Bard College Holds One Hundred Sixty-Third Commencement on Saturday, May 27, 2023

U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock to Give Commencement Address

Bard College will hold its one hundred sixty-third commencement on Saturday, May 27, 2023. The Commencement address will be given by United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, of Georgia. Bard President Leon Botstein will confer 384 undergraduate degrees on the Class of 2023 and 182 graduate degrees, during the program which begins at 2:30 pm in the commencement tent on the Seth Goldfine Memorial Rugby Field.

Bard Student Ariha Shahed ’26 Awarded Davis Projects for Peace Grant 

Bard College student Ariha Shahed ’26 has won a Davis Projects for Peace prize for her proposal, “Train Track to Right Track: Supporting Bangladeshis Who Call the Railway Tracks Their Home.” Ariha, a first-year economics and politics major from Bangladesh, will receive $10,000 to work with Bangladeshi families living in extreme poverty along the country’s railway tracks, communities which often go unnoticed. Partnering with NGO initiative BRAC Bangladesh, Ariha will help families connect with essential social protection programmes, access healthcare, keep their children in school, and improve their economic situations by sustainable and continual support.

Professor Joshua Glick Talks about AI in Hollywood on Marketplace Tech

Visiting Associate Professor of Film and Electronic Arts Joshua Glick spoke with Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino about the manifold ways Hollywood employs artificial intelligence including de-aging star characters, creating synthetic voices, generating digital faces and imagery of crowds, and even using deepfake technology in documentaries to protect vulnerable onscreen subjects. AI’s entree into filmmaking spurs anxiety that it could supplant human creative labor like screenwriting, designing, and directing. “New tools and new technologies have always sustained a productive tension or creative tension with the status quo of the industry," said Glick.

Youssef Ait Benasser Joins Bard College Faculty as Assistant Professor of Economics in the Division of Social Studies

Bard College’s Division of Social Studies is pleased to announce the appointment of Youssef Ait Benasser as Assistant Professor of Economics beginning in the fall of the 2023–24 academic year. “Bard’s global engagement provides the ideal environment for my work in international economics,” said Benasser. “I am excited to contribute to the disruptive research and support the transformative learning that sets Bard’s community apart in the social sciences and beyond.”

The Fisher Center at Bard Announces 20th Anniversary Season: Breaking Ground

Season Reflects the Fisher Center’s Role as One of the Country’s Foremost Cross-Disciplinary Producing Institutions, and Culminates with a Celebration for a New Performing Arts Studio Building Designed by Maya Lin (October 21)

The Fisher Center at Bard, which has become one of the world’s preeminent sources of major multidisciplinary performance works, announces its 20th Anniversary Season: Breaking Ground, a celebration of the artists, audiences, students, faculty, and communities that have written the Fisher Center’s story for its first two decades and will imagine it into the future. The season will culminate in a celebration for the Fisher Center’s new 25,000-square-foot performing arts studio building, designed by Maya Lin, which will offer artists at all stages of their careers vastly expanded room to explore as they build works from the ground up.

New Bard High School Early College Slated to Open in South Bronx

A new Bard High School Early College is slated to open in the South Bronx this fall. “From the first conversation with Chancellor Banks and his team, something that was really important was about bringing the same quality and standards and resources and rigor that defines this program to the Bronx in full,” said Stephen Tremaine, vice president for Early College Policies and Programs. “First and foremost for South Bronx residents—and to do that unapologetically.”

Thank you for your support!

A big thanks to our families and friends who made a gift to the College since our last newsletter. Your generosity makes it possible for Bard to educate thousands of students each year:

Alexandra Shafer●Alix M. Shafer '78 and Denis Duman●Allison J. Boyd●Bonnie T. Goad and Daniel Donohue●Carolyn Peña●Chevy Chase '68 and Jayni Chase●Cynthia C. Ahn●Dan Junkins and Minette Junkins●David Meikle●David W. Jacobowitz '65 and Linda Rodd●Edward Dandridge and Karen Dandridge●Gaetano Moscatiello●Gerald Zepp and Ingrid Zepp●Gloria Herrera●Gregory Fields and Rozanna Leo-Fields●Hilary Pennington and Brian Bosworth●Howard Haid and Concepcion Arteaga●Ilya Levinson and Martine Benmann●Iulian Dumitriu and Ileana Dumitriu●Jane A. Brien '89 and Stewart Verrilli●Kimberly L. Haas●Lisa DePasquale●Matthew D. Cameron '04 and Meredith Danowski●Michael F. Infanger and Denise S. Mahoney●Nathaniel J. Brown and Patreese A. Martin●Rand Whipple and Anne Dowd●Steven Dattomo and Corrine Jakacki-Dattomo●Susan H. Gillespie●Ted R. Robb●William Cain and Joan Cain●

Recent donations will be acknowledged in the April Insider.

A life-changing impact

As the end of the spring semester approaches, many of our supporters are looking to make an impact for the next academic year and beyond. If you are 70.5 or older, IRA gifts are a powerful way to create a life-changing education for Bard students and reduce your future tax burden. If you are subject to a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), IRA giving allows you to meet your RMD without increasing your taxable income!

