December 11, 2025

Dear Alumni,

Greetings from the train to Boston, where I’ll spend a few days at the Historic New England collections center working with quilts for my dissertation research. I hope the final few weeks of the year are not too hectic for all of you (though I know that’s a big ask for December!), but at the very least, stay warm if you’re also experiencing frigid temperatures.

As we wrap up the year, I encourage you to share your latest news via the online form!

All best,

Julia Carabatsos (MA ’22)
alumni@bgc.bard.edu

Alumni Spotlight

Mandylion Press, founded by Mabel Taylor (MA ’24) and Madeline Porsella (MA ’23) recently published two new titles, The Hill of Dreams and Elsie Venner. They also reissued one of their first books, The Gadfly. Find more information about Mandylion Press on their website and Instagram! Well done, Mabel and Madeline!

Forthcoming from Bloomsbury, Ezra Shales‘s new book, Pitchers of American Life, due to be released next month. Ezra (PhD ’07) is a professor in the history of art department at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Congratulations!

Select Career Opportunities

The Norton Museum of Art seeks applications for an assistant registrar. The assistant registrar is an essential member of the three-person registration team in the curatorial department, reporting directly to the senior registrar and collections manager (SRCM). This role is crucial for ensuring the stewardship, preservation, and risk management of the Norton Museum’s collection and loans, which encompasses more than 10,000 objects. The assistant registrar provides critical administrative and operational support across the full spectrum of collections management. They serve as the primary coordinator for all rights and reproductions for both permanent collection works and objects on loan. Additionally, this role supports the SRCM and registrar in managing logistics for ten to fifteen exhibitions of varying scales annually and coordinates with the director of exhibition design and installation and museum technicians to ensure the safe handling, packing, and shipping of artworks.

The BAL Trust’s annual fellowship program aims to provide an individual currently pursuing graduate studies or young professionals at work in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, and architectural history with the opportunity to travel to and study at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). While researching at the largest collection of architectural materials in the world the fellow will work closely with the RIBA archival team, gaining hands-on experience with primary source materials, receiving guidance on navigating the collection, and engaging in discussions that will help contextualize and deepen their research focus. Applications are due on December 15.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) welcomes applications for the position of Sarick Curator of Jewish Art and Culture. ROM seeks a thoughtful, strategic curator, gifted at communications and alliances, with a strong background in historical material culture, contemporary arts, and diasporic arts from or relating to Jewish art and culture. Reporting to the cochief curator of art and culture, the Sarick Curator of Jewish Art and Culture will lead the programming and presentation of Jewish art and culture through galleries, exhibitions, and other initiatives following ROM’s strategic direction and in collaboration with local communities, artists, and scholars locally and globally.

The Intensive NAGPRA Summer Training and Education Program (INSTEP) focuses on best practices related to Ancestral human remains and cultural items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Training in and around the subject of NAGPRA is notoriously lacking in most academic anthropology programs and even Tribal communities, highlighting the need for long-term availability of such training. The one-week, intensive program also focuses on areas of ethical concern surrounding research, teaching, curation, and other aspects of working with Tribal Nations and their Ancestors. Training areas include, but are not limited to:strategies for NAGPRA documentation in the laboratory/curation space; understanding cultural affiliation to contemporary tribal communities; cultural sensitivity protocols; working with tribal governments; the effects of anthropological collecting and intergenerational trauma; and collaborative research practices. Training sessions involve learning from Native and non-Native NAGPRA practitioners, Tribal scholars and Elders, research partners, and others as appropriate. The major goal of the program is to offer accessible, consistently-available training for anthropologists and NAGPRA practitioners. Applications for the July 2026 INSTEP program will open on December 1.

For more job listings please visit the BGC job board.

username: career.services@bgc.bard.edu
password: CareersBGC2025-6*=*

Select BGC Events

Expect an announcement of BGC’s spring 2026 events very soon!

Select External Events

The Craft History Workshop
Monday, December 15, 12 pm
Zoom

The Craft History Workshop, codirected by Antonia Behan (MA ’14 and PhD ’21) and Colin Fanning (MA ’13, PhD candidate), is a virtual works-in-progress seminar that aims to expand research on histories of making. The workshop has begun its fall 2025 sessions, and you can still catch the final virtual meeting on December 15 on the topic of “The Promise of Craft”! Find more information here.

Shop the BGC Store!

Visit our online store at store.bgc.bard.edu for 40% off all items. Enter code ALUMNI at checkout to receive the discount.

Sign up for Gaggle!

Gaggle.mail is an opt-in list-serv that serves as a place to share job openings, conference attendance, published books/articles, and exhibition openings directly with fellow alums. It’s a communication forum for alumni, by alumni. To circulate your news in the Gaggle group, send an email to bgcalumni@gaggle.email.