Our Staff
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Myra Young ArmsteadVice President for Academic Inclusive Excellence and Lyford Paterson Edwards and Helen Gray Edwards Professor of Historical Studies
armstead@bard.edu
845-758-7235
Office: Fairbairn 10Myra Young Armstead
Vice President for Academic Inclusive Excellence and Lyford Paterson Edwards and Helen Gray Edwards Professor of Historical Studies
armstead@bard.edu
845-758-7235
Office: Fairbairn 10
She received her doctorate in history from the University of Chicago where she interned under the late Dr. John Hope Franklin and concentrated in three fields: U.S. urban history, U.S. diplomatic history, and African colonial history.
She holds a master’s in international relations with a concentration in African affairs, and a bachelor’s from Cornell University, where she majored in government. Professor Armstead’s book publications include “Lord, Please Don’t Take Me in August”: African Americans in Newport and Saratoga Springs, 1870–1930 (University of Illinois, 1999); Mighty Change, Tall Within: Black Identity in the Hudson Valley (SUNY Press, 2003); and Freedom’s Gardener: James F. Brown, Horticulture, and the Hudson Valley in Antebellum America (New York University Press, 2012). Currently, she is completing two research projects: a book-length study of cultural reforms during the Progressive Era, and a study of class divisions and cross-class connections regarding economic issues among evangelical Protestants in North America. In 2014–15 she received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to undertake research at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture for the Progressive Era project. Her study of economics and religion is supported by a three-year (2015–18) grant from the Louisville Institute.
At Bard, Professor Armstead has taught broadly in U.S. history with a concentration in 19th-century social and cultural history. -
Kahan Sablo
Kahan Sablo
Dr. Kahan Sablo was appointed Bard College’s Dean of Inclusive Excellence in January of 2020. A New York City native (The Bronx), he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Justice and Master of Science degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from SUNY Oswego. He also has a Doctor of Education degree in Administration and Leadership Studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where his dissertation research focused on the perceived impact of college gospel choir participation on the retention of African American students at predominately White universities.
Dr. Sablo attended college with the hope of one day becoming a New York City Police Officer. However, while away at school, Dr. Sablo was the victim of two significant acts of combined racism and homophobia that resulted in a New York State Supreme Court hearing. This unfortunate experience led him to his chosen vocation - working in college student services/student affairs, with an emphasis on equity, diversity and inclusion.
His student services resume includes work in residence life, orientation, the counseling center, student advisement, student conduct, college health, career services, fraternity/sorority life, student activities, recreation/fitness, adult student services, student discipline/conduct, Title IX, disability support services, athletics, and diversity/inclusion work – including serving as the founder of two campus multicultural centers. He has held two senior-level student affairs positions, including serving as a Chief Student Affairs Officer/Vice President for Student Affairs.
In addition to his passion for higher education, Dr. Sablo has over 30 years of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) experience, most of which has been at the Advanced Life Support (paramedic) level. In his free time, Dr. Sablo has held multiple leadership positions in his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Furthermore, he is the National Facilitator of Adodi, a same gender–loving men’s spiritual organization for Black men.
With approximately 30 years of experience directing and playing piano for church and collegiate gospel choirs, Dr. Sablo recently reconstituted the Bard College Gospel Choir. Furthermore, he also accepted a call to ministry and was licensed to preach in July of 2019.
A former elected school board official, his hobbies include community organizing, playing volleyball, singing, playing piano, and photography. But most importantly, Dr. Sablo is the proud father of Eugene “Tre” Schoolfield, III, a United States Marine currently stationed overseas.
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Ann SeatonDirector of the Difference and Media Project, Director of Multicultural Affairs, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Humanities
aseaton@bard.edu
845-758-7047
Office: Albee BasementAnn Seaton
Director of the Difference and Media Project, Director of Multicultural Affairs, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Humanities
aseaton@bard.edu
845-758-7047
Office: Albee Basement
Ann earned her BA from Wellesley College and PhD from Harvard University. She has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University; a Faculty Publishing Fellow, City University of New York; and Du Bois Fellow, Harvard. Assistant professor, English, CUNY. -
Claudette S. Aldebot
Claudette S. Aldebot
She was born and raised in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and moved to the Hudson Valley in 1995. She earned her BA in women’s studies and Spanish, and her MPA in humanistic and multicultural education with a focus on diversity and inclusion from SUNY New Paltz.
Claudette’s higher education experience is in the areas of residence life, assessment, student development, and teaching. She also brings an array of skills that were gained from her experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors. As a first-generation student, she is passionate about paying it forward and guiding the next generation of BEOP scholars.
In the Classroom and Beyond
Bard College has historically been a sanctuary from ethnic, political, religious, and other forms of intolerance. We embody this legacy today with a strong investment in both local and global initiatives, from our Center for Civic Engagement to the Bard Prison Initiative and Early Colleges, as well as with our programs in Bishkek, Berlin, East Jerusalem, and St. Petersburg. Our curriculum encourages students to deepen their understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion through the distribution requirement, Difference and Justice, and Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences courses, as well as programs of study that create space for historically marginalized voices in the academy.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Practice
Inclusive Pedagogy
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion works to create opportunities for both new and veteran faculty members to meet as a division or program to focus on curriculum and pedagogy as it relates to cultivating an inclusive learning environment. These workshops use scenarios to facilitate open discussion of specific issues raised by students, and are intended as a forum for faculty to reflect on and discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion in their pedagogical practice.
Dialogues on Diversity: We invite students to participate in an informed conversation about their experiences on campus related to diversity and inclusivity. This is an opportunity to hear direct input from students that helps inform DEI’s initiatives.
Campus-wide Programming: DEI sponsors and cosponsors campus-wide events such as speakers, panels, and movie screenings that relate to social justice, multiculturalism, and inclusion.
Center for Faculty and Curricular Development
DEI collaborates with the Center for Faculty and Curricular Development to incorporate topics of diversity and inclusivity in the following initiatives:
- New Faculty Orientation: During orientation, new faculty work with current faculty and staff through a series of Bard classroom case studies concerned with diversity and inclusion. This is an opportunity for new faculty to begin a conversation about what it means to have a diverse and inclusive classroom at Bard.
- Lightning Lunches: Structured discussions designed to fit into 45–55 minutes, which often explore issues of inclusivity in the classroom.