The undergraduate curriculum creates a flexible system of
courses that gives coherence, breadth, and depth to the four years of study and
helps students become knowledgeable across academic boundaries and able to
think critically within a discipline or mode of thought.
The pillars of the Bard education are the structure of the
first year, including the First-Year Seminar; the program- and
concentration-based approach to study; Moderation; the concept of distribution
by modes of thought; and the Senior Project. Students move from the Lower
College (first and second years), which focuses on general education and
introduces the content and methodology of the academic and artistic areas in
which students may specialize, to the Upper College (third and fourth years),
which involves advanced study of particular subjects and more independent work.
Besides the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Libraries,
the Bertelsmann Campus Center's indoor and outdoor areas provide some of the
many quiet locations around campus to study or read.
Structure of the First
Year
All first-year students participate in a common
curriculum—the Language and Thinking Program at Bard College, First-Year
Seminar, and first-year advising—and also take elective courses.
- The Language and Thinking Program at
Bard College is a three-week writing course that begins in early August.
Students read extensively in several genres, work on different writing
projects, and meet in small groups to discuss their reading and writing. They
learn to read and listen more thoughtfully, articulate ideas, and review their
own work critically. Satisfactory completion of the program is required for
matriculation into the College. Students who fail to meet this requirement are
asked to take one year’s academic leave.
- The First-Year Seminar introduces
important intellectual, cultural, and artistic ideas that serve as a basis for
the liberal arts education. These ideas are presented in the context of a
historic tradition and on as broad a scale as feasible within a framework that
emphasizes precise, analytical thinking through class discussions and frequent
writing assignments. The heart of the yearlong course is a series of core texts
that focus on the theme “Quaestio mihi factus sum: Self and Society in the
Liberal Arts.” Core texts for the fall semester include works by Plato, Virgil,
Augustine, Dante, Shakespeare, and Galileo. Core texts for the spring semester
include works by Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Darwin, Nietzsche, DuBois, Freud,
Woolf, Achebe, and Primo Levi. Guest lectures, panel presentations, and films
supplement readings and discussions.
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- First-Year Advising All first-year
students are assigned an academic adviser, with whom they meet at strategic
points during each semester: two weeks into the semester, when course selection
is final; shortly before midterm; two weeks after midterm; and just prior to
registration for the next semester. The advising system is intended to help
students begin the process of selecting a program in which to major, meeting
the requirements of that program, preparing for professional study or other
activities outside of or after college, and satisfying other interests.
- First-Year Electives allow students
to explore fields in which they know they are interested and to experiment with
unfamiliar areas of study. Students select three elective courses in each
semester of the first year (the fourth course is the First-Year Seminar).
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Program Approach to Concentration
Chinua Achebe, Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor Languages and Literature |
A liberal arts education offers students both breadth and
depth of learning. At Bard, the primary sources of breadth are the First-Year
Seminar and the distribution requirements. The primary source of depth is
the requirement that each student major in a stand-alone academic program,
possibly in conjunction with a non-stand-alone field of study, or
concentration, or with another program in a joint major.
A program is a sequenced course of study designed by faculty
(and sometimes by students in conjunction with faculty) to focus on a
particular area of knowledge or a particular approach to an area. The
course of study begins at the introductory level and moves in progressive stages
toward the development of the ability to think and/or create, innovatively and
reflectively, by means of the formal structures that the discipline provides. A
concentration is a cluster of related courses on a clearly defined topic. A
student may moderate into a concentration, but only in tandem with his or her
Moderation into a program.
With a curriculum based on programs rather than more
traditionally defined departments, the faculty are encouraged to rethink
boundaries between divisions and disciplines and to examine the content of
their courses in terms of how the courses interact with one another. This more
flexible framework allows students to create interdisciplinary plans of study.
Many programs and concentrations, such as Asian studies and human rights, are
interdisciplinary in nature and can take advantage of the faculty and offerings
of the entire College. For example, the Asian Studies Program may draw from
courses in history, literature, art history, and economics.
The requirements for Moderation and graduation differ from
program to program and are summarized in the individual descriptions that
appear in this catalogue. All students must declare a major in a program in
order to moderate from the Lower College to the Upper College and become a
candidate for the bachelor of arts degree. A student who decides to pursue a
double major—say, physics and philosophy—must satisfy the
requirements of both programs and complete two Senior Projects. A student who pursues
a joint major moderates into two programs, ideally in a joint Moderation, and
completes course requirements for both programs and a single, unified Senior
Project. A student who pursues study in a concentration must moderate (in
conjunction with moderating into a program), fulfill all course requirements,
and produce a Senior Project that combines the interdisciplinary theories and
methods of the concentration with the disciplinary theories and methods of the
program.
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Moderation
Moderation is undertaken in the second semester of the sophomore year. Through this process students make the transition from the Lower College to the Upper College and establish their major in a program. (Transfer students entering with the equivalent of two full years of credit should, if possible, moderate during the first semester of residence, but in no case later than the second.) Moderation requires students to examine their experience in the Lower College, their goals, and their interests; to evaluate their performance and their commitment to their chosen field; and to plan their work in the Upper College.
