Strategies for Survival: The Magisterial Feminae Exhibition at Brooklyn College as Celebration, Polemic, and Resistance.

This article focuses on the creation of an archival exhibit at Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY), highlighting the contributions and challenges of premodernist women faculty between 1930 and 1980. Through collaboration with twelve undergraduate students, the exhibit, titled *Magisterial Feminae*, uncovered both the innovative work of these women scholars and the systemic sexism they faced, situating their stories within broader institutional and disciplinary histories. The project also reflects on the contemporary crisis facing the humanities at public universities like Brooklyn College, emphasizing the historical role of the liberal arts in sustaining academic and cultural vitality during times of financial and political challenge. The exhibit served as a call to recognize and reinvigorate the value of humanities education amid ongoing pressures toward career-focused curricula.