Evelyn Barish was educated at Bryn Mawr College (AB, English/politics), NYU (Ph.D., English) and Oxford University (Fulbright Fellow). She has taught at Cornell, CUNY (emerita Professor of English), and the College of Staten Island. Barish has worked in England, France, Belgium, and Italy; written on de Man, Emerson, and Clough; and has held many grants and awards, including the Christian Gauss Award.