Bard College Catalogue

Bard College Catalogue 2012-13

Campus Facilities

Campus Facilities: Green Initiatives

Bard has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2035, and all new construction is built according to green principles. The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Center for Science and Computation, László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building, Alumni/ae Center, and Robbins House residential hall expansion are examples of campus facilities that are geothermally heated and cooled. Solar thermal panels provide hot water to several residential halls, and an effort to replace metal halide lamps with outdoor LED lighting fixtures is expected to cut energy use by a third. Bard also participates in the car-sharing program Zipcar, an alternative to car rental and car ownership.

Additionally, the entire 540-acre campus has been designated as an arboretum, with the goal of preserving and cultivating the College’s horticultural assets. Among its many gardens is the Bard College Community Garden, where students and staff plant, tend, and have access to vegetables, fruit, and flowers. Beginning in 2012, the Bard Farm will allow students to learn about growing food in an ecologically sound way.

For more information on Bard’s green programs and policies, including student-run initiatives such as the biodiesel co-op and bike share, visit the Environmental Resources Department website at http://inside.bard.edu/berd.

Campus Facilities: Libraries

Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library, Hoffman Library, and Kellogg Library

The library’s mission is to support the goals of the College and to improve the quality of learning and teaching by providing information services and collections in a variety of formats that serve the needs of its users. In support of this mission the library seeks to (1) sustain and improve its collections and the services and ­pathways that give access to them; (2) clarify needs and de­velop programs to help students become more independent, more confident, and more resourceful; (3) create an information gateway through the thoughtful use of technology; (4) promote staff learning through collaborative planning, teamwork, and continuing education; and (5) ensure that library facilities are safe, inviting, and well maintained.

As a result of a generous gift from College Board of Trustees Chair Charles P. Stevenson Jr., Bard’s library complex consists of the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library, designed by the ­award-winning architectural firm of Robert Venturi, and the Hoffman and Kellogg Libraries. The resources of the Stevenson Library and satellite libraries in the Levy Economics Institute, Center for Curatorial Studies, and Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture include 400,000 volumes and more than 14,000 journals available in print or online. For a full description of the library’s collections and services, please visit the Stevenson Library ­website at www.bard.edu/library.

Campus Facilities: Academic

Milton and Sally Avery Arts Center

The Avery Arts complex houses the Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center, home to the Film and Electronic Arts Program; and the Edith C. Blum Institute, home to the Music Program and, with the adjacent László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building, The Bard College Conservatory of Music.

Blum Institute facilities include a practice space for students and staff, faculty offices, classrooms, a listening library, a fully equipped soundproof recording studio, an editing studio, a computer music studio, a composition studio, a jazz band room, and a jazz percussion studio. Students have access to grand and upright Steinway and Yamaha pianos. Music facilities in the Bitó Building are described below.

The Ottaway Film Center houses a 110-seat theater equipped with 16mm and 35mm film and video projection, performance space, a shooting studio with control room, an analogue editing suite and computer lab, two screening/seminar rooms, a darkroom, editing suites for sound and video, faculty offices, and a film archive and media library. Students in production classes may borrow supplies and equipment housed in the inventory office. Visiting artist talks, screenings, symposia, and cosponsored events are regularly scheduled in the theater.

Bard College Exhibition Center (UBS Gallery)

The Exhibition Center is a 16,000-square-foot gallery and studio space in nearby Red Hook. The off-campus facility, formerly the Universal Builders Supply building (UBS), provides a professional-level space for exhibitions by graduating seniors and master of fine arts candidates in the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts.

Bard College Field Station

The Bard College Field Station is on the Hudson River near Tivoli South Bay and the mouth of the Saw Kill. Its location affords research and teaching access to ­fresh­water tidal marshes, swamps and shallows, perennial and intermittent streams, young and old deciduous and coniferous forests, old and mowed fields, and other habitats. A library, herbarium, laboratories, classroom, and offices are open to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and environmental researchers by prior arrangement. Also based at the field station are laboratories of the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve of the New York State Department of Environ­mental Conservation and Hudsonia Ltd., an environmental research institute (see page 253). The field station is owned by the College and operated with support from the Research Reserve, Hudsonia, and other public and private funding sources.

