Reunion 2024 Schedule of Events

6–8:30 p.m.
Heimbold Visual Arts Center

Join trailblazing photographer and author Lynn Gilbert '59 for a conversation with Erica Chapman '04 exploring the American feminist movement from behind the lens of Lynn's photos. Lynn Gilbert is a documentary photographer who was the first to identify the key women from the second wave of the feminist movement who pioneered in fields traditionally dominated by men. Her book “Particular Passions: Talks with Women Who Have Shaped Our Times” contains these portraits, with each woman's story in her own words. Her subjects, including Louise Nevelson, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Diana Vreeland, Billie Jean King, Grace Murray Hopper, Joan Ganz Cooney, Lucy Jarvis, Bella Abzug, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and fellow alumna Barbara Walters '51, are women who have shaped history. Lynn's work, a testament to their achievements, is proudly displayed in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and the New York Historical Society and has been hailed as “revolutionary for shedding light on the accomplishments of women.”

An audience Q&A will follow the discussion.

8:30 a.m.–7 p.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center

8:30–10 a.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center

9:30–11 a.m.

Diary Forms A.I. with Angela Ferraiolo, Visual and Studio Arts Faculty
Do you have a photograph of your first-grade classroom? How about a picture of your favorite after-school hangout? Do you think artificial intelligence could help bring these images back? In this session, we’ll preview a new art studio called ‘Diary Forms A.I.’, a class that teaches students the basics of using artificial intelligence engines by trying to reconstitute personal or cultural memories. After a brief overview of generative AI and its applications, we’ll create several pictures of a personal or cultural memory. Along the way, we'll note any challenges, insights, or surprises encountered during the experiment. We’ll also discuss the nature of memory, visual storytelling, and the impact of technology on artistic expression.

Drawing Weird Stuff with John O’Connor, Visual and Studio Arts Faculty
This workshop will introduce participants to a variety of creative drawing approaches and materials through open-ended prompts. As context, we’ll discuss several contemporary approaches to drawing through an image presentation. Then, participants will choose from several diverse drawing prompts that move between representation and abstraction. Participants will use the materials provided to explore their own interests through these prompts, discussing, and sharing their work as they go.

Power of Place: The Hudson River Museum and Yonkers History with Mary Dillard, African History and Global Studies Faculty
This course introduces participants to the fascinating history of Yonkers through the fields of public history and museum studies. I will discuss historic Yonkers sites like Philipse Manor Hall, the Hudson River Museum, and Untermyer Gardens, asking what relationship does Sarah Lawrence College have with these three institutions and how can that public history be illuminated?

11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.

50th Reunion Lunch with President Cristle Collins Judd
Classes of ’74 and earlier.
The President’s House

Reunion Lunch
All other classes
Barbara Walters Campus Center

1:30–4 p.m.
Departing from the Barbara Walters Campus Center

Tour of the Sarah Lawrence College Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB)
Explore the College’s academic research facility on the banks of the Hudson River at Habirshaw Park. The center features a welcoming riverfront lawn, an easily accessible tidal marsh and a beach used for river exploration and seining. SLC CURB provides a broad educational platform, establishes a Hudson River research program, and incorporates service learning and citizen science projects in the Yonkers community.

Tour of Neighboring Visions: Westchester Artists Then and Now exhibit at the Hudson River Museum
Join Karintha Lowe, Mellon Public Humanities Fellow and art history faculty, for a guided tour of "Neighboring Visions: Westchester Artists Then and Now" at the Hudson River Museum. Collaboratively curated with Sarah Lawrence students, the exhibit pairs landscape paintings on loan from the Bronxville Historical Conservancy with contemporary works created by Westchester-based artists.

2–3:30 p.m.

The Posthumous Genius of Emily Dickinson with Neil Arditi, Literature Faculty
Emily Dickinson largely resisted publication during her lifetime, choosing to share her work with a minor man-of-letters, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, rather than Ralph Waldo Emerson, a family acquaintance and the one contemporary who almost certainly would have recognized the extent of her genius. Higginson went on to co-edit the posthumous first edition of Dickinson’s poems—albeit marred by his misguided effort to make them more palatable to contemporary tastes. But not even the redactions of her early editors could wholly blunt the uncanny inventiveness of Dickinson’s thought and voice. Spoken by buried corpses or broken off mid-sentence—as if at the moment of death—many of her poems seem themselves to dramatize or embody their posthumous status. Others reveal their author’s profound or mocking ambivalence towards the recognition she intentionally postponed. Together, we’ll take a stab at illuminating Dickinson’s motives for seeking a distinctly posthumous fame by reading and discussing together a few of her greatest and most suggestive poems.

