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.
SCAT! The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar will receive its world premiere at SummerScape 2024. Photo by Rick McCullough
SummerScape 2024
Join us for eight weeks of opera, theater, dance, music, Spiegeltent, and the 34th Bard Music Festival, Berlioz and His World.
“A hothouse for the creation of uncompromising, cross-disciplinary hits.” —New York Times
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 Announces Two Recipients of Inaugural Anthony Lester Fellowships to Support Practical Work in the Field of Human Rights and the Rule of Law
Hilina Berhanu Degefa (an expert on women’s rights, public policy, and advocacy from Ethiopia) and Marian Alejandra Da Silva Parra (a human rights lawyer from Venezuela) are the first recipients of the inaugural Anthony Lester Fellowships, administered by the Human Rights Project at Bard College. Degefa will use the fellowship to work to combat proposals to legalize female genital mutilation in The Gambia. Marian Da Silva Parra will develop a project to train and support local human rights defenders in Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $25,000. More >
Bard College Receives $1 Million Grant from Burpee Foundation to Support the Creation of the Burpee Trial Garden at Montgomery Place Campus
Bard College has been awarded a $1 million grant to be paid over four years toward supporting the Burpee Trial Garden, which will be located at the Montgomery Place Campus. The trial garden will revitalize the fallow lawn beds at Montgomery Place that historically grew vegetables and flowers and will engage Bard students in horticultural research and hands-on scientific investigation with real-world applications. More >