Bard Graduate Center is a research institute for advanced, interdisciplinary study of diverse material worlds. We support the innovative scholarship of our faculty and students as well as resident fellows, guest curators and artists, and visiting speakers.

Photo by Fresco Arts Team.

Our Public Humanities + Research department focuses on making scholarly work widely available and accessible through the coordination of the fellowship program and public programming that combines academic research with exhibition-related events. Across the institution—from the classroom to the gallery, from publications to this website—we utilize digital media to facilitate and share original research. This section outlines current programming and provides a repository for past scholarly content.

Military history and its related material culture elicit strong opinions. The objects of war shape the technologies, aesthetics, and ideologies of everyday life and reveal their own historiography. In this Alumni Spotlight Lecture, Fort Ticonderoga curator Matthew Keagle shares his experiences working in military material culture and the challenges and distinct opportunities this field offers for scholars and amateur historians.

Matthew Keagle has been involved in curation, exhibitions, research, and interpretation for historic sites and museums in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. He holds a BA from Cornell University, an MA in American material culture from the Winterthur Museum, and a PhD from Bard Graduate Center. Since joining Fort Ticonderoga in 2014, he has been developing exhibits, conducting research, and delivering programs that explore the eighteenth-century military experience. He has researched and lectured at collections and archives across the US, Canada, and Europe, with a particular focus on military dress in the eighteenth century.