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Bard College Catalogue 2009-2010
2009-2010
International Programs and Study Abroad
http://www.bard.edu/globalstudy
Globalization creates new opportunities for dialogue and understanding, as well as occasions for turmoil and conflict. In the age of the Internet and e-mail, satellite communications and high-speed travel, it is increasingly possible to work and learn with and from—not just about—people throughout the world. Bard College is an established leader in international education. Its global outlook starts on campus, where the students represent some 50 countries and the faculty is similarly diverse, and extends to an array of offerings that bring the world to Bard’s doorstep and Bard’s students to the world.
Bard is strongly committed to an international education that introduces students to other cultures and global issues both intellectually and experientially, through interaction with a large, talented group of international students and numerous foreign visitors, and through the College’s involvement in innovative collaborations with institutions abroad.
Bard offers many opportunities for students to engage with the world outside of the Annandale campus. Nearly 50 percent of Bard students participate in at least one global or international program during their time at Bard. Some spend a year, a term, or a summer studying abroad. Others spend time abroad participating in internships with leading international organizations or working on community service projects. Many students combine these various programs.
Bard students who wish to study abroad are encouraged to seek out programs that allow them to attend classes within foreign universities, as opposed to those offering courses attended solely by Americans. Bard offers such integrated programs at universities in Egypt, Germany, Hungary, Russia, and South Africa and participates in several exchanges, consortiums, and other special programs that can facilitate study abroad. Bard also runs intensive language programs in China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, and Russia. In addition to Bard-sponsored programs, Bard students can receive credit for participating in study-abroad programs offered by other American colleges and universities and can also matriculate directly at foreign institutions, provided their participation in these programs is approved by Bard. Students studying abroad for a semester must have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Students participating in programs not sponsored by Bard are subject to a fee of $300 per semester. (Note: Students participating in the Program in International Education, described below, are not eligible to participate in study-abroad programs.)
Bard’s international programs and initiatives include the following:
American School of Classical Studies at Athens Bard students and faculty who wish to study Greek culture and archaeology may apply to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for participation in academic programs and visits to museums, monuments, and archaeological sites. The school also serves as a center to assist researchers in Greek civilization. A six-week summer session is open to undergraduates, who are advised that the program is “extremely rigorous.”
American University in Cairo (AUC) The American University in Cairo was founded in 1919 by Americans devoted to education and community service in the Middle East. Today, fully accredited in Egypt and the United States, AUC is the region’s premier English-language university. Its nearly 5,000 undergraduates, who come from Egypt and more than 100 other countries, follow an academic program rooted in liberal education. The language of instruction is English. Bard students take courses throughout the curriculum and normally also study Arabic. Students participating in the exchange pay Bard tuition, an arrangement that guarantees they will earn credit for their work and also allows AUC students to study at Bard.
Bard in China The scope of Bard in China has grown beyond China to encompass more of Asia, particularly Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Sri Lanka. The program focuses on events and exchanges, bringing speakers and performers to Bard and working with faculty and students who wish to go to Asia or to come from Asia to Bard.
Central European University in Budapest (CEU) Central European University is an internationally recognized institution of postgraduate education in the social sciences and humanities that seeks to contribute to the development of open societies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Faculty members from nearly 40 countries teach courses in English at CEU, which attracts approximately 1,100 students each year from more than 60 nations. Administered through the College, the program allows students from Bard and other undergraduate schools to take courses for credit at CEU. They may also participate in an internship program sponsored by CEU, in cooperation with the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program. Upon completion of their undergraduate studies, students who qualify may have the option of matriculating in one of CEU’s master’s degree programs in the social sciences or humanities. For additional information, go to http://ceu.bard.edu.
Humboldt University in Berlin Located at the center of the new Europe, Humboldt University has an active international program. The university’s enrollment of 36,000 includes more than 4,000 foreign students, many from Eastern Europe. Bard students typically attend German language and literature courses and may enroll in other courses. To be eligible, students must have completed at least two years of German and have moderated. Humboldt offers some courses in English. Students participating in the exchange pay Bard tuition, in an arrangement that also allows Humboldt students to study at Bard. Intensive German classes are available prior to the beginning of the Humboldt semester.
Institute for International Liberal Education (IILE) The Institute, founded in 1998, has become a recognized leader in the establishment of joint ventures in liberal education with universities abroad. Working with partner universities that seek to introduce more democratic educational practices and multidisciplinary research and teaching, IILE establishes dual-degree or dual-credit programs that realize the best features of American liberal arts education while respecting and incorporating local knowledge and ambitions. Its programs are based on the principles of mutuality and equality.
Programs administered by IILE include Bard’s joint ventures with Saint Petersburg State University (Smolny College), University of the Witwatersrand (International Human Rights Exchange), Al-Quds University (Honors College for Liberal Arts and Sciences and Master of Arts in Teaching Program, see page 247), and American University of Central Asia. It manages the Program in International Education (PIE), which brings students to Bard from countries emerging from authoritarian regimes, as well as tuition-exchange programs with American University in Cairo, State Academy of Design (Karlsruhe, Germany), Humboldt University (Berlin, Germany), and University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa). The Institute has its own board of advisers and endowment. For additional information, go to www.bard.edu/iile.
