At the Purchaser's Option

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

The Wistaria String Quartet performed “At the Purchaser’s Option” by Rhiannon Giddens for Professor Herbin-Triant’s “Slavery in US History and Culture” BLST-220/HIST-220 course. “Last year I came across an advertisement from the 1830s for a young woman," Giddens says of the new song. "Thinking about her, and how she had to maintain her humanity against horrific odds inspired this song named for the end of the ad: She has with her a 9-month old baby, who is at the purchaser's option.”


Inside the Bailey Brown House

Thursday, May 6th, 5:00 P.M.

At the final event of the semester, former Arts Coordinator Ellen Mutter ‘18 unveiled the virtual tour of the Bailey Brown House which featured new works by several local artists. In the second half of the event, Ellen was joined by Professor of Art and the History of Art, Dwight Carey, for a conversation about preliminary research into the history of the home.

Virtual Tour Link: https://explore.tourit.world/tour/bailey-brown-house


Spring Soirée featuring Kate Pukinskis and Miloslava Hruba

February 11TH, 2021

The Arts at Amherst Initiative's bi-annual soirées give Amherst College faculty and staff the opportunity to share their research in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. In the spring of 2021, we were thrilled to have the Joseph E. and Grace W. Valentine Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, Kate Pukinskis, and the Mead Art Museum Study Room Manager and European Print Specialist, Miloslava Hruba speaking at the event. Kate talked about how her role as a composer informs her scholarly research around the notions of cultural identity, diaspora, traditional folk and choral music, and activism, with particular emphasis on Latvia and 20th-century American art song. Miloslava shared field notes from her recent survey of printmaking practices in the former Czechoslovakia (1948 - 1989) with a focus on gender differences within the ideologically and culturally ostracised group of non-conforming artists.

Links shared during the conversation:

2018 Latvian Song Festival
Kate Pukinskis's composition, Three Latvian Folk Songs
Kate Pukinskis's composition, A Sense of Decency


Confronting Race in Arts Research: A Cross-Disciplinary Conversation

October 1st, 2020

On October 1st, the Arts at Amherst Initiative hosted a conversation with Dwight Carey, assistant professor of art and the history of art; Ana Carneiro, visiting artist in playwriting, theater & dance; and Amy Coddington, assistant professor of music, moderated by Darryl Harper, associate professor of music and director of the CHI. The panelists brought cross-disciplinary perspectives to the conversation about acknowledging and redressing racism in arts research and pedagogy.


Reflections on Remote Embodied Practice

May 26th, 2020

The Arts at Amherst Initiative hosted a conversation with Riley Caldwell-O'Keefe (Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning), Christopher Durr (Assistant Professor of Chemistry), Jenna Riegel (Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance), Jason Robinson (Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department), and Kathy Couch (Lighting Manager in the Theater and Dance Department) on May 26th, 2020. The panelists brought cross-disciplinary perspectives from the arts and sciences shared which aspects of their embodied practices were successfully adapted to remote learning and which aspects were lost. Panelists also presented resources and technologies they have found most useful during this transition. This panel also provided an opportunity to reflect on how remote teaching has made us rethink equitable learning experiences for students and to brainstorm academic models for the future.