Hello Alumni,

It’s hard to believe that we’ve entered the twilight of 2021! I was reminded of this fact last Friday when I took my Parsons class on a critical walk of the High Line. It was a crisp, overcast morning with winds that combed our hair, as well as the park’s grassy ecology. Rather than its usual crush of people, the High Line was scattered with a few tourists, school children, and locals–enabling us to have clear views of the neighborhood from the park’s elevated vistas. Here’s hoping that you too, are having a clear-eyed autumn.

I also wanted to highlight Sequoia Miller (MA ’12) and Brooke Penaloza-Patzak (MA ’11) who will be speaking at BGC next Tuesday and Wednesday (see below for more details about their talks). Sequoia and Brooke will use this speaking opportunity to jointly attend an informal event to get to know the current students. On a related note, as the deadline for graduate school applications approaches, BGC would love your help identifying good candidates for the MA and PhD programs. If you know someone who might be interested in applying, please feel free to share information about the upcoming in-person Open Houses on November 14 and December 4 (also listed below).

And as always, please don’t hesitate to send your news, either by email or through the online form. I love hearing from you!

Best wishes,
Rachael Schwabe (MA ‘20)
alumni@bgc.bard.edu

Alumni Spotlight

Pallavi Patke (‘18) began a new role as Conversation Designer for AI driven chatbots at Drift earlier this year. Congratulations, Pallavi!

Dylan Leah Brekka (‘19) has published an article in The Journal of Dress History, entitled, “A Pageant of Famous Women: Fashion and Historic Costume in British Suffrage Theatre, 1909-1914.” Her article can be found on page 35 of the Winter issue. Well done, Dylan!

Select Career Opportunities

Select Events at BGC

Writing the Hamat’sa
Thursday, November 4
6 pm ET
Bard Graduate Center, Documentary Education Resources (DER), and UBC Press invite you to join author Aaron Glass, Kwakwaka’wakw descendant Andy Everson, and moderator Philip Deloria for an engaging discussion about Writing the Hamat’sa. Over ten years in the making, this comprehensive publication covers two centuries of writing about the Hamat’sa, famously known as the Cannibal Dance. The dance is among the most important hereditary prerogatives of the Kwakwaka’wakw of British Columbia. In 2004, Aaron Glass produced a 33 minute film about his research on the dance called “In Search of the Hama’tsta.”

Rhizomatic Forms and Global Black Aesthetics
Tuesday, November 9
12:15 – 1:15 pm ET
Monica L. Miller will examine recently published memoirs and fictional accounts of growing up Black and Swedish and argue that the ways in which they experience and navigate Sweden’s racial regime and often, at least rhetorically, describe their way to Swedishness and Blackness, happens by way of an exploration of a sense of diasporic Blackness that is best figured as rhizomatic. This rhizomatic thinking reconfigures the way in which we think about the space/time of Blackness, and opens up theorization and recognition of black identities in a globally inclusive frame. These identities are related to, but not limited by, experiences of anti-blackness, and rather serve in the creation of an affiliative black consciousness.

Histories of Lead Activism in America
Wednesday, November 10
6 pm ET
This conversation, organized by Dr. Richard McKinley Mizelle, Jr. (University of Houston), will highlight key moments in the long fight against environmental racism led by Black activists in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Open House for Prospective Students
Sunday, November 14
11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET
Bard Graduate Center Open Houses give prospective students the opportunity to learn much more about our MA and PhD programs. You’ll have the chance to hear from our faculty about their research and teaching, meet students, and see our spaces. The November open house will be hosted by our dean, Peter Miller, and will include faculty members Meredith Linn, Jennifer Mass, Caspar Meyer, and Andrew Morrall.

Majolica Poetry Reading
Monday, November 15
6 pm ET
Acclaimed poets Wayne Koestenbaum, Sally Wen Mao, S*an D. Henry Smith, and Stacy Szymaszek share the poems they wrote for our Majolica Mania exhibition and the objects that informed their work.

Blackface Harlequins and Other Challenges of New Museology
Tuesday, November 16
6 pm ET
How does a small museum specializing in historical European ceramics face the challenges of contemporary socially-engaged museology? The Gardiner Museum in Toronto opened in 1984 featuring historical European ceramics collected by its founders, George and Helen Gardiner. Since then, Toronto has become one of the most diverse, dynamic, and cosmopolitan cities in the world. How do small museums anchored in elite European culture transform to engage more diverse audiences? How do colonial institutions build inclusive practices while staying true to their specific collections? Sequoia Miller’s talk will consider the Gardiner Museum as a case study for these and other questions and challenges of contemporary museology.