Bard Hall

Bard Hall is the College’s original academic building, erected in 1852. It is used by the Music Program and other programs for lectures, recitals, rehearsals, and classes. It was completely restored with generous assistance from the late John H. Steinway ’39, who had been a trustee of the College.

László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building

The László Z. Bitó ’60 Conservatory Building, a gift from László Z. Bitó and Olivia Carino, is a freestanding, 16,500-square-foot structure that is connected to the Avery Arts Center’s music wing by a covered walkway. Designed by Deborah Berke & Partners Architects LLP, the building is scheduled for completion in January 2013, and will be used primarily by students in The Bard College Conservatory of Music. Facilities include a 145-seat performance space that can be configured several ways, allowing students to reimagine the traditional concert space; 15 teaching studios; a lounge; and a large classroom. The Bitó Conservatory Building also has one-touch audio and video recording and live streaming capabilities.

Blithewood

Blithewood is the home of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. The mansion, built in 1900, and its site, originally designed by renowned landscape architect A. J. Downing, were renovated with a gift from the family of Bard trustee Leon Levy. Undergraduates have access to the Institute’s library by appointment and through the campus electronic network, and some undergraduate courses are taught there.

Edith C. Blum Institute

See Avery Arts Center description.

Center for Civic Engagement 

The Center for Civic Engagement is located in Barringer House on Annandale Road, north of the library. The two-story former residence houses offices, including one with videoconferencing capabilities, a kitchen, and work space. Plans include an addition that will provide space for events and the technical equipment necessary for shared lectures and other interaction with partner institutions off campus. The addition would be shared by the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and the Human Rights Project, which are based next door at McCarthy House. For more information about Center activities, see “Civic Engagement” in this catalogue.

Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture

The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) is an exhibition, education, and research center dedicated to the study of art and curatorial practices from the 1960s to the present day. The original 38,000-square-foot facility was ­completed in 1991 through the generosity of Marieluise Hessel and Richard Black. In addition to the CCS Bard Galleries and the Hessel Museum of Art, which opened ­following major expansion in 2006, CCS Bard houses the Marieluise Hessel Col­lection of more than 2,000 contemporary works, as well as an extensive library and curatorial archives that are accessible to the general public. In 2012, one of the main galleries in the Hessel Museum was named in honor of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, in gratitude for the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation’s support. Exhibitions are ­presented year-round in the CCS Bard Galleries and Hessel Museum, providing students and the public with an opportunity to interact with world-renowned artists and curators. The museum café and outdoor terrace are open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays, from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College

Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Frank Gehry, the 110,000-square-foot Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College opened in 2003. The Fisher Center, named for the former chair of Bard’s Board of Trustees, houses two theaters as well as the Felicitas S. Thorne Dance Studio, Stewart and Lynda Resnick Theater Studio, and professional support facilities. The Sosnoff Theater, an intimate 900-seat theater with an orchestra, parterre, and two balcony sections, features an orchestra pit for opera and an acoustic shell designed by Yasuhisa Toyota that turns the theater into a first-class concert hall ­for performances of chamber and symphonic music. Theater Two is a flexible, black box theater with adjustable, bleacher-type seating that is used for teaching and for student and other performances. The Fisher Center is home to the undergraduate Theater and Performance and Dance Programs, the Bard Music Festival, which entered its 23rd season in August 2012, and Bard SummerScape, an annual festival of opera, theater, film, and dance.

The Richard B. Fisher and Emily H. Fisher Studio Arts Building

The Fisher Studio Arts Building, which includes the Procter Art Center, houses large studios for painting and drawing, printmaking, cybergraphics, sculpture, and wood­working. It also contains a welding shop, individual studios for students working on their Senior Projects, a large exhibition area for student shows, and meeting areas. 

Hegeman Science Hall and the David Rose Science Laboratories

Hegeman Hall houses general-use classrooms and physics teaching laboratories. The Rose Laboratories house research laboratories for the Physics Program as well as additional teaching laboratories. The Physics Program has a broad array of research electronics and optics equipment.

Information Technology Services at Henderson Computer Resources Center

Bard Information Technology Services provides broadband Internet access and a multigigabit backbone to the Bard community. Wireless networking is available in many locations on campus. Wired 100Mb Ethernet ports are in all dormitories and many public areas. Support for academic computing includes a fully updated learning and teaching environment, multimedia classrooms, and video teleconferencing. Many students bring computers to Bard, although they are not required to do so. Public computing labs, providing Macintosh and Windows computers, scanners, and printers, are located around the campus. One lab is always open 24 hours a day. The Bard Help Desk, located in the Henderson Technology Laboratories, provides support and training to students, faculty, and staff. See http://inside.bard.edu/bits for details.