Legal & Political Foundations of Capitalism: The End of Laissez Faire? With Jamee Moudud, Economics Faculty
Based on Moudud’s new book “Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism: the End of Laissez Faire?” this seminar introduces participants to the emerging Law and Political Economy tradition in economics. The seminar will seek to understand the nature of power and its relationship to institutions, especially legal ones, by considering property rights and money, the business corporation, constitutional political economy, the links between “free markets” and authoritarianism, colonialism and race, and inequality as it intersects across class, race, and gender lines. Core questions that will be addressed include: what is laissez faire and does legal-economic history show any proof of its existence? What is assumed when dueling perspectives advocate “more” or “less” government intervention and are these in fact false binaries that distract from core questions of public policy and key challenges such as climate instability, growing inequality, and threats to democracy?

Recording the Body Electric: A Lab-based Exploration of the 'Mind-Body' Connection with Maia Pujara, Psychology Faculty 
From butterflies in our stomachs to lumps in our throats, our bodies have ways of telling us how we feel, sometimes before we can verbalize it. The scientific field of psychophysiology emerged in the 1970’s to examine the link between a person's psychological state and various bodily functions (physiology). Recordings of the body's signals--including heart rate, perspiration, and muscle tension--can deepen our understanding of a person's emotional states. In this session, we will examine the 'mind-body' connection through a series of short hands-on labs. We will connect each of these labs to recent research in the field of psychophysiology that emphasizes the importance of 'listening' to the body's signals to sustain positive mental health and overall well-being.

4:00–5:00 p.m.
Heimbold Visual Arts Center

Join President Cristle Collins Judd for a conversation with Nancy Cantor ’74, President of Hunter College, discussing the complexities of leadership in higher education. They will discuss the evolving landscape of higher education, the importance of community partnerships, access and affordability, fostering environments for dialogue grounded in principles of mutual respect, public confidence in higher education, and the role of education in a well-functioning democracy.

Dr. Cantor boasts a career spanning over four decades, marked by notable achievements and a tireless dedication to advancing educational opportunities. Prior to her appointment at Hunter College, Dr. Cantor served as Chancellor at Rutgers University-Newark, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Syracuse University, as well as Provost at the University of Michigan.

An audience Q&A will follow the discussion.

5–6 p.m.
Heimbold Visual Arts Center

The Sarah Lawrence community remembers alumni, trustees, faculty, and staff who passed away during the academic year.

6:00–8:45 p.m.

25th Reunion Dinner with President Judd
Class of ’99. Classes of '98 and '00 are welcome.
The President’s House

Reunion Dinner and Drinks
All other classes
Bates Terrace

10:30 p.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center Living Room

Enjoy drinks and snacks while watching this beloved classic!

9–10:00 a.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center

10–11 a.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center

Join History faculty members Matthew Ellis, the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation Chair in Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs, and Philipp Nielsen, the Adda Bozeman Chair in International Relations, for a seminar exploring Israel and Palestine's complex history and future.

Matthew and Phillip will begin with an overview of the historical context, covering key topics such as the origins of Zionism, Palestinian and Jewish history before 1948, the establishment of the State of Israel, the 1967 War, and the subsequent occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

12:30–2:00 p.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center

Join us for the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association, followed by a celebratory luncheon in honor of our remarkable Citation Award winners for Achievement and Service to the College. The luncheon will conclude with "A Year in Review" featuring President Cristle Collins Judd.

4:00–5 p.m.
Departing from the Barbara Walters Campus Center

5:00–6:30 p.m.
Heimbold Visual Arts Center

Celebrate the work of alumni artists during our 19th Annual Alumni Art Exhibit and Reception at Reunion.

