The BLAIS Faculty Partner of the Year, now in its sophomore year, is awarded to Laurie Postlewate for her collaboration with members of the IMATS and Personal Librarians divisions of BLAIS on a video project for her interdisciplinary Golden Age of Versailles class. The course objective was "to trace the evolution of artistic production at Versailles over a period of about 120 years and demonstrate the rich intersections between different forms and media. The digital component of the course will involve both instructional materials and a collaborative student project."
Of the project, Postlewate reports, "Working with the IMATS team, especially Miriam Neptune and Alexis Seeley, and with Catherine Turocy of the New York Baroque Dance Company has furthered my awareness of how digital projects can enhance classroom discussion of texts. The students in the Versailles course and I have experienced first hand how the historical and cultural context of literary production emerges more clearly through collaboration between the disciplines and with the support of technology. Our project brought scholarly research and thinking about dance and garden design to life, connecting these in exciting ways to the texts we read and discussed together."
In the French language course, students learn about the evolution of cultural and artistic production in France over a period of 120 years, using a variety of media and forms of scholarship. BLAIS staff and student workers created a video lecture that features dancer and scholar Catherine Turocy, the New York Baroque Dance Company and Barnard dancers. In addition, students from the class get help from IMATS to develop a collective historical timeline based on their research on French culture during the reign of Louis XIV and beyond. The course was developed with funding from Barnard's Committee on Online & On-Campus Learning (COOL).
The award will be celebrated with a library exhibit and reception in coming academic year.