McCarthy House

McCarthy House, located on Annandale Road toward the north end of campus, houses the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and the Human Rights Project. The house was occupied by novelist and critic Mary McCarthy when she taught English at Bard from 1946 to 1947, and when she returned, from 1986 to 1989. McCarthy and Hannah Arendt were good friends for many years, and McCarthy served as Arendt’s literary executor from 1976 until her death in 1989. The conference room in the house features Arendt’s desk from her last apartment in New York City.

Music Practice Rooms

Opened in the spring of 2012 and located near the Avery Arts Center, this facility contains 12 practice rooms that are available to all students.

Franklin W. Olin Humanities Building

The Franklin W. Olin Humanities Building, constructed with a grant from the F. W. Olin Foundation and completed in 1987, is the main facility for anthropology, history, philosophy, religion, literature, creative writing, foreign languages, art history, and music history classes. The building contains a 370-seat auditorium for concerts, lectures, and conferences. It also includes small lecture rooms, seminar rooms, an art history room with projection equipment, a music history room with demonstration facilities, a poetry room with a library of poetry on tape, study and lounge areas, and an interior court and exterior terrace used for special receptions.

F. W. Olin Language Center

The two-story F. W. Olin Language Center was added to the Olin Humanities Building in 1995 through a special grant from the F. W. Olin Foundation. The facility features high-tech seminar rooms, a lecture hall, and the Center for Foreign Languages and Cultures (CFLC). The CFLC, with an international staff of 20, offers a wide range of tools and audiovisual resources for foreign-language learning, various tutoring spaces, and a writing lab.

Jim Ottaway Jr. Film Center

See Avery Arts Center description.

Jim and Mary Ottaway Gatehouse for International Study

Home to the Institute for International Liberal Education and the Human Rights Project, the hexagonal gatehouse to the Blithewood estate is one of the oldest buildings on campus. Designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1841 and constructed in 1842, the building is a designated state and federal historical landmark. Over the years it has housed Bard’s University Without Walls, the Muriel DeGré Center and lending library, Admission Office, and Publications Office. In 2004, the gatehouse was renamed for James Haller Ottaway Jr. and Mary Hyde Ottaway, who have generously supported Bard’s international programs and students since 1988.

The Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden Center for Science and Computation

This state-of-the-art, 70,000-square-foot science facility opened in 2007 and is home to the Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science Programs. The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Science Laboratories wing opened in 2009. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the dramatic two-story building includes nearly 17,000 square feet of dedicated laboratory space. Biology equipment in the facility includes DNA and protein electrophoresis instruments, a digital gel imaging system, an array of standard PCR machines, a Real-Time PCR machine, two fluorescent microscopes, and a wide range of ecology field equipment. Chemistry equipment includes an advanced 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (NMR), a liquid chromatograph– mass spectrometer, two gas chromatograph–mass spectrometers, and more. The computer science space includes a cognitive systems lab, robotics lab, and hardware teaching lab. The building also features the László Z. Bitó ’60 Auditorium, which seats 65; seven high-tech classrooms for multimedia presentations, two of which are set up for videoconferencing; faculty offices; and a series of open spaces for studying, computer work, and informal meetings.

Woods Studio

Woods Studio houses the classrooms, labs, studios, offices, and exhibition gallery 

of the Photography Program. The program’s facilities include two black-and-white group darkrooms; color facilities, including nine 4 x 5 enlargers and a processor for 20 x 24 prints; private darkrooms for seniors that are equipped with black-and-white and color enlargers for negatives up to 8 x 10; and a mural printing room. A 5,000-square-foot addition houses an exhibition gallery, a classroom, a 900-square-foot studio, and an advanced digital imaging lab. A basic digital lab, with 12 ­work­stations and a printer capable of handling widths of up to 44 inches, is located in the basement of the nearby Brook House residence hall..

