This Is Who We Are

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making. 

Started in Fall 2020 by alumna Amanda Breen '21, 2021-2022 interviews were conducted by student Willam Hutton, and 2022-2023 interviews are conducted by student Carlos Barragán.

“Between coronavirus and politics, so much is frightening about the world right now that it almost feels like escapism to lose myself in the pages of a 100-year-old novel.”

Associate Professor Susan Bernofsky, Writing, Director of Literary Translation (LTAC)

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

Here, we talk with Professor Leslie Jamison about empathy on the page, why she sees herself as a bowerbird writer, and how teaching influences her

This Is Who We Are is a series featuring Columbia School of the Arts’ professors, covering careers, pedagogy, and art-making.

Here, we talk with Professor Shane McCrae about why true poets are always abandoning themselves, how he starts writing poems, and the best ways to

Here, we talk with Film and Media Studies Professor of Professional Practice, Richard Peña, about finding black holes in film history, why you shou

Here, we talk with Visual Arts Lecturer João Pina about his career as a photographer, his new project, Tarrafal, and why failure is essential to le

Here, we talk with Assistant Professor of Writing Matthew Salesses about writing myths, how to properly conduct a workshop and why successful write