ECLA | European College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to ECLA of Bard, a Liberal Arts University in Berlin

ECLA of Bard is a liberal arts university offering an innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum with a global sensibility. Students come to Berlin from 30 countries in order to study with our international faculty. The curriculum focuses on value studies, in which the norms and ideals we live by, and the scholarly attention they inspire, come together in integrated programs. Small seminars and tutorials encourage lively and thoughtful dialogue. The language of instruction is English. Students in the four-year B.A. program concentrate in art and aesthetics, ethics and political theory, or literature and rhetoric, and may earn both a German and an American bachelor’s degree. Flexible programs enable students to study at ECLA of Bard for a semester, a year, or longer.

Discover ECLA of Bard. Visit us online at www.ecla.de.

The Curriculum

As part of Bard College, ECLA’s curriculum is expanding to include a new “Bard in Berlin” program for study-abroad and matriculated students. Courses in fields such as economics, art, and history will take advantage of ECLA’s location in one of the world’s most artistically scintillating and historically layered cities. Students are encouraged to intern with an NGO, arts institution, or other organization, and to study German.

Study options at ECLA of Bard include:

Through Bard College:

First-year semester abroad
Junior year abroad

Through ECLA of Bard:

Four-year B.A.
2-2 Program, two years at ECLA of Bard and two years at Bard College
Academy Year, a one-year program in which students take core and elective courses
Project Year, in which students complete an individualized yearlong project

How to Apply

ECLA of Bard and Bard in Berlin are now accepting applications. ECLA has a need-blind admissions policy. No student is turned away for lack of funds and financial aid is available.

Prospective ECLA/Bard students: Apply to ECLA of Bard online for the 4-year B.A, 2-2 Program, and Academy Year at www.ecla.de.
Prospective Bard College students: Apply to study in Berlin through the Bard College Office of Admission. Up to 25 first-year students will have the opportunity to spend a semester in Berlin.
Current Bard students or students from other U.S. colleges: Apply to Bard in Berlin via the Institute for International Liberal Education.

About ECLA of Bard

Among German universities, ECLA of Bard—Germany’s first private liberal arts institution of higher learning—is unique by virtue of its small size, intimate atmosphere, coherent and imaginative curriculum, and decidedly international composition. Students work with faculty from different backgrounds on moral, political, epistemic, religious, and aesthetic questions, with the understanding that such questions are naturally and deeply connected. Students and faculty work together, sharing the facilities of a residential campus and the cultural riches of one of the most vibrant capitals of Europe.

Interactive teaching, a conducive campus atmosphere, and small-group, discussion-centered formats (including seminars and tutorials) are critical to the profound searching and complex dialogue that are central to ECLA of Bard’s teaching philosophy.

History

ECLA—European College of Liberal Arts—began in 1999 with the aim of creating a first-rate liberal arts education program in Europe. A major step toward the achievement of this goal came with the Berlin Senate’s recognition of ECLA as a university in 2011. ECLA’s merger with Bard College, in the same year, is another milestone, uniting ECLA with a leading American liberal arts college. Bard’s well-known strengths in civic engagement and extensive international dual-degree partnership programs offer opportunities for exploration and connection to students and faculty throughout the Bard network (Russia, South Africa, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, East Jerusalem, and the United States).