Archival Research and Production through the Erin Cramer Feminists on SCUM/Valerie Solanas Tapes
Barnard College, WMST 3535
Professor Alexandra Juhasz, Brooklyn College, CUNY, partners with the Barnard Library and WGSS to offer a special undergraduate seminar in feminist media theory and history with a research and production focus on nine hours of interview footage shot by Erin Cramer (’86) in New York City in 1992.
Shot on hi-8 video with feminist activists and Warhol factory members who knew and were changed by Valerie Solanas and her SCUM Manifesto (1968), the tapes have been unseen until found in Erin’s Mom’s basement and digitized in 2023.
Enjoying private access, the class will produce original research, building out the themes, people, time, and concerns of the tapes recently gifted to the archives at the Barnard Library, including but not limited to: feminist rage and humor, the role of violence in radical feminism, the loss of (artistic) voice within patriarchy and male-dominated scenes, the connections between patriarchy and mental illness, downtown NY in the 60s and 90s, lesbianism and queer/trans feminism.
Students’ research will contribute to the production of a forthcoming documentary based on the footage (dir: Erin Cramer; producer: Alexandra Juhasz). Original student research will be produced across formats—from writing, to video and zines, performance and more—and may be showcased or saved, if appropriate and permitted by its makers.