Intensive and Immersion Foreign Language Study Most foreign languages taught at Bard can be studied in an intensive format that offers both an accelerated pace of learning and a one- or two-month summer or winter program in the country of the language under study. Current sites for these programs are Qingdao, China; Tours, France; Heidelberg, Germany; Haifa, Israel; Florence, Italy; Kyoto, Japan; Oaxaca, Mexico; Fez, Morocco; and St. Petersburg, Russia. The intensive format allows students to complete the equivalent of two years of language study in a few months. The immersion format, currently offered in German, is even more accelerated than the intensive format. (For a more detailed description of intensive and immersion foreign language courses, see the Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures Program description elsewhere in this catalogue.)
International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) Bard’s collaboration with African universities, which began in 1995 after the end of apartheid, culminated in 2007 with the establishment of the International Human Rights Exchange as a full-semester program in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand (“Wits”) in Johannesburg, South Africa. IHRE seeks to promote a critical understanding of human rights as part of a broad intellectual and social movement. It is offered every fall semester and includes a substantial internship with a local NGO or other human rights organization. Students from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and other African countries form the majority of the student body, along with young people from Bard and other North American colleges and universities. For additional information, go to www.ihre.org.
Lingnan University Founded in 1967, Lingnan University, the only liberal arts university in Hong Kong, has a relatively small student body and is committed to maintaining a close faculty-student relationship. Bard students need not speak Chinese to spend a semester at Lingnan. Bard graduates may apply to be English language tutors.
Program in International Education (PIE) Responding to the end of the Cold War, Bard developed the Program in International Education, whose mission is to promote friendship and democratic thinking among future leaders from the United States and from regions of the world that are undergoing a transition to more democratic forms of government. Originally limited to the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, and the former Yugoslavia, PIE has since expanded to include the countries of southern Africa and central Asia. Since 1991 PIE has brought more than 200 students to Bard from 23 countries. These students spend one year at Bard, then return to their home institutions to complete their studies. While at Bard, each student participates with American students in two core seminars on aspects of democratization.
Smolny College at Saint Petersburg State University In 1996 Bard and Saint Petersburg State University formed a partnership to establish Russia’s first liberal arts college. Smolny College opened in October 1999 with 78 students and now enrolls 485. The great majority of students are Russian. Graduates receive a dual B.A. in liberal arts and sciences from Bard College and Smolny College of Saint Petersburg State University.
Since its founding, Smolny has become a leading example of successful Russian-American cooperation and has assumed an important role in the reform of Russian higher education. Smolny created the first undergraduate program in human rights in Russia and, with support from the Russian government, it is leading a Russia-wide project to add a liberal arts dimension to Islamic institutions of higher education.
The structure of Smolny’s four-year B.A. curriculum resembles Bard’s. Students attend First-Year Seminar, pass Moderation, and complete Senior Projects. At the same time, Smolny’s programs of concentration and courses have different emphases and strengths, reflecting Russian cultural and intellectual traditions and the interests of contemporary Russian faculty and students. The languages of instruction at Smolny are Russian and English. Courses in Russian as a second language are offered at the intermediate and advanced levels. In 2005, Smolny and Bard launched a Russian language summer intensive for students who may need to improve their skills in Russian before enrolling.
Bard students with sufficient knowledge of Russian, including Russian and Eurasian studies majors, are encouraged to spend a semester or more at Smolny. Students from Bard and other U.S. colleges who attend Smolny for a semester or a year pay Bard tuition and earn Bard College credit. For additional information, go to www.smolny.org/bard-smolny.
State Academy of Design in Karlsruhe, Germany The State Academy of Design Karlsruhe (Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, or HfG) is a young university with the mission of extending the teaching of traditional art and design to include new media. The HfG, with 1,800 students and a distinguished faculty, is housed with the Centre for Art and Media (ZKM), giving its students access to the German contemporary art world. Bard students at HfG attend from March through June. Students intending to participate in arts courses require knowledge of intermediate German; those interested in theory need advanced language skills. German language instruction is available before the beginning of the semester and at nearby Karlsruhe University. Bard students attending HfG pay Bard tuition, an arrangement that guarantees they will earn credit for their work and also allows HfG students to attend Bard.
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg Bard students may study as directly enrolled exchange students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Wits, home to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students, is renowned for its intellectual leadership and commitment to nurturing critical thinkers and creative innovators. Students are exposed to a comprehensive academic program, participate in leading research programs across the curriculum, and engage in current developments in South Africa, the rest of Africa, and the world.
Separate from the International Human Rights Exchange (also at Wits), this Bard-Wits program enables Bard students to study courses in African history, arts, anthropology, international relations, languages, literature, philosophy, political science, and sociology. Language instruction is available in all of South Africa’s major languages, including Afrikaans, Sesotho, SiSwati, Xhosa, and Zulu. Bard students attending Wits under the exchange pay Bard tuition, in an arrangement that guarantees they will earn credit for their work and also allows Wits students to study at Bard.
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