I loved it. I take great pleasure in sharing my discoveries with others, usually with a healthy dose of humor to make the law go down more easily.