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, sustainable business, economic theory and 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 educators. In culmination of these studies, the students prepare original scholarly theses, offer readings and group exhibitions of their 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.
VIEW MORE >>
Academic programs offered: - M.S. in Environmental Policy
- M.S. in Climate Science and Policy
- M.S./J.D. dual-degree with Pace Law School
- Peace Corps Master's International (M.I.) Program
- Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program with Peace Corps
- M.S./M.A.T. dual-degree with the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program
- 3+2 Program for qualified undergraduates
- Professional Certificate
Website | Apply | Events
E-mail: cep@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7073
Application due dates: early: January 15, 2013; regular: March 15, 2013; final: May 15, 2013
Bard College Conservatory of Music
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—orchestral conducting and choral conducting—have significant overlap.
VIEW MORE >>
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. Students interested in the conducting program do not use the online application.
Academic programs offered: - M.M. in orchestral and choral conducting
- M.M. in vocal performance
Website | Apply
E-mail: conservatory@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7196
Application due dates: vocal arts: December 14, 2012; conducting: February 18, 2013
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.
VIEW MORE >>
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 decorative arts, design history, material culture
- M.Phil. in decorative arts, design history, material culture
- Ph.D. in decorative arts, design history, material culture
Website
E-mail: admissions@bgc.bard.edu
Phone: 212-501-3000
Application due date: January 4, 2013
Bard MBA in Sustainability
The Bard MBA in Sustainability was founded in 2011 and enrolled its first class of students in fall 2012. The Bard MBA focuses on the business case for sustainability. The program trains students to see how firms can integrate economic, environmental, and social objectives—the triple bottom line—to create successful businesses that build a more sustainable world.
VIEW MORE >>
Graduates of the Bard MBA Program will transform existing companies, start their own businesses, and pioneer new ways of operating that meet human needs, while protecting and restoring the earth’s natural systems. The Bard MBA is a low-residency program structured around “weekend intensives” with regular online instruction between these residencies. Five of these intensives are held each term: four in the heart of New York City and one in the Hudson Valley. Residencies take place over four days, beginning Friday morning, and ending Monday afternoon.
Academic programs offered: Website | Apply | Events
E-mail: mba@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7388
Application due dates: early: January 15, 2013; regular: March 15, 2013; final: May 15, 2013
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.
VIEW MORE >>
CCS Bard 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.
Academic programs offered: - M.A. in curatorial studies
Website | Apply
E-mail: ccs@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7598
Application due date: February 1, 2013
Levy Economics Institute Master of Science in Economic Theory and Policy
The
Levy Institute M.S. is an innovative two-year degree program that draws on the extensive research and policy expertise of the
Levy Economics Institute of Bard College.
The program emphasizes theoretical and empirical aspects of policy analysis through specialization in one of four Levy Institute
research areas: macroeconomic theory, policy, and modeling; monetary policy and financial structure; distribution of income, wealth, and well-being, including gender equality and time poverty; and employment and labor markets.
VIEW MORE >>
During the two-year M.S. program, students are required to participate in a graduate research assistantship carried out by Levy Institute scholars and faculty. Undergraduates in economics or related fields have an opportunity, through a 3+2 program, to earn both a B.A. and the M.S. in five years.
Academic programs offered: - M.S. in Economic Theory and Policy
- B.A./M.S. in Economic Theory and Policy
Website |
Apply |
Events
E-mail: levyms@levy.orgPhone: 845-758-7776
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.
VIEW MORE >>
Longy School of Music of Bard College
Founded in 1915 by renowned oboist Georges Longy, the Longy School of Music became a part of Bard in 2012. Located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Longy School is a leading degree-granting conservatory and school of continuing and preparatory studies. It offers 11 programs leading to a
master of music degree, as well as a new
Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program in Los Angeles. Longy also offers undergraduate, graduate performance, and artist diplomas.
VIEW MORE >>
Longy, Bard College, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have partnered to develop the Longy School of Music of Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program for musicians with a desire to respond to today’s educational needs and who aspire to participate in the growing El Sistema movement in the United States. The intensive 12-month MAT curriculum, based in Los Angeles and modeled after the original MAT Program on Bard’s main campus, integrates advanced studies in musical performance and education with the daily demands of the classroom. Program graduates are awarded California single-subject K–12 teacher credentialing in music.
Academic programs offered:
Website |
Apply for the M.M. |
Apply for the M.A.T.E-mail: alex.powell@longy.edu
Phone: 617-876-0956
Master of Arts in Teaching Program
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program at Bard College, founded in 2003, has at its core an integrated curriculum leading to a master of arts in teaching degree and New York State Initial Teaching Certification or California Single Subject Credentialing (grades 7–12) in one of five areas: biology/general science, literature/English, mathematics, music, and history/social science. Having completed an undergraduate degree in their chosen field, incoming students continue studies in that field while they take education courses that challenge them to apply the results of research and pedagogical analysis to the actual work of teaching.
VIEW MORE >>
Combined with student-teaching experiences, the program’s instructionally innovative courses provide the basis for critical reflection on educational practice. Students can earn the degree in one-year/full-time or two-year/part-time options. The MAT Program has four campus locations: in the Hudson Valley, New York; Bronx, New York; Los Angeles, California; and the West Bank. The campus in the Bronx is integrated with the daily life of a public school, International Community High School. In the Hudson Valley and California, the MAT strives for full participation in the life of public schools in rural and urban residency programs. Currently, admission to the program in the West Bank is limited to Palestinian educators.
Campus locations:
- Hudson Valley, New York
- Bronx, New York
- Los Angeles, California
- Al-Quds University, West Bank
Academic programs offered:
- M.A.T. (one-year program)
- M.A.T. (two-year part-time program)
- M.S./M.A.T. dual-degree with the Bard Center for Environmental Policy
Website | Apply | Events
E-mail: mat@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7151
Application due dates: New York priority: March 1, 2013; final: April 30, 2013. California priority: April 5, 2013; final: June 1, 2013.
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.
VIEW MORE >>
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.
Academic programs offered:
- M.F.A. in film/video, music/sound, painting, photography, sculpture, or writing
Website | Apply
E-mail: mfa@bard.edu
Phone: 845-758-7481
Application due date: January 15, 2013
Earn a master of science degree or a professional certificate in environmental policy.
The conservatory offers M.M. programs in orchestral and choral conducting and in vocal performance.
BGC offers programs of study leading to M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in decorative arts, design history, and material culture.
The MBA in Sustainability is an innovative low-residency program, designed with working professionals in mind.
Earn a master of arts degree in curatorial studies at our Annandale campus, with access to museum exhibition space, an exceptional library, and the Marieluise Hessel Collection.
The ICP-Bard program, based at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan, leads to an M.F.A. in photography through the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts.
Study at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College in this innovative two-year degree program.
The MAT Program integrates study in a discipline and in education, with locations in Annandale, New York City, California, and the West Bank.
This interdisciplinary program leads to a master of fine arts degree in film/video, music/sound, painting, photography, sculpture, or writing.
The Longy School is a leading conservatory and school of continuing and preparatory studies. (Photo by Kelly Davidson)