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Each program specifies the course work that a student entering the program should be in the process of completing at the time of Moderation. Each student prepares two Moderation papers, the first assessing his or her curriculum, performance, and experience in the first two years and the second identifying his or her goals and proposed study plan for the last two years. The student also submits a sample of work he or she has done in the program, for example, a long paper written for a course. The papers are reviewed by a board of three faculty members, who then meet with the student for a discussion that is likely to range from the content of the papers to the state of the field in general to the student's accomplishments and progress toward his or her goals. The board evaluates the student's past performance, commitment, and preparedness in the field, makes suggestions for the transition from the Lower College to the Upper College, and approves promotion of the student to the Upper College.
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Distribution Requirements
The distribution requirements at Bard are a formal statement of the College's desire to achieve an equilibrium between breadth and depth, between communication across disciplinary boundaries and rigor within a mode of thought. Distribution exposes the student to unfamiliar areas that might have remained unexplored. Investigating a range of academic areas and approaches may help students discover the field on which they want to focus, contribute to their specialized study by putting it in a wider perspective, and expand their intellectual horizons.
In order to introduce the student to a variety of intellectual and artistic experiences, and to foster student encounters with faculty members trained in a broad range of disciplines, each student is required to take one course in each of the nine categories listed below. The categories are based on fundamental subject areas that have been selected to promote intellectual breadth and versatility; they are not meant to provide a complete portrait of the current organization of academic fields of study or to be exclusively identified with a particular program or group of faculty. No more than two requirements may be fulfilled within a single disciplinary program. High school Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses may not be used to satisfy the requirements. Non-native speakers of English are exempted from the Foreign Language, Literature, and Culture requirement.
- Science (A laboratory course in the physical or life sciences)
- Mathematics and Computing (A course in mathematics, computing, statistics or
logic; all courses require passing the Q-test as a prerequisite)
- History (A course focused on historical analysis)
- Social Science (A course in the empirical social sciences other than history)
- Humanities (A course focused on the analysis of primary texts in philosophy, reli-
gion, or social thought)
- Foreign Language, Literature, and Culture (A course focused on language acqui-
sition and/or the analysis of literature or culture via an engagement with a non-
English language)
- Literature in English (A course focused on the literary analysis and explication of
texts in English, either in the original or in translation)
- Practicing Arts (A studio course in the visual or performing arts, or creative writ-
ing)
- Analysis of Arts (A course in the analysis of nonverbal art)
In addition, all students must fulfill a "Rethinking Difference" requirement. Courses with this designation focus on the study of difference in the context of larger social dynamics; they may consider the contexts of globalization, nationalism, and social justice, as well as differences of race, religion, ethnicity, class, gender, and/or sexuality. A single course may simultaneously fulfill both the "Rethinking Difference" requirement and another distribution requirement.
Distribution Requirements for Students Matriculating Prior to Fall 2004
In a system consistent with the curriculum's hallmarks of choice and flexibility, the faculty assign courses to distributional categories not by divisional or program location, but by content, that is, by intellectual focus and methodology. For this reason courses often fall into more than one category. There are seven subject area categories plus the quantitative, or Q, course category. A course may be designated as being in two areas (but not more than two), and it may at the same time be a Q course.
- A: Philosophical, aesthetic, and theoretical study
- B: Literary texts and linguistics
- C: Social and historical study
- D: Foreign language and culture
- E: Science, mathematics, and computer science
- F: Practicing arts
- G: Laboratory science or computationally based study
- Q (quantitative) course: A course designated as having a significant mathematical skills, or quantitative, component; such courses have a prerequisite of passing a mathematical skills evaluation exam
A student is required to take at least one course from each category over four years. A single course cannot satisfy two distribution area requirements; if a course has been designated as being in two areas, the student must select one requirement to be fulfilled with that course. However, a course from any area that is also designated a Q course may satisfy both the area requirement and the Q requirement.
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Senior Project
Viewed by the College as the capstone of the student's education in the liberal arts and sciences, the Senior Project is an original, individual, focused project growing out of the student's cumulative academic experiences. Students have great flexibility in choosing the form of their project. For example, a social studies project might be a research project, a close textual analysis, a report of findings from fieldwork, or a photographic essay; a literature project might be a critical review or an original work; a language project might be a translation, an essay on literature, a historical study, or a sociological analysis; a science project might be a report on original experiments, an analysis of published research findings, or a contribution to theory; an arts project might be a theoretical monograph, an exhibition of original artwork, a film, or a musical or dance composition or performance.
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Preparation for the Senior Project begins in the junior year with consultation with advisers, course work, and work in tutorials and seminars directed toward selecting a topic, choosing the form of the project, becoming competent in the analytical and research methods required by the topic and form, and, of course, studying the subject matter. Students in some programs design a Major Conference during their junior year. The Major Conference is intended to prepare the student for the Senior Project. It may take whatever form is appropriate for the student's field and project; it might be a seminar, tutorial, studio work, or field or laboratory work. The primary emphasis in the first semester is on the standard works, research methods, style, or concerns of the discipline or artistic field into which the Senior Project falls; by the end of this semester the student establishes plans for his or her particular project. The emphasis in the second semester is on work specific to the Senior Project.
One course each semester of the student's final year is devoted to completing the Senior Project. The student submits the completed project to a committee of three professors and participates with them in a Senior Project Review. Written projects are filed in the library's archives; samples of each arts project appear with a statement by the student in Word and Image, an online publication.
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The Charles P. Stevenson
Jr. Libraries include 280,000
volumes and more than four thousand journals available in print or online.
