A Private College in the Public Interest Bard College seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation.
Photo by Karl Rabe
Academics
Academics at Bard focus on giving students a strong scholarly foundation with our core curriculum, then encouraging them to explore individual academic interests. The College seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation. Close contact with scholars who are teachers but also active in their disciplines is a constant, and the level of academic discourse in the classroom is high. The College provides a beautiful setting in which students pursue their academic interests and craft a rich cultural and social life.
Civic engagement is at the core of Bard College’s institutional mission, reflecting the fundamental belief that higher education institutions can and should operate in the public interest. Bard uses its resources to develop partnerships that address local, national, and global problems, reach underserved populations, and tackle critical issues of education and public policy.
“At Bard, we show up. We build, paint, dig, teach, play, sing, sweat. We show up in the middle of the night, work in the rain, crawl under the car, whatever it takes. This does not mean erasing the self. It means struggling with the tension between self and collective interests, and then acting compassionately.” —Paul Marienthal, Dean for Social Action; Director, Trustee Leader Scholar Program
Watch: Annie, a premed biology major at Bard, explores the Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation.
Campus Life
The focus of student life at Bard College, both inside and outside the classroom, is on campus. From its historic Hudson Valley setting to its state-of-the-art science and arts facilities, the College offers an idyllic environment where students can enjoy a rich social life interwoven with their cultural and intellectual pursuits.
We embrace plurality, respect divergent viewpoints, and are committed to understanding the rich spectrum of experiences that comprise our community. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Bard seeks to materialize our commitment to plurality, dialogue, and rigorous study. We strive to create a learning environment that upholds the College’s mission to meaningfully include the voices, works, and ideas of communities and cultures historically marginalized in liberal arts and sciences education.
Bard College offers the best of both worlds: a traditional liberal arts college with exceptional programs in the fine and performing arts. In small classes taught by notable faculty, students work closely with top professionals in their fields. All students, whatever their major, are encouraged to take advantage of the same high-level arts instruction and engagement; the discipline of cultivating one’s artistic abilities has wide-ranging collateral benefits.
Bard College Center for Indigenous Studies Hosts Inaugural Symposium with Keynote Speaker Beth Piatote, April 25–26
The Bard College Center for Indigenous Studies will host its inaugural symposium on Thursday, April 25, and Friday, April 26, at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The symposium includes workshops, lectures, and discussions centered around Dr. Beth Piatote’s (Nez Perce enrolled Colville Confederated Tribes) brilliant play Antíkoni, an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone. More >
July 26 – August 4: Bard SummerScape Presents First New US Production of Meyerbeer’s Grand Opera Le prophète in 47 Years
As a highlight of the 2024 Bard SummerScape festival, the Fisher Center at Bard presents the first new American production in almost five decades of Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète, an all-too-topical grand opera in which religion, politics, and power collide. Featuring the American Symphony Orchestra and Bard Festival Chorale under the leadership of festival founder and co-artistic director Leon Botstein, Le prophète runs for five performances in the Frank Gehry–designed Fisher Center on Bard’s bucolic Hudson Valley campus (July 26, 28, 31; August 2, 4). More >