Bennington Works!

8:15 AM - 9:00 AM, Newman Court

Registration & Breakfast

9:00 AM - 9:45 AM, Greenwall

Welcome from Campus Leadership

Description: Tonya Strong, Laura Walker, and Alfredo Medina, Jr welcome the guests to campus.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Panels for Students:

1. Creating at Bennington: What’s in a (French) film title?
   Description: Before you see a film, you usually see, read, visualize, and fantasize its title. Film titles, precisely because they are a lowest common denominator, are also a way to approach a language and culture. Explored as palimpsests, we will focus on American and French film titles in order to decipher what and how they reflect us. You will enrich your exploration with excerpts from theoretical texts, such as Derrida’s Title (to be specified) and bell hooks's Reel to Real: Race, Sex, and Class at the Movies . We will also consider other forms of paratext related to titles such as clips, film trailers, reviews, posters and opening titles. Whatever your level in French, you should be able to pick up a few new words and deepen your cultural understanding of French language, films and culture. Led by CSL faculty member, Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly.
2. Creating at Bennington: In Their Element - Scientists at Work
   Description: Join organismal biology research students as they catch, band, and release birds and monitor active nest boxes (weather-permitting), hear students talk about their ongoing research, including projects elucidating protein quality control pathways in yeast, or applying elliptical Fourier analysis to leaf shape categorization, and view numerous student research posters throughout the building.  
3. Creating at Bennington: How to Write with Camille Guthrie
   Description: At Bennington, many students identify as writers, and the faculty create many ways for you to write. You can take Screenwriting, Playwriting, Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction, Critical Writing--and writing is included in almost every discipline. In this workshop, we will discuss what kind of writing you want to do at Bennington. A student will join me to talk to you about how reading is writing, and writing is reading; how process is emphasized; and how the Plan process is also about writing. We will also tell you about the support systems for student writing and the Scriptorium course series, which is available every term, open to all students, and focuses on developing one's critical writing. 

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Panels for Guests:

1. Supporting Your Student: Four Years at Bennington in Forty Minutes
   Description: A well-rounded overview of academics at Bennington, including discussions of Bennington’s Plan, Field Work Term, and how Bennington’s self-directed learning model and faculty advising and mentoring will help students develop academically and prepare them to rethink, invent, and change the culture. Presenters: Maurice Hall & Noelle Murphy
    
2. Supporting Your Student: First Year Transitions
   Description: Focusing on the summer before the first year, new student orientation, and other elements of the first-year transition process, this installment in the ‘Supporting Your Student’ series will guide families on the type of support their students will have access to before, during, and after their move to Bennington. Presenter: Kate Child & Ali Tartaglia

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Student Panels

1. Creating at Bennington: CAPA Advanced Work Projects
   Description: This session will invite questions and responses about the important issues in the world related to human rights, social justice, public action and the arts, food systems, and the environment. Students who are completing their advanced work in the Center for the Advancement of Public Action (CAPA) will share their research and projects that are impacting their local, national, and international communities. Presented by Susan Sgorbati, Faculty and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action.
    
2. Creating at Bennington: Qualitative InQueeries
   Description: In this workshop, Psychology Professor Özge Savaş and the students who worked with her in her Qualitative Inquiry course in the Fall of 2022 will present the use of qualitative methods in psychology and social sciences, and the role of research in transforming culture and society. They will focus on explaining how research methods are an integral part of understanding the lived experiences of marginalized groups, including queer, racial/ethnic minorities, and migrants/refugees. They will be sharing some of the findings of the research study they conducted as a class about Bennington students’ understandings and experiences of gender and sexuality on campus.
    
3. Creating at Bennington: Daoist Culture Through Tai Chi
   Description: Tai-Chi  (Taiji) is a Chinese martial art and meditation system. The symbol of Tai-Chi is the famous Chinese Yin and Yang symbol also called taiji. In this workshop, participants will get some hands-on experience with the Tai-Chi martial art and learn a little bit about Daoist philosophy in the process. Led by CSL faculty member Ginger Lin
    
4. Creating at Bennington: Welcome to the VAPA Print Studio
   Description: We will tour the VAPA print facility, discuss how it relates to the curriculum, and look at student's work. In this studio, we can make monoprints, wood cuts, lithographs from stones, metal plates, polyester laser plates, and photosensitive plates, photopolymer gravure, screenprinting, etching/intaglio. We also use the laser cutter to make plates and cut paper. All of these processes are used to feed into other work in the curriculum in various ways. Join us for a tour and presentation and to ask questions. Led by visual arts faculty member Thorsten Dennerline.

