Barnard Winter Break Career-Well-Being Colloquium
Why a Career Well-Being Colloquium?
The word colloquium has Latin roots that mean, “to speak together.” In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shocks to the job market, Beyond Barnard — the College's integrated hub for career support — hosted “Summer Colloquium." This summer-long series of more than 50 events and programs was designed not only to help job seekers develop skills and knowledge to make them more effective as applicants, but also to build solidarity and community among students and alumnae by identifying common themes, questions, and challenges. In an unprecedented moment of isolation and uncertainty, Summer Colloquium connected members of the Barnard community for the common purpose of advancing solidarity and pursuing opportunity together.
Barnard Winter Career Well-Being Colloquium 2026
Irrespective of how the job market ultimately shapes up in 2026, it's clearly a time of especially high concern and anxiety about the economy. To take care of one's career well-being has critical overlaps with mental, physical, financial, and intellectual well-being — and to this extent, investing even just a bit of time in thinking about these topics can help set students up for success throughout the semester and beyond. In Winter Break 2026, Beyond Barnard held a five-part virtual series about career well-being to help students get ahead of the semester. It was a chance to take ownership of one's job, internship, and graduate school search, while spending time in community with peers who are facing similar challenges and questions.
About Career Well-Being Colloquium Sessions
Across five sessions, Winter Break Career Well-Being Colloquium gave students the opportunity to reflect on their goals, challenges, and questions together. They left empowered with a set of best practices and tangible steps to help structure the spring semester. Sessions included:
- Session One: The Current Market Landscape
- Session Two: Building Your Barnard Community
- Session Three: Resumes in the Time of the Robots
- Session Four: Cover Letters as Argumentative Essays
- Session Five: Interviews & Next Steps
Questions about the 2026 Barnard Career Well-Being Colloquium and future Beyond Barnard events can be sent to beyondbarnard@barnard.edu.
About the Presenter
A-J Aronstein is Vice President of Community Engagement & Lifelong Success at Barnard College. He joined the College in January 2018, marking eight years in service to Barnard on the first day of Spring Semester 2026. He previously served as the inaugural Director of Graduate Career Development at the University of Chicago, where he received a Master's in the Humanities, and taught as a Writing Intern in the Collegiate Division and as an instructor in the Humanities Division. His written work about career and job topics has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere.