5 Questions with Theodore Kerr
During the January break, we had a chance to chat with Ted Kerr, an alum of the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students. He shared his thoughts on his current work and how BPATS has been a major influence in his life. Ted is a part-time faculty member at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts.
1. What are you currently working on?/ current projects or career?
TED: This is a wonderfully stress inducing question! Currently I am working with the WHAT WOULD AN HIV DOULA DO? collective to curate an LA version of our exhibition, METANOIA: Transformation through AIDS Archives and Activism that debuted at the New York LGBT center in 2019. The exhibition looks at the impact of Black women living with HIV, specifically some of the life changing activism that has been done by women from prison. I also just finished a manuscript about AIDS cultural history with activist filmmaker and academic Alexandra Juhasz. I just got back from Philadelphia where I hosted a town hall to go along with an issue of ON CURATING that I edited entitled, WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT AIDS COULD FILL A MUSEUM. And, I am gearing up to teach 2 classes at Lang, one of which is part of the GURAL program!
2. In what ways did BPATS prepare you/benefit you for your life & work post-graduation?
TED: Being in BPATS was the best preparation for post graduation life. I was in a community of peers who were working towards excellence. We supported each other, and had a shared understanding of what it was to be caring and experienced adults who did things in our own way, in our own time, within our communities and with responsibilities beyond the classroom. I am lucky because I still have that sense of community with many other BPATS grads.
3. What drew you to the BPATS program & The New School?
TED: A friend told me to check out The New School because she had gone to a few public talks that had left a positive impact on her. Then, doing my research, I saw that not only might my prior school credits count towards graduation, I might also be able to use my prior life and work experience for credits. In the end I was able to graduate within a reasonable amount of time because The New School recognized my life before I was accepted into school. That meant the world to me. I was worried I might feel like a loser for finishing my BA in my 30s, instead I felt like a winner who had been able to do things as they made sense. I was not ready for school when I was in my 20s. BPATS ensured that I could get the education I wanted when I was ready.
4. What were some of your favorite moments/professors/classes that stood out to you?
TED: I love Dr. Tracyann Williams. She was my advisor, and I took classes with her, including a foundational course in which we studied the writing of Black women prior to the 1920s. I would not have had the rich and meaningful experiences I had at The New School had I not had such a well informed and thoughtful advisor and professor. She made it possible for me to go to Union Theological Seminary where I did my Masters. Similarly, I am forever grateful to Laura Cronk who I got to know as a Riggio fellow, and together we did a directed reading class about the role that the printed word plays in democracy. I am also indebted to Rachel Heiman who was so helpful when I was doing my prior credit portfolios. I am not sure how many schools can boast such strong faculty / administrators. I hope The New School knows how lucky it is to have such amazing people in the community, saving lives on the daily.
5. If you could impart something to yourself at the beginning of your BPATS career, what would it have been?
TED: Babe, take your time.