Artist-Philosophers in Practice: Cultivating Community at SECAC

by Dr. Angela Whitlock, PhD 2024

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For many IDSVA students and alumni, journeying through IDSVA’s curriculum has not only fostered a specific skill set for preparing for and presenting at conferences; it has also fostered the ethos of care toward others and the importance of continuing to nourish and strengthen connections made during the graduate program. This was made evident during SECAC’s annual conference this past October. 

Once a regional conference, SECAC (originally Southeastern College of Arts Conference) has expanded to an international level. At their 2025 Conference in Cincinnati, OH, roughly 30 IDSVA students and alumni presented their research and art practice. Presentations ranged from “Art is the Butterfly Effect of Itself: Aesthetic Efflorescence and Retronymic Recoding within Art’s Information Ecology” (Dr. Jason Hoelscher, PhD 2019) to “Memory and Machine: Photography as Archive and Artistic Intervention in Women’s Histories” (Johanna Guilfoyle, PhD Candidate) to “The Ocean Writes in Mourning: Anthropomorphism as Ethical-Aesthetic Reworlding” (Dr. Jacqueline Viola Moulton, PhD 2025). 

The vast array of subject matter, approach, and perspectives from IDSVA students and alumni showcases how IDSVA’s coursework allows for a multitude of interests and passions within the framework of intertextualizing art and philosophy, while also preparing individuals for the rigor and professionalism expected at high-level, academic conferences. “There is a different type of academic rigor [at SECAC] that is expected of you,” remarked Tory Schendel-Vyvoda, Cohort 23. 

When asking several IDSVA students and alums how the program prepared them for SECAC, the overarching consensus was that IDSVA shaped their format, method, tonality, delivery, and ability to be concise within a set time frame. Justin Gallant (Cohort ’24) asserted that “IDSVA specifically has a presentation format” that they teach students to follow, while Dr. Nandita Baxi Sheth (PhD 2025) reflected, “I learned about how to format the presentation slides. I learned about how to prepare by pairing down the writing to 20 minutes. I learned about preparing and practicing my presentation [...]. I also learned how to pace myself while speaking my paper versus just reading it. [I learned about how] to really think about how to pause, and how to create interest, and how to change the tone, to let there be space for the ideas to sink in.” 

Another topic that arose involved the way IDSVA prepares students for “formulating the question,” a phrase that frequently arises while completing the graduate program. Gallant reflected that IDSVA taught him “how to be comfortable and expect the comments and questions you’re going to get and not just feel like you’re reading a paper and don’t know anything about it.” Schendel-Vyvoda also remarked that, “having that background and really practicing to get more precise with the questioning” helped her “generate more concise, specific questions.” 

Students and alums also remarked fondly on their time at Spannocchia, a portion of their first-year residency where they were tasked with intertextualizing material under short deadlines and time limit constraints. Schendel-Vyvoda commented that , “It’s really helpful to go through Spannocchia and to have Simonetta” stimulating the students to write a paper for a 15-minute talk, and to create a PowerPoint specifically for it. Paige Lunde (PhD 2025) reflected that “the fast-paced style of having to think through the paper immediately and then present it immediately helped me because I couldn’t wait around” and overthink the process. She stated that “IDSVA has helped me to see the through-line – connecting history with the present.”  

While preparing individuals for formal presentations through academic rigor is a main component of IDSVA, another involves the formation of a community of artist philosophers through practicing the ethos of care. The majority spoke and reflected on how SECAC has become an annual conference they try to attend regularly because it is a great way to reconnect with other current and former IDSVA students. As a first-time presenter at SECAC, Baxi Sheth emphasized that her experience at the conference “felt very comfortable because you were already among a very supportive, academically strong group…That’s what their presence did for me. It felt very comfortable and exciting.” 

As a result, SECAC has become an unofficial site for IDSVA meet-ups, discussions, and new connections between longstanding alumni and current students, who might have otherwise never met each other. Overall, SECAC 2025 exemplified how IDSVA’s combination of academic rigor and communal care continues well beyond the program itself. As IDSVA’s artist-philosophers carry their work into broader academic communities, they clearly bring along the shared values, confidence, and collegial spirit that define the program – ensuring that these connections continue to grow and expand.

To view the full list of IDSVA fall conference participants, visit the article on our News Page.