Learn more and give today.

If you have appreciated stocks, did you know you can donate them today to make an even
greater impact for Bard students? Your stock gift will go even further than cash in directly
supporting a life-changing education.

Learn more and give stock now!

Looking to give in a new and exciting way?

The Bard Farm is currently seeking a used pickup truck and if you have one you are looking to re-home, the Bard Farm might be the perfect place. If you are interested in donating a used pickup truck, please email [email protected]. Any interest is appreciated, but a truck with four-wheel drive and a back seat in the cab for students would be preferred. Thank you!

News from the Open Society Network University (OSUN)

News from the Center for Civic Engagement

The 2023 Community Action Award application is live!  A Community Action Award (CAA) supports student efforts to engage with communities locally, nationally, and internationally by providing funding for participation in unpaid internships that address issues impacting people around the world.  Bard undergrads who are pursuing a community-based, public-facing internship in the following fields are eligible: civic engagement, education, government, social justice, human rights, media, public policy, the arts, and social entrepreneurship.  Deadline: April 23rd.

The 2023 Scale Internship Equity Award application is also live! A Scale Internship Equity Award (SIEA) allows and encourages students from low-income backgrounds to accept summer internships without the burden of having to entirely financially support themselves due to the lack of, or insufficient amount of, payment.  Bard undergrads are eligible for internships in any field.  Deadline: April 23rd.

Both awards will be tabling with the Career Development Office on April 12th 12pm-2pm in the Kline Commons lobby and April 13th 2-4pm in the Campus Center lobby, so please encourage your Bard students to come with their application questions AND to apply for internship awards!

News from the Career Development Office

All students can access the Internship Fair Resource Guide with position descriptions and application information for summer jobs and internships. Students can mail [email protected] for the Guide.

Got an internship, post-grad, or summer job to share with Bard students? Contact [email protected] to let us know!

Support for Internships

The Community Action Award (CAA) application is open! 
Students can apply to be considered for funding awards for unpaid or low-paying civic-related summer internships in the arts, education, government, science, social justice fields, and more!
The Scale Project also offers opportunities to apply to be considered for funding for summer internships.

CDO April Programs:

Employers - The Common Good ( April 6) & The Daily Catch (April 17) will host online information sessions for students to learn about internships offered in public policy, event planning, and journalism. 

CDO will be holding an online Public Service Fair on April 17th, hosting 12 employers speaking about opportunities to work in public service sector post-graduate positions.

Pre-Health Advising- On April 5, Bard Pre-Health Adviser, Prof Scalzo, and CDO will be hosting an online advising session for students interested in pre-health/medicine career pathways. 
CDO will share opportunities for students interested in gaining patient-facing volunteer experiences locally. 

CDO Workshops- Students can join CDO's monthly workshop offerings in resume writing, career search, interviewing, and Linkedin photo booth to gain skills and polish their professional online and in-person presence.

**All throughout the year, CDO advisers meet with students in one-on-one advising sessions to talk about internship or post-graduation plans. 
Students can schedule appointments through their Handshake account or email [email protected].

News from Residence Life and Housing

If you would like to show your student a little extra support as they approach finals, you can send them a Finals Care Package. Simply visit the following website and you will have your choice of care packages that can be sent directly to your student. www.dormroom.com/bdc/carepackages

News from Blithewood

Blithewood Garden Panel Discussion, Documentary Premiere and Self-Guided Garden Tours Hosted on Sunday, April 23.

On Sunday, April 23, the Friends of Blithewood Garden, the Garden Conservancy, and Bard College will host “Vision & View: Creating a Classical Landscape on the Hudson,” a panel discussion and film premiere focusing on the rehabilitation of the historic Blithewood Garden at Bard College. The event takes place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Levy Economics Institute at Bard College and will host a wine and cheese reception before the discussion and screening, followed by self-guided garden tours. The fee is $25 for Garden Conservancy members, and $30 for nonmembers. Reservations are required. Visit bard.edu/arboretum/gardens/blithewood.  For more information visit: https://www.bard.edu/arboretum/gardens/blithewood/

The panel discussion will examine the history of Blithewood and other Gilded Age estates in the Hudson River Valley, addressing their significance to local and national history as well as the challenges of preserving these spaces. It begins at 2:30 p.m. and features historic preservation expert Kurt Hirschberg, Associate Partner of Jan Hird Pokorny Associates, Harvey Flad, Professor Emeritus of Vassar College, Dimitri Stratis of the National Park Service for the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, and Amy Parrella, Director of Horticulture & Arboretum at Bard College. James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of The Garden Conservancy, will lead the conversation.  The documentary film, featuring Bard alumna and award-winning actress Blythe Danner ‘65, will screen after the discussion and explores Blithewood’s rich
preservation story.

Blithewood Garden is considered a nationally significant Beaux Arts, Italianate garden with important connections to the evolution of American landscape design and is one of the few intact Hudson River estate gardens that remain from the Gilded Age. Bard College has partnered with the Garden Conservancy, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and share America’s gardens, on the restoration of Blithewood Garden.