Class of ’74
6:30–9:30 p.m.
Barbara Walters Campus Center, Second Floor

After dinner, join us for dancing on the lower level of the Barbara Walters Campus Center.

10 a.m.–12 noon
Barbara Walters Campus Center

Close the weekend with a delicious champagne brunch!

Angela Ferraiolo, Visual and Studio Arts Faculty

Do you have a photograph of your first-grade classroom? How about a picture of your favorite after-school hangout? Do you think artificial intelligence could help bring these images back? In this session, we’ll preview a new art studio called ‘Diary Forms A.I.’, a class that teaches students the basics of using artificial intelligence engines by trying to reconstitute personal or cultural memories. After a brief overview of generative AI and its applications, we’ll create several pictures of a personal or cultural memory. Along the way, we'll note any challenges, insights, or surprises encountered during the experiment. We’ll also discuss the nature of memory, visual storytelling, and the impact of technology on artistic expression.

Mary Dillard, African History and Global Studies Faculty

This course introduces participants to the fascinating history of Yonkers through the fields of public history and museum studies. I will discuss historic Yonkers sites like Philipse Manor Hall, the Hudson River Museum, and Untermyer Gardens, asking what relationship does Sarah Lawrence College have with these three institutions and how can that public history be illuminated?

Neil Arditi, Literature Faculty

Emily Dickinson largely resisted publication during her lifetime, choosing to share her work with a minor man-of-letters, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, rather than Ralph Waldo Emerson, a family acquaintance and the one contemporary who almost certainly would have recognized the extent of her genius. Higginson went on to co-edit the posthumous first edition of Dickinson’s poems—albeit marred by his misguided effort to make them more palatable to contemporary tastes. But not even the redactions of her early editors could wholly blunt the uncanny inventiveness of Dickinson’s thought and voice. Spoken by buried corpses or broken off mid-sentence—as if at the moment of death—many of her poems seem themselves to dramatize or embody their posthumous status. Others reveal their author’s profound or mocking ambivalence towards the recognition she intentionally postponed. Together, we’ll take a stab at illuminating Dickinson’s motives for seeking a distinctly posthumous fame by reading and discussing together a few of her greatest and most suggestive poems.

Jamee Moudud, Economics Faculty

Based on Moudud’s new book “Legal and Political Foundations of Capitalism: the End of Laissez Faire?” this seminar introduces participants to the emerging Law and Political Economy tradition in economics. The seminar will seek to understand the nature of power and its relationship to institutions, especially legal ones, by considering property rights and money, the business corporation, constitutional political economy, the links between “free markets” and authoritarianism, colonialism and race, and inequality as it intersects across class, race, and gender lines. Core questions that will be addressed include: what is laissez faire and does legal-economic history show any proof of its existence? What is assumed when dueling perspectives advocate “more” or “less” government intervention and are these in fact false binaries that distract from core questions of public policy and key challenges such as climate instability, growing inequality, and threats to democracy?

Maia Pujara, Psychology Faculty 

From butterflies in our stomachs to lumps in our throats, our bodies have ways of telling us how we feel, sometimes before we can verbalize it. The scientific field of psychophysiology emerged in the 1970’s to examine the link between a person's psychological state and various bodily functions (physiology). Recordings of the body's signals--including heart rate, perspiration, and muscle tension--can deepen our understanding of a person's emotional states. In this session, we will examine the 'mind-body' connection through a series of short hands-on labs. We will connect each of these labs to recent research in the field of psychophysiology that emphasizes the importance of 'listening' to the body's signals to sustain positive mental health and overall well-being.

A limited number of on-campus residence hall rooms are available to reunion alumni only on a first-come, first-served basis. Registering for on-campus housing allows you to use your room for the entire weekend. Unlike hotels, we are unable to turn around rooms on a daily basis.

Campus housing at Sarah Lawrence means returning to dormitory living. Please keep in mind that the rooms are basic, with little furniture. There are no private bathrooms. Rooms are singles and beds are twin–sized. Basic sheets, a light blanket, a pillow, and a towel are provided, but we recommend that you bring an extra blanket, pillow, towel, toiletries (soap), etc. You may also want to bring hangers, an alarm clock, a hair dryer, an iron, or other amenities. There are no phones, desk lamps, air conditioners, or fans.