Catalogue

Center for Curatorial Studies
(CCS Bard)

ccs.bard.edu

The Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS Bard) is an exhibition and research center dedicated to the study of contemporary art and culture. Since 1994, the CCS Bard graduate program has provided one of the most forward-thinking teaching and learning environments for the research of contemporary art and practice of curatorship. Broadly interdisciplinary, CCS Bard encourages students, faculty, and researchers to question the critical and political dimensions of art and its social significance; and cultivates innovative thinking, radical research, and new ways to challenge our understanding of the social and civic values of the visual arts. Course offerings include seminars in art and exhibition history, cultural and social theory, and curatorial practice—all with an intensive focus on Black studies, decolonial theory and history, queer and feminist studies, ecology and infrastructure, media theory and technology, and embodiment and performance studies, among other areas of inquiry. Alongside its intensive educational program, CCS Bard organizes public events, exhibitions, and publications, which collectively explore the critical potential of the institutions and practices of exhibition making. The curriculum is supported by the center’s extensive research and study resources, which include the internationally renowned CCS Bard Library and Archives and the Hessel Museum of Art, with its rich permanent collection.