Various clubs collaborated for this trip.
GABRIELLA DICKSON / THE QUADRANGLE
Gabriella Dickson, Staff Writer
On March 7, Manhattan University’s (MU) Pride Center, alongside the Black Student Union (BSU), Sanctus Artem and the World Languages and Literatures Department, hosted a trip to the New York Historical Society to see the “Gay Harlem Renaissance” exhibition.
The event provided an educational introduction to the Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Seminar (LLRN) course, giving students the opportunity to see firsthand how African American history intersects with the LGBTQ+ community.
Evelyn Scaramella, Ph.D., chair of the Department of English, World Languages, and Literatures, spoke to The Quadrangle about why she selected this exhibit over others.
“I wanted to come to this exhibit since I’m teaching a LLRN 105 course,” Scaramella said. “The title of it is ‘Modernist Commitments, Representations of War and Social Justice.’ In this class, we are studying the Harlem Renaissance.”
Scaramella highlighted the department’s partnership with campus organizations, specifically BSU and Sanctus Artem. She further explained how the trip enhanced her students’ educational experience.
“I invited my students to come in collaboration with the Pride Center, BSU and Sanctus Artem,” Scaramella said. “We are going to be spending maybe two weeks on the Harlem Renaissance [exploring the works of] writers [such as] Langston Hughes and Nella Larson… [Other] writers who are featured in this exhibition [we are] going to be working on in class [as well]… So it really is just a fabulous exhibit.”
Rocco Marinaccio, Ph.D., an English professor and the director of the Pride Center, spoke to The Quadrangle about how the exhibit itself and the images it conveyed impacted him.
“I really like the way they’ve put [the exhibit] together,” Marinaccio said. “It’s a pretty tight space, but I think it works pretty well… I’ve seen writers and performers, I’ve seen pictures of them before, but as the exhibit suggests, this was, in many ways, a kind of hidden world.”
Marinaccio continued, explaining that the experience allowed him to connect with others at MU.
“I’ve been interested in talking to the students and getting their impressions, to hear what they knew or didn’t know about this period,” Marinaccio said. “They also seemed to really enjoy the exhibits of the writers and artists, especially hearing the poems.”
Ashley Karlosky, a junior communications major, explained why she chose to attend this trip in particular.
“I think the Harlem Renaissance was such a distinct time within LGBTQ+ history,” Karlosky said. “It also shows [that] within many minorities there’s a lot of overlap that gets compiled together. This is definitely one of those pockets of history [that demonstrate this].”
Karlosky continued to emphasize to The Quadrangle how the visuals and concepts in the exhibit had impacted her.
“I think it connects me to the past,” Karlosky said. “It’s really fascinating and interesting to see that although we are years apart, we still have the same feelings and struggles.”
Sienna Gallus, a junior psychology major and Pride Center student worker, told The Quadrangle why seeing the exhibit was important to her.
“I think it’s really timely to just come see this, and celebrate diversity… It’s just a good reminder of what happens when people band together and have pride and feel brave enough to express themselves,” Gallus said.
Scaramella spoke about how she connected with her peers and other students from MU through the trip.
“What I love about taking students to different exhibits in the city is that we usually open it up to different classes, centers, and students who just want to join,” Scaramella said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to meet each other, and for professors to meet new students as well.”