People in the Berkshires

Barbara Krauthamer, of Amherst, who once served in a leadership role with the Berkshire County Conference of Women Historians, has been appointed to the governing council of the Mass. Cultural Council by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Krauthamer has been dean of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s College of Humanities and Fine Arts since 2020. She has been a faculty member of UMass-Amherst’s Department of History since 2008 and is widely recognized as a leading historian of African American slavery and emancipation in the United States.

As directed by state law, council members are appointed by the governor and have demonstrated scholarship or creativity in, or distinguished service to, the arts, humanities, interpretative sciences, or local arts. Council members serve staggered, three-year terms and reside in every region of the commonwealth. The agency is governed by a 19-member board of private citizens.

Scott Barschdorf has been named director of brain injury services at Berkshire County Arc. In this role, he will oversee BCArc’s expanding brain injury residential program, which ranges from Berkshire County to the Pioneer Valley.

Barschdorf has extensive experience working with individuals with mental health and behavioral issues, and has overseen residential programs in various roles during his 16 years in human