Catalogue

Institute for Writing and Thinking

iwt.bard.edu

Founded in 1982, the Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking (IWT) focuses on the critical role that writing plays in both teaching and learning. IWT brings together secondary and college teachers for innovative, intellectually stimulating, and practical workshops and conferences at Bard and at schools and colleges around the world.

The philosophy and practice of IWT are one: writing is both a record of completed thought and an exploratory process that supports teaching and deepens learning across disciplines. IWT’s foundational workshops include “Writing and Thinking,” “Writing to Learn,” “Teaching the Academic Paper,” “Inquiry into Essay,” “Writing to Learn in the STEM Disciplines,” and “Thinking Historically through Writing.” IWT workshops demonstrate how teachers can lead their students to discover and make meaning, engage in productive dialogue, and learn the critical thinking skills that support academic writing and lifelong learning. IWT partners with educators and students worldwide, offering workshops at Bard; at schools and colleges across the United States; at international sites—in Sweden, Haiti, Lithuania, and Myanmar, among others; at partner institutions in Kyrgyzstan, East Jerusalem, and Germany; and through a variety of summer programs for high school and college students. IWT also oversees the Center for Liberal Arts and Sciences Pedagogy (CLASP), which works with faculty and institutions in the Open Society University Network (OSUN) and the Bard international network to promote student-centered teaching methods, writing-based teaching, and experiential learning.