Talks & Events
I present at public programs and professional gatherings of all sizes. I also organize convenings for institutional and community stakeholders, creating equitable spaces for creative collaboration. In working with communities, artists and students, I practice deep listening — earning trust through patient and respectful engagement.
Ultimately I love learning from the people who inform my work.
Mindscapes Convening and Working Group
The Center for the Humanities, CUNY Graduate Center, 2020
At the end of 2020, I gathered a group of 45 people for Mindscapes, Wellcome’s international cultural program about mental health.
Optics: Health, Crisis and Care
International Center for Photography, 2020
This three-part sub-series of Optics: A New Way of Seeing Contemporary Culture focused on Health, Crisis, and Care. For this first virtual conversation, ICP Director of Exhibitions and Collections Erin Barnett, host Reya Sehgal and I looked at visualizing viruses.
Care for the Polis: Introduction and Germ City Exhibition
Heyman Center for the Humanities, Columbia University, 2020
Humans and microbes have always co-habited, and their relationship has had a profound influence on human history—especially in cities. I was invited to discuss my work as co-curator of Germ City: Microbes and the Metropolis.
Mapping Contagion at New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, NYPL, 2019
A research methods event with a distinctly cartographic focus. Through the unifying lens of infectious disease, each presentation addressed the role of mapping in their given research field. Scholars and curators from the worlds of public history, medicine, and sociology discussed the variety of methodologies they use.
Resonant Spaces: Finding Well Being Through Parks and Music
Hamwe Festival, University of Global Health Equity, 2020
I moderated this panel discussion between Ellen Reid, Mitchell Silver and Adedayo Perkovich about music and mental health in New York’s parks.
Additional Presentations
“History, Science, and Art in Germ City,” Chancellor’s Day: Microbes and the Metropolis, Museum of the City of New York, November 2018.
“Ethnographic Practice and Curatorial Work,” American Studies Association Conference, November 2018.
“‘I Have to Multitask to Survive’: Flexible Manufacturing at the Brooklyn Navy Yard,” Urban History Association Conference, October 2016.
“Waste Incineration, Job Creation, and the Politics of Environmental Justice at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1986-Present.” Society for American City and Regional Planning History Conference, Los Angeles, 2015.