Bard | Graduate Programs

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.

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.
Website: http://www.bard.edu/cep
E-mail: cep@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7073
Application Due Date: February 1, 2008; rolling admissions until May 31, 2008

Bard College Conservatory of Music

The Bard College Conservatory of Music offers a master of music degree in vocal arts. The program in vocal arts of 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. The master of fine arts degree in conducting continues the curriculum of The Conductors Institute, now in its ninth year at Bard.
Website: http://www.bard.edu/conservatory/
E-mail: conservatory@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7196
Application Due Date: Conducting: April 1, 2008; Vocal Arts: February 1, 2008

Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture

Founded in 1993, the Bard Graduate Center is an international study and exhibition center in New York City devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the decorative arts of all cultures. The BGC offers programs of study leading to M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in the history of the decorative arts, design, and culture. It also publishes a semiannual journal, organizes exhibitions, and offers a broad range of public programs.
Website: http://www.bgc.bard.edu
E-mail: generalinfo@bgc.bard.edu
Phone: 212-501-3000
Application Due Date: January 16, 2008

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.
Website: http://www.bard.edu/ccs
E-mail: ccs@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7598
Application Due Date: February 1, 2008

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, in collaboration with 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.
Website: http://www.icp.org
E-mail: education@icp.org
Phone: 212-857-0001
Application Due Date: January 16, 2008

Master of Arts in Teaching Program

The core of this yearlong program, founded in 2003, is an integrated curriculum leading to a master of arts in teaching degree and a teaching certificate for grades 7–12 in English, mathematics, biology, or history. 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.
Website: http://www.bard.edu/mat
E-mail: mat@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7145
Application Due Date: Priority: January 31, 2008; Final: March 21, 2008

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.
Website: http://www.bard.edu/mfa
E-mail: mfa@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7481
Application Due Date: January 15, 2008

Bard Graduate Programs