Bernard is the Glen Trotiner Professor of Visual Storytelling in the Department of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and director of its graduate program in public history. Her most recent book, "Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly's Truths from Jim Crow's Lies” (Cambridge University Press, July 2024) will be published in paperback in November 2026.
An Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker, Bernard is also the author of "Documentary Storytelling: Creative Nonfiction on Screen," now in its 5th edition (2022) and available in seven languages; and, with Kenn Rabin, "Archival Storytelling: Finding, Using, and Licensing Third-Party Visuals and Music," now in its 2nd edition (2020). Her films include "Slavery by Another Name" and the series "I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African American Arts" and "Eyes on the Prize II: America at the Racial Crossroads," all broadcast nationally on PBS.