Annual Report 2019-2020
From Our Director
The Barnard Center for Research on Women entered the 2019-2020 academic year with resolve, excitement, and an ambitious vision for what we could accomplish during the year. Our calendar of public programming was bursting at the seams as we brought a record-breaking number of world-class scholars, artists, and activists to campus. We supported and nurtured work by faculty colleagues and Barnard students, while continuing our deep engagement with colleagues and partners in the broader community, both locally and globally.
Who could have predicted that we would close out the academic year working remotely under the shadow of a global pandemic and in the midst of an ongoing national and international uprisings in defense of Black lives and in righteous protest against police violence?
Once we were scattered across the boroughs of New York (and across the river to New Jersey) because of stay-at-home orders across the region, we kept our work and many of our scheduled events going. The ingenuity and commitment of BCRW’s team are unmatched, and we not only kept much of our calendar intact through the closing months of the academic year, adapting to new formats that brought our communities together online, but lent critical assistance to collaborators at Barnard and beyond as folks sought to meet the challenges and emerging needs in a changing reality.
I could not feel more grateful for all the amazing people who make BCRW what it is. First and foremost among these are the brilliant and creative people who make up the staff of the Center, each one of whom brings irreplaceable talents, dazzling intellect, and unassailable commitment to a more just world. No less important are our many faculty colleagues across the College and the University, our partners in the Barnard Library and Archives, the residents and affiliates of the BCRW Social Justice Initiative and the communities to which they connect us, and the students and community members who support and inspire our work.
None of our work would be possible without the generosity of our supporters. As we look ahead to our fiftieth anniversary in 2020-2021, and as we adjust our planning for this anniversary in light of a changed and changing world, we hope you will join us in celebrating the work that has brought us here and we hope that support the work to come. To make your gift today, visit bcrw.barnard.edu/fifty, or contact us for more information and ways to give.
Thank you for celebrating our past and supporting our future.
With appreciation,
Elizabeth Castelli, BCRW Director and Professor of Religion