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.

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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

Shuo Zhang.
Bard Physics Professor Shuo Zhang Receives NASA Grant for Research on Galactic Center Supermassive Black Hole Sgr A*
Bard College Assistant Professor of Physics Shuo Zhang has received a $91,933 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in support of her investigation, “Joint NuSTAR and EHT Probe of SgrA*: Flares, Black Hole Shadows, a New Hard X-Ray Source.” “Among all the fascinating science one can pursue via a joint X-ray and EHT observations of our own supermassive black hole, the physics behind mysterious daily Sgr A* flares is the jewel in the crown that astronomers have been pursuing. I am proud of our own students, physics major Nathalie Jones ’21, dance and mathematics major Rose Xu ’23, and physics major Grace Sanger-Johnson ’23, who have contributed to this exciting project.” says Zhang. More >
Sergei Rachmaninoff. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress ​​​
Bard Music Festival Explores Life and Times of One of Last Great Romantics in “Rachmaninoff and His World”
On Friday August 5, the Bard Music Festival returns with an intensive two-week exploration of “Rachmaninoff and His World.” In twelve themed concert programs, the festival’s 32nd season examines Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), perhaps the last great exponent of Russian Romanticism, tracing the complex course he navigated between Russia and Modernity (Weekend One: Aug 5–7), and investigating his relationship with the New Worlds he went on to conquer (Weekend Two: Aug 12–14). More >

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Upcoming Events

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