2024 - Take Five with…Sarah Bass

Sarah Bass, English adjunct faculty member, is a natural teacher and leader. Bass, who grew up in West Chicago, was the oldest of seven siblings. She graduated with her Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, double majoring in English Literature and Black Studies. She then received her Master’s in Fine Arts degree in Fiction from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago – inspired by her mother, who is Indo-Trinidadian.

Bass became a Spartan in 2022, and her interesting students keep her classes turning. Read more about Bass – you’ll never guess her secret hobby, which very much surprises her students! Hint: it has to do with a cellar and lots of fruit.

What would you choose if you could instantly be an expert at one thing? Languages. I would be able to experience so many cultures deeply and richly if I were a polyglot.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled, or where is somewhere you dream of going, and why? Trinidad and Tobago. I did both my Fulbright and graduate work there.

Cats, dogs, or houseplants? Honey Bees. I have beehives.

What’s one thing that really makes your day? Gulab Jamun.

What is one surprising fact about you? I make my own mead (honey wine) and other wild wines. I have seven buckets fermenting in my cellar as we speak: date, rhubarb, raspberry (from the raspberry bushes in my garden), strawberry, fig, rose and vanilla bean, and a black rice wine. My involvement with alcohol generally surprises my students.