In the summer of 2017 Bard Graduate Center launched the BGC Lab for Teen Thinkers, a year-long museum studies program in partnership with Bard High School Early Colleges, designed to train the next generation of creative thinkers to “flip the script” and transform the field of Public Humanities. The inaugural class included ten students: Martha Aboagye, Nicholas Brenner, Ravita Choudhury, Savrana Gayadin, Avinash Rampersaud, Penny Retica, Lucinda Sales, Maximilian Shatan, Lena Williamson Diaz, and Tsering Zangmo. Participants were encouraged to bring their personal knowledge, history, and insight to the study and analysis of objects. During the five-week summer intensive, teens participated in behind-the-scenes tours at New York City museums; studied with a variety of scholars, artists and curators; learned about career pathways in the field of museum education, material culture and decorative arts; conducted independent research projects; curated an exhibition; and shared their ideas with community audiences.
We had a chance to sit down and speak with Nicholas Brenner and Savrana Gayadin, who answered a few questions and shared their thoughts about the program.
Having completed the BGC Lab for Teen Thinkers Summer Program what areas of interest do you now have?
Nick: I have developed a much greater interest in the way libraries work and the process of researching. I think it is very interesting how books are organized, how databases are constructed, and how these are made easily navigable for researchers.
Savrana: I am interested in learning about cultural appropriation as well as how the setups of museums are influenced by institutional bias.
How did attending this program affect how your view museums and exhibitions?
Nick: When I go to museums now, I am much more observant of gallery architecture and how this changes the visitor’s perception of what is on display. For example, if you go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and visit the Islamic galleries, in a few of the galleries you’ll find glass lamps hung from the ceiling which are of the same style as certain Mamluk lamps that are on display in the same galleries; and between rooms arabesque arches are used. Both of these choices create a specific atmosphere for viewing the objects on display.
Savrana: I learned about how the setups in large institutions reflect their prioritization of cultures, and their interpretations of a culture’s practices. I also learned about how the display of objects can add to their cultural importance, and make a more effective connection with the audience.
Can you briefly describe your final project?
Nick: My final project was a brochure that attempted to explain what metal admission-control litho tabs are and illustrate the unique position they have in New York City museum culture. There wasn’t any research really done on these buttons that indicate visitors have paid admission before, and I wish I had more time to pursue and expand on what little I had put in the brochure.
Savrana: My final project explored the question: How does Jacob Riis’ photography capture space and corners in relation to power? I wanted to explore a topic with a social impact, and Riis’ work as a journalist and muckraker inspired me to explore the ways photography can be representative of a theme. I analyzed two of Riis’ photos and wrote a poem to try to answer this question.
What career path(s) do you want to take?
Nick: I would like to be a historian, specializing in Byzantine studies, especially the middle Byzantine period. During this program, I found the work done in maintaining a research library to be really interesting and something I would enjoy, so I would like to pursue that as well. I also have an interest in urban planning.
Savrana: I can see myself going into law and journalism. I have always loved to read and write, and I want my career choice to be something that can help change others lives for the better.
Who or what has been the greatest influence in your life?
Nick: I guess the biggest influence on my life would be my parents. They raised me and encouraged me to pursue whatever I am interested in.
Savrana: My parents have definitely been the greatest influence in my life. They have made endless sacrifices to see my dreams come true, and with their guidance I have become successful. Without my parents, I do not feel that I would be the same person I am today.
In addition to what you studied at BGC and material culture, what else informs your days?
Nick: I think with this question my answer would be similar to anyone at any time in history: the culture you live in. I currently live here in New York City, in a Western society and in a developed nation, so I would say the biggest thing that shapes me or informs how I go about my life is New York culture. That is what I have grown up in and have the most experience with.
Savrana: I have learned a lot recently about the ways in which our culture is perceived by other people. As a result of my own experiences, I have started to question how and why religion and race seem to be defining factors in the way we are treated by other people. I would love to explore this idea more, because I think that we could approach a solution in different ways.
If you could have dinner with anyone in the world (past or present) who would it be, and why?
Nick: It is very hard to choose just one person to have dinner with from all of history and the present, but I guess I would choose Constantine VII. Constantine VII was the emperor of Byzantium from 945-959 CE and sponsored a great revival of scholarly pursuits which kickstarted the Macedonian Renaissance and led to a flourishing of new Byzantine scholarship and thought. He may not have been the most politically successful of emperors, losing wars with the Bulgarians in the West, but the achievements of his court created what we today think of as archetypically Byzantine culture. I would want to eat dinner with him in order to ask him about different things about the world he lived in, and to see what this person who had a very large impact on Byzantine history was actually like (according to certain accounts, he apparently never lost his temper and was a very benevolent figure. However the scarcity of Byzantine histories in general and the polemic nature of many of these histories brings this into question). I would want to know more about how people thought in his time, how people lived their lives then, and how they saw urban living and what the atmosphere of Constantinople was like in its heyday. Also, it would be really interesting to know what sort of food he would have eaten and what the tastes of Byzantines were.
Savrana: If I could have dinner with anyone in the world, I would choose to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi is one of the most inspiring figures in the world, and his life was an example of fighting for what you believe in. He taught us to be the change we wish to see in the world, and he did just that in his own life. Gandhi also taught us that we do not have to use violence to show others what we believe in, rather we just have to advocate with our heart, body, and soul.
