Award-Winning Author Masha Gessen Joins Bard College Faculty

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—Bard College announces the appointment of award-winning author Masha Gessen as Distinguished Writer in Residence in the Division of Languages and Literature. Gessen, who joins the faculty in fall 2020, will teach courses through the Written Arts Program that integrate literature, writing, and contemporary culture and politics. “Masha Gessen is one of the most essential voices in our cultural landscape. They bring an invaluable perspective as a writer whose work sits at the intersection of literature and global politics. We are thrilled to welcome them into the Bard community,” says Dinaw Mengestu, professor of written arts and Director of the Written Arts Program.

Masha Gessen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of eleven books of nonfiction, most recently Surviving Autocracy, which will be published in June. Gessen’s previous book, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia won the 2017 National Book Award for Nonfiction. Gessen has been a Guggenheim Fellow, an Andrew Carnegie Fellow, a Nieman Fellow, and has received an honorary doctorate from the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at CUNY. Gessen has taught at Amherst College and Oberlin College. They live in New York City.

PHOTO CAPTION: Bard College announces the appointment of award-winning author Masha Gessen to the faculty.
PHOTO CREDIT: Lena Di


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About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 11 programs; nine early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 159-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
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This event was last updated on 04-14-2020

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