Bard College

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A Private College for the Public Good
Bard College seeks to inspire curiosity, a love of learning, idealism, and a commitment to the link between higher education and civic participation.
Meet Javen and learn about the Bard Conservatory, dance, Italian studies, and the Senior Project.

Academics

Academics at Bard focus on giving students a strong scholarly foundation with our core curriculum, then encouraging them to explore individual academic interests. The College seeks to engender in every student a wide curiosity and love of learning. Close contact with scholars who are teachers but also active in their disciplines is a constant, and the level of academic discourse in the classroom is high.

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Civic Engagement

Civic Engagement

“At Bard, we show up. We build, paint, dig, teach, play, sing, sweat. We show up in the middle of the night, work in the rain, crawl under the car, whatever it takes. This does not mean erasing the self. It means struggling with the tension between self and collective interests, and then acting compassionately.” —Paul Marienthal, Dean for Social Action; Director, Trustee Leader Scholar Program

Visit the Center for Civic Engagement

Watch: Lola, a joint major in film and studio arts, explores Avery, where film classes are taught at Bard.

Campus Life

The focus of student life at Bard College, both inside and outside the classroom, is on campus. From its historic Hudson Valley setting to its state-of-the-art science and arts facilities, the College offers an idyllic environment where students can enjoy a rich social life interwoven with their cultural and intellectual pursuits.

Learn More about Campus Life

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We embrace plurality, respect divergent viewpoints, and are committed to understanding the rich spectrum of experiences that comprise our community. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Bard seeks to materialize our commitment to plurality, dialogue, and rigorous study. We strive to create a learning environment that upholds the College’s mission to meaningfully include the voices, works, and ideas of communities and cultures historically marginalized in liberal arts and sciences education.

DEI Initiatives

Arts at Bard
Photo by Chris Kayden

Arts at Bard

Bard College offers the best of both worlds: a traditional liberal arts college with exceptional programs in the fine and performing arts. In small classes taught by notable faculty, students work closely with top professionals in their fields. All students, whatever their major, are encouraged to take advantage of the same high-level arts instruction and engagement; the discipline of cultivating one’s artistic abilities has wide-ranging collateral benefits.

Get to Know the Division of the Arts

Bard News and Events

Featured News

Valerie Barr. Photo by Shaunessy Renker ’23
Bard College Faculty Member Valerie Barr Elected as 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
Valerie Barr, Bard College’s Margaret Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, has been elected as a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Barr, who teaches in the Computer Science Program, is “being honored for distinguished contributions to computer science education, and to increasing the diversity in the computing fields,” writes the AAAS.  More >
Photo by Mohammad Husaini.
Bard College among Those “Reviving the College Dreams of Afghan Women,” Writes Inside Higher Ed
Last month, the Taliban banned all women in Afghanistan from attending universities, effectively cutting off hope for girls and women to pursue higher education in their country. Institutions like Bard College are fighting not only to offer educational resources to Afghan women, but to ask other colleges and universities to do the same. “We also know with the emergence of Ukraine, Afghanistan was already becoming old news soon after it began,” Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs, said to Inside Higher Ed. “We’re trying to fight to keep its importance alive.” More >

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Upcoming Events

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