Bard Graduate Center is devoted to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through research, advanced degrees, exhibitions, publications, and events.

A major draw for attending the Bard Graduate Center is that the school’s location allows for easy access to museums and collections around the city. In professor Annissa Malvoisin’s fall 2024 class, Global Materials Along the Nile: 3400 BCE–500 CE, we took full advantage of New York’s resources with frequent museum visits and collection tours.

At the Brooklyn Museum, we visited the conservation department and viewed ancient Egyptian objects from their collection, meeting with Morgan Moroney, assistant curator of ancient Egyptian art, and Kathy Zurek-Doule, curatorial associate for Egyptian, classical, and ancient Near Eastern Art. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we walked through the Egyptian galleries and took tours with Dr. Andrea Myers Achi, Mary and Michael Jaharis Associate Curator of Byzantine Art, and Dr. Janice Kamrin, curator of Egyptian art. On our last day of class, we visited the Met’s exhibition Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now.

Not only did we conduct hands-on learning with site visits but we especially focused on studying materials. When looking at slides Dr. Malvoisin would ask us what we thought different objects were made of, and I developed a visual vocabulary for ancient materials and making techniques, a lot of which are ubiquitous outside of this context. For example, before this class I had no idea what faience was or how it was produced. But after being in the Brooklyn Museum’s storage, crowded around tiny objects on a table, I now have both a knowledge of the production of faience and a physical memory of encountering it in an ancient form.

Dr. Malvoisin’s class was also tailored to our interests. As the semester went on, we could tell what might appeal to each other. Walking through the Met, I would tap Brenna Gomez (MA ’26) when we passed ancient jewelry. Asha Bell (MA ’26) brought a valuable maker’s perspective and attention to detail. We were encouraged to question objects themselves but also to research gaps within the field of Egyptology, particularly the way Nubia has been historically represented and discussed.

When I was considering graduate programs, the global approach of BGC appealed to me. Taking classes outside of my speciality, like this one, pushes me out of my academic comfort zone. This has created new connections in my research and broadened my understanding of material culture—and it was fun! My camera roll grew in this class, and hopefully I will now walk through the ancient Egyptian galleries at the Met more knowledgeably.

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Sarah Egan is a first-year student in the MA program