Meet NYPL's Global Studies Curators

The Center for Research in the Humanities was recently renamed the Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities in honor of the Library’s former president (serving 1981–1989), whose leadership steered the Library out of financial turmoil and restored its stature as an essential cultural, civic, and scholarly resource.

Located on the second floor of the Stephen A. Schwarzman building, the over 8,000-square-foot Center opened in 2019 and today hosts around 400 researchers, including 40 fellows, providing research space and extended access to our collections, as well as opportunities to consult with our librarians and curators. It also provides space for programs, classes, consultations with librarians/curators, and meeting spaces. 

The Gregorian Center is an example of the Library's efforts to expand access and attract visitors to NYPL’s flagship location and celebrated research library, and the growth and diversity of the collections is a crucial part of this work. Over the past five years, the Library has appointed three global studies curators who work with the Gregorian Center, each working across general and special collections, fostering a more collaborative approach to collection development and research support. The global studies curators are: 

• Paloma Celis Carbajal, Latin American, Iberian and Latino Studies
• Bogdan Horbal, Slavic and East European Collections
• Hiba Abid, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

In the video below, Celis Carbajal, Horbal, and Abid talk about the focus and scope of their work as global studies curators at NYPL: