About
Hilary Yarger (she/her/hers) served as the Engagement and Outreach Coordinator at the Cornell University Language Resource Center (LRC) from 2023-2024. Her duties were twofold, combining student supervision/interaction (event planning, conversations hours, tutoring, student assistants) with communications/marketing (using social media, Canva, and Powerpoint). She also represented the LRC in a variety of campus events, such as the LRC New Student Orientation, Arts and Sciences Resource Fair, International Fair, World Languages Day, and Sweet Poetry. Hilary's interest in multiculturalism and inclusion led her to volunteer with the English Language Speaking Groups as a Facilitator, mentoring a group of international graduate students through weekly meetings to help acclimate them to American culture and graduate school life.
In 2023, Hilary graduated from the University of Chicago Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH), where she studied Multimedia Arts, East Asian Studies, and Visual Studies. Her graduate thesis, entitled "Hazy Devotion: A Visual Album in Electronic Music, East Asian Instruments, and Sensory Experience" is an original twenty-minute visual album merging traditional East Asian instruments and contemporary vaporwave and slushwave electronic music. During Summer 2022, Hilary attended the Middlebury Language Schools Summer Program for Mandarin Chinese. She continued her Chinese language study in the MAPH Two-Year Language Option as a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow. Hilary worked at the University of Chicago's Institute on the Formation of Knowledge as a Communications Assistant, where she created, edited, and published video and website content for the promotion of Institute events, such as their Cultures & Knowledge Workshop Series.
Hilary earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College at Simon's Rock in May 2021 with concentrations in Electronic Media and the Arts and Asian Studies. Simon's Rock, an early college in which ambitious students begin undergraduate studies at the age of sixteen, was the place that first inspired her to pursue academic research. Her BA thesis, titled "Emptiness: The Interpretation of Ma 間, Mu 無, and Ensō 円相 in Japanese Aesthetics," discussed the influence of emptiness/nothingness/void on traditional Japanese music, calligraphy, ikebana (flower arrangement), and zen gardens. Her thesis included a digital installation video arts component incorporating her own original electronic music, ikebana arrangements, photography, digital drawing, video, and editing. While at Simon's Rock, Hilary also participated in performing arts, acting in the musical Be More Chill, Twelfth Night, Antigone, and Sorry, Wrong Number.
Hilary is passionate about disability/neurodiversity studies. At Cornell, she participated in the Neurodivergent Employee Community events to celebrate neurotypes and strategize around concerns. Hilary contributed original artwork to the "Invisible Aspects of Disability/Neurodiversity" arts exhibit in 2024, which was featured as an Editor's Pick in the Cornell Chronicle online newspaper. While at Simon's Rock, she gave two presentations, "Autism Awareness and Acceptance on the College Campus" in Fall 2018 and "Autism and Disability During the Global Pandemic" in Fall 2020, for the Bard College at Simon's Rock Council for Equity and Inclusion's Symposia on Social Justice. Hilary researched education for autistics students in the US/China at the Middlebury Language Schools Summer Program.
For fun, Hilary enjoys engaging in a diverse range of hobbies. She loves taking long walks in botanic gardens and scenic parks. Hilary has been knitting since she was in elementary school and has self-taught many knitting techniques/stitches, as well as learned about yarn and fiber properties. Lately, she has been into learning about East Asian fashion and makeup styles, especially Korean and Douyin makeup aesthetics and personal color analysis. Hilary is an avid collector of cute things, such as Jellycat, Sonny Angel, Smiski, and Rilakkuma. When she has extra time, Hilary likes journaling and creative writing.
Hilary is always looking for unusual skills to learn and loves exploring new hobbies. Feel free to contact her with any questions, comments, or ideas.