Campus Facilities: Social and Recreational

Alumni/ae Center and Two Boots Bard

The Alumni/ae Center, an 8,500-square-foot building located across the street from the College’s main entrance, opened its doors in 2012. In addition to housing the Office of Development and Alumni/ae Affairs, the newly constructed space is configured to allow alumni/ae to host small functions, gather informally, set up readings and exhibitions, and interact with faculty and students. The Center is also home to the Bard branch of Two Boots, a New York City–based pizza restaurant. The purchase of the property was made possible by donations from an anonymous alumnus and a small group of alumni/ae.

Heinz O. and Elizabeth C. Bertelsmann Campus Center

The Bertelsmann Campus Center, a 30,000-square-foot facility that opened in 1999, is a central meeting place on campus. It contains the ­college bookstore and post office; the Career Development, Trustee Leader Scholar Program, and Student Activities Offices; Down the Road Café; the 100-seat Weis Cinema; lounge areas; public ­e-mail terminals; multipurpose and conference rooms; a student computer lab; meeting rooms for student clubs and organizations; and art gallery space. The signature exterior feature is a spacious ­second-floor deck on the building’s south side. The Campus Center is named for Heinz Bertelsmann, professor of international relations at Bard from 1947 to 1977, and Elizabeth “Lilo” Bertelsmann, a teacher of German and noted photographer, whose generous gift funded its construction.

Community Garden and Bard College Farm

Since 1997, the Bard College Community Garden has been a haven for agricultural enthusiasts from Bard and beyond. People gather in the circular garden for weekly potlucks and work parties during the growing season and help to maintain its fruit, vegetable, and flower crops. The student-initiated Bard College Farm, established in 2012, is located behind Ward Manor on the North Campus. The 1.5-acre farm allows students to grow food in ways that are ecologically sound, demonstrate the methodologies for sustainable food production, and be responsive to the latest scientific and agricultural practices for growing substantial crops. In addition to the largest cranberry bog in the Hudson Valley, crops include hops and more than 30 kinds of vegetables.

Finberg House

Finberg House, located on the east side of Route 9G opposite the main entrance to the campus, provides overnight accommodations for distinguished guests of the College. It was named in honor of Alan R. Finberg, a longtime trustee of the College and husband of the late Barbara D. Finberg, a close friend and member of the board of the Bard Music Festival.

Kline Commons

Kline Commons, the main dining facility, contains a large main dining room, smaller alcove dining rooms, meeting rooms, and a faculty dining area. An expansion during the summer of 2011 added almost 200 seats, including sofas and other informal ­seating. Further improvements in 2012 include enhancements to the kitchen and servery, which provide multiple stations and a variety of cuisines. Through a continuous service plan, students on the meal plan enjoy the flexibility of dining at the hour of their choice. Information is available at www.dineoncampus.com/bard.

The Green Onion Grocer, which serves as the campus market, is located in Kline Commons. A variety of produce, dairy, and staple items are available for students to purchase with cash or Bard Bucks. The Green Onion is open Monday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Manor House Café

The Manor House Café is steps away from the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and features two dining rooms with views of the Catskill Mountains and an outdoor dining terrace. The café is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Resident students may use their meal plan at Manor House Café as a meal exchange. Bard Bucks are also accepted.

Stevenson Athletic Center and Outdoor Facilities

The newly expanded Stevenson Athletic Center is an athletic and recreational complex made possible by a gift from Charles P. Stevenson Jr., chair of the Bard College Board of Trustees. In the fall of 2011, construction began on a 7,500-square-foot addition to the gymnasium, thanks to a gift from Stevenson and two anonymous donors. The project also includes improvements to existing facilities.

The complex features a 25-yard, six-lane swimming pool, fitness center, locker rooms, classrooms, cycling spin room, and 12,500 square feet of gymnasium space that includes basketball and volleyball courts, fencing strips, badminton courts, and seating for 700 spectators. The addition, scheduled for completion in 2012, features four international squash courts with a mezzanine viewing area, staff offices, a meeting space with multimedia capabilities, and a new entry and lobby area. The second phase of the renovation will include converting three old squash courts into additional cardio and weight rooms, renovating spaces for yoga and other classes, and making improvements to the women’s locker room.

Outdoor facilities include six lighted hard-surface tennis courts, a lighted platform tennis court, miles of cross-country running and Nordic skiing trails, the Lorenzo Ferrari Soccer and Lacrosse Complex, Seth Goldfine Memorial Practice Rugby Field, and adjacent multipurpose fields.