Name: Antonio Sánchez Gómez, MA’ 14, PhD Candidate
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia
College: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Bard Graduate Center gave my academic interests a name, a place, and a community. As an MA alum and a current PhD candidate, I’ve been able to explore areas beyond my main research interest on the material culture of laundry in early twentieth-century Colombia. I have explored, among other topics, the history of English ceramics, Andean textiles, and theoretical approaches to conservation, exhibiting, and collecting. Many of these courses accessed collections and specialists at the Metropolitan Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the MOMA, just to name a few. Despite the BGC being a relatively small place, the geographical and temporal range of interests of the faculty and students make this a unique academic experience. Studying at the BGC has allowed me to find a balance between focused specialization and the blissful exploration of a variety of academic topics and approaches, thus expanding my professional profile.