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Panels for guests:

1. Supporting Your Student: Campus Safety
   Description: For many parents, campus safety and security is at the forefront of their minds while considering college options. This session provides information on how campus safety works to create a safe living and learning environment for everyone at Bennington. Additionally, the session provides information on beginning of year/academic breaks/ end of year transportation, accessing the local area without a car, and what safety resources students can expect on campus. Presenter: Cathy Antofer-Fialon
    
2. Supporting Your Student: Belonging at Bennington
   Description: What does “belonging” mean at Bennington College?  This session in the “Supporting Your Student” series will discuss how Bennington College builds community and support for students as well as strengthens student experiences outside of the classroom. Presenters: Li-Chen Chin & Donnie Redd
    

12:15 PM - 1:30 PM Lunch

Served at Commons

1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Panels for Students

1. Creating at Bennington: Expanding The Range: A Movement Exploration Workshop
   Description: Movement is at the core of life and living organisms. What are the ingredients which transform movement into that thing we call "dance"? This will be an experiential dive into movement and dance including a guided warm up, and some enticing exercises and discussion. All levels welcome. Led by MFA Fellow Tal Shibi.
2. Creating at Bennington: Creative Writing and Literary Translation at Bennington: A Student Reading of Poetry, Prose, and Hybrid Forms
   Description: Current students present brief readings of literary work they have produced at Bennington, followed by a Q&A  about the Literature program. Presented by literature faculty member Marguerite Feitlowitz. 
3. Creating at Bennington: Comparative Democratization with Rotimi Suberu
   Description: In this introductory comparative politics workshop, we will be reviewing the contested meanings of democracy as a political regime, historic waves of transitions from non-democratic to democratic regimes, and contemporary sources and patterns of what has been described as a global democratic recession.
4. Creating at Bennington: Open Rehearsal of Unibeauty and her Wicked Daughters
   Description: This is an original play, and the world premiere production, with Bennnington students. Sue Rees is designing the set and projections and Julie Winger, a student, is designing costumes. Synopsis: Unibeauty is a Health & Beauty company who is so proud of her civil rights achievements that she and her fellow corporations stage pageants to celebrate their progress. But when Hairless Witches serve her Class Action Curses she is forced to reckon with the true impact of her legacy. Led by drama faculty members Jean Randich and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig.

1:45 PM - 2:45 PM Panels for Guests

1. Supporting Your Student: Bennington Graduates Land on their Feet
   Description: Bennington’s hands-on inquiry-based approach to education prepares students for a life after Bennington—as civically engaged citizens, as proactive contributors to their workplaces, and as insightful lifelong learners.    This session will explore how the Plan Process, Field Work Term internships, and graduate-level academic advising, prepare our graduates for success. Presenters: Maurice Hall & Tonya Strong
2. Supporting Your Student: Health & Wellness
   Description: Featuring staff members from Bennington's health services, this session will review the resources available to students on campus and how to access them. Presenter: Ali Tartaglia

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM Panels for both students and guests

1. Field Work Term Realized
   Description: This session will focus on Field Work Term, Bennington's unique annual internship period, and how students engage with the world beyond the classroom. Presenter: Sarah Krinsky
2. Academic Services & Accommodations
   Description: Join Academic Services staff and current students to explore the wide range of support and guidance you can expect in your studies at Bennington College. This session will be particularly helpful for students who have an IEP or 504 Plan in high school and intend to request academic accommodations in college. Presenters: Noelle Murphy & Kate Child
    
3. Student Life Panel
   Description: What is it like to be a student at Bennington? A panel of student life staff members and current students will discuss all things Bennington, from housing to clubs and how to get involved as a first-year student. Confirmed presenter: Jack de Loos and student panelists

4:15 PM - 4:45 PM, CAPA

Closing Reception

Students and guests will join senior staff and admissions staff members for a casual closing reception. This is a time for guests to have their final questions answered and enjoy a fun snack with members of the Bennington community.

Also available during the day:

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Purple Carrot Farm Volunteering

Join the Purple Carrot Farm to volunteer with the organic farm located on Bennington's campus! Feel free to stop by for 10 minutes, an hour, or any amount of time to experience this beautiful natural space. As this is a working farm, please wear appropriate shoes for outdoor work!

10:00-11:00, 11:15-12:15, 1:45-2:45: Campus tours

Join our admissions interns for a campus tour!

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Academic Services Drop-In Appointments

Description: If you have individual questions about academic services or accommodations at Bennington, please drop by to speak with a staff member one-on-one.