Objects as Data
Wednesday, November 17
12:15 – 1:15 pm ET
At its narrowest point, the Bering Strait separates Asia and North America by just eighty-five kilometers. The name for this region, joined by the mammoth steppe up until the end of the Last Glacial Maxim, is Beringia. During the mid-nineteenth century, the proximity of these continents and new archeological findings galvanized new scientific speculation that humankind had populated the “New World” via the Bering Strait. Proponents of the Beringia migration theory hypothesized that comparative analysis of objects collected from either side of the Strait would help elucidate the relationship between the old and new worlds, and the course of human diffusion and nature of human affinity more generally. Situated at the intersections of scientific practice, material culture studies, economics, and geopolitics, Brooke Penaloza-Patzak’s talk uses the history of scientific collection in Beringia as a lens through which to explore the problem of objects as scientific data in theory and practice.

Select Virtual and In-Person Events Out in The World

AIANY Civic Leadership Program: What’s Next for Basement Apartments After Hurricane Ida?
Thursday, November 4
6 pm ET
According to Mayor de Blasio, roughly 100,000 New Yorkers live in 50,000 or more illegal basement apartments. While vital housing stock, basement apartments are often not up to building code, can pose serious health risks, and lack proper means of egress. Recent extreme weather events, including Hurricane Ida, further highlighted the challenges of basementu units, particularly as climate change disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable in our communities. Initiatives like the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program, developed in collaboration with the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, are attempting to find ways to make basement apartments safe and legal in order to preserve crucial housing. Join the AIANY Civic Leadership Program as we dive into basement apartments, exploring challenges as well as lessons learned from the pilot program and opportunities to move forward.

Islamic Archeology and the Museum
Friday, November 5
11 am ET
Expectations regarding the context and value of excavated material vary across the fields of Islamic archaeology and museology, fields with competing epistemologies and theoretical approaches. Focusing on practices of excavation and display, this panel aims to explore the often-contentious relationships between these fields. The topic is especially relevant to a moment when the colonial and racist legacies of the academy and the museum have come under increased scrutiny. The presentations will explore the implications of archaeological research conducted by museums, the legacies of such projects, and their relevance to contemporary discussions regarding the exhibition of archaeological material from the Islamic lands. A central aim is to explore the potential meaning of context, extending the term to the modern life of objects and to the human relations enabled by it.

John Ruskin to William Lightfoot Prince Conference
Saturday, November 6 – Sunday, November 7
Various Times (In Person)
The Rose Valley Museum and the Decorative Arts Trust are pleased to collaborate on a one-of-a-kind two-day conference celebrating the Arts and Crafts Movement in Rose Valley, PA. The program begins on Saturday, November 6 at 11:00 am with the long-awaited public dedication of the William Lightfoot Price Historical Marker across from where Price built his groundbreaking Thunderbird Lodge. After local and state leaders gather to laud the impact of Price’s ingenuity, conference attendees are invited to the Hedgerow Theatre to hear lectures by distinguished speakers from across the country.

Dressing Up: Costume in British Portraits of the 18th Century
Wednesday, November 10 
1 pm ET
When posing for an artist, sitters gave special attention to the costume they wore. Some wore contemporary dress, some of their costumes and hairstyles were updated and others spurned fashionable dress and preferred to be shown in fancy dress or in something timeless and classical. Portraitists viewed complex costumes as hard work and often simplified their sitter’s clothes. Costume often signifies status through the quality of the cloth and the jewelry. It might be a uniform or it might indicate a professional man. Costume can say much about the sitter and their aspirations and standing in the world.

Black in Black on Black Virtual Tour & Discussion
Wednesday, November 10 
6 pm ET
Black in Black on Black: Making the Invisible Visible is an exhibition about the lives and contributions of Black/African American communities in Western North Carolina (WNC). Presenting works of art alongside oral histories and research data, Black in Black on Black is a visual conversation about an often invisible history of our region. Join Black in Black on Black curators, Ameena Batada, Dr. P.H., Professor of Health & Wellness, UNC Asheville; JéWana Grier McEachin, Executive Director of the Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement (ABIPA); and Jill Fromewick, Sc.D., Executive Director of Sparrow Research Group and exhibiting artists, Ann Miller Woodford, Viola Spells, and Ronda Birtha, for a virtual tour of the exhibition followed by a panel discussion.

Contemporary Botanical Images: Science, History, Environment
Thursday, November 12
11 am ET
This panel brings together three contemporary artists and illustrators to discuss the varied artistic processes they employ and to explore the scientific, aesthetic, historical, and environmental interests that inform their work.

Virtual Type Tour of the Push Pin Legacy with Paul Shaw
Tuesday, November 16
6 pm ET
Join type historian and educator Paul Shaw for a virtual guided tour of The Push Pin Legacy. He will look at the whimsical and playful  lettering and type featured in the exhibition, including many early iterations of alphabets designed by Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. Get a new perspective on iconic posters and album covers by Push Pin Studio.

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.