Bard’s graduate programs offer specialized courses of study in the studio and performing arts, the cultural history of the material world, the curating of the contemporary visual arts, environmental policy, and discipline-based teaching for secondary schools. Each program prepares its students for the intellectual and practical challenges of their profession through research seminars, exhibition practicums, studio and performance critiques, chamber recitals, and professional internships, with scholars, practicing artists, curators, environmental policy makers, and educational professionals. In culmination of these studies, the students prepare original scholarly theses, offer readings and group exhibitions of their recent creative work, curate exhibitions in the Center for Curatorial Studies galleries, and perform in concerts at Bard’s Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts.
Each of Bard’s graduate programs leads to a master’s degree; one also has a Ph.D. program. Most important, through their innovative curricula, their bringing together emerging and accomplished practitioners, and their commitments to individual practice, these programs prepare their graduates to make informed, original contributions to their fields, to shape the future of their professions.
Graduate Programs
Bard Center for Environmental Policy
The Bard Center for Environmental Policy was founded in 1999 to foster education, research, and public discussion on critical environmental issues. At the core of the Center's activities is the one- or two-year program that leads to a master of science degree or a professional certificate in environmental policy. Graduates are prepared for environmental leadership in nonprofit organizations, government, and the private sector at the local, national, and international levels.
Academic programs offered:
M.S. in Environmental Policy
M.S./J.D. dual-degree with Pace Law School in Environmental Policy/Environmental Law
Peace Corps Master's International (M.I.) Program in Environmental Policy
M.S./M.A.T. dual-degree with the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program
The Orchestral and Choral Conducting Program of The Bard College Conservatory of Music is a two-year graduate curriculum that culminates in the Master of Music (M.M) degree. The program's two tracks (concentrations)--orchestral conducting and choral conducting--have significant overlap.
The Bard College Conservatory of Music also offers a master of music degree in vocal performance. The program in vocal arts features a two-year curriculum that includes a specially created four-semester Core Seminar, a singer/composer workshop, and extensive performance opportunities in The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.
Prospective students interested in the graduate program in vocal arts may apply online at: apply.embark.com/grad/bard. Students interested in the conducting program do not use the online application.
Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture
Founded in 1993, the Bard Graduate Center is an international study and exhibition center in New York City devoted to the study of the cultural histories of the material world. The BGC offers programs of study leading to M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in the history of the decorative arts, design history, and material culture. It also publishes a semiannual journal, organizes exhibitions, and offers a broad range of public programs.
The BGC has its campus on West 86th Street in New York City, just off Central Park and near some of the world’s leading museums.
Academic programs offered:
M.A. in the History of the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture
M.Phil. in the History of the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture
Ph.D. in the History of the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture
Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture
The Center for Curatorial Studies, founded in 1990, offers an innovative two-year graduate program leading to a master of arts degree in curatorial studies. Students take courses in the history and theory of contemporary art and other specialized topics in museum practice. The Center houses a research center, exhibition spaces, an extensive library, and the Marieluise Hessel Collection of late-20th-century art. In the fall of 2006, the Hessel Museum of Art opened at the Center.
International Center of Photography–Bard Program in Advanced Photographic Studies
Founded in 2003, the ICP–Bard program awards an M.F.A. degree in photography under the auspices of the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. Based at the ICP facilities in Manhattan, the two-year curriculum offers a rigorous exploration of all aspects of photography through integrated practice, history, and critical study that utilize the resources of ICP's curatorial team and permanent collection.
The Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program, founded in 2003, is an integrated curriculum of graduate courses in a discipline and in education. The program leads to a master of arts in teaching degree and New York Initial Teaching Certification or California Single Subject Teaching Credential for biology, English, mathematics, or social studies in grades 7-12. In combination with student-teaching experiences and the active participation of mentor teachers and MAT faculty advisers, the program's innovative courses provide the basis for critical reflection on educational practice. The Delano, California location provides a model for teacher education, as students are integrated into the daily life of a public charter school, Paramount Bard Academy, for the duration of their one year program; this teacher residency model is duplicated in the Bard College/Al-Quds University joint venture to offer MAT degrees to Palestinian teachers.
M.S./M.A.T. dual-degree with the Bard Center for Environmental Policy
Website: http://www.bard.edu/mat E-mail: mat@bard.edu Phone: 845-758-7145 Application Due Date: Priority: California March 8,2010 and New York March 1, 2010; Final: California May 7, 2010 and New York April 30, 2010
Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
Founded in 1981, the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts offers an interdisciplinary program leading to the master of fine arts degree in one of six fields. For three intensive summer sessions, students live and work in an environment that encourages proficiency in their work and recognizes the importance of engaged discussion to the artistic process. In addition to the summer sessions, work toward the M.F.A. degree continues in two independent study sessions during the intervening winters. Students of the graduate school include active, midcareer artists, teachers, and professionals in other fields as well as recent graduates. The faculty is composed of working artists who are concerned with nurturing student artists and with the theory and practice of their own art.
