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

Bard College President Leon Botstein. Photo by Steve Pyke
President Leon Botstein in the Chronicle of Higher Education: “Can We Finally Topple the Tyranny of Rankings?”
After the withdrawal of Yale and Harvard from the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, Berkeley, Columbia, Georgetown, Stanford, and UCLA shortly followed suit. In an opinion piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, asks: why stop there? “The embrace of rankings by colleges has damaged the quality of teaching and the link between higher education and democracy,” Botstein writes. More >
Sonita Alizada, Bard College senior (Photo by Jonathan Asiedu). Nawara Alaboud, Bard College Berlin senior. (L-R)
Two Bard College Students, Sonita Alizada and Nawara Alaboud, Win Prestigious Rhodes Scholarships
Two Bard College students have won Rhodes Scholarships for 2023, Sonita Alizada ’23 from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and Nawara Alaboud ’23 from Bard College Berlin. One of the most prestigious scholarships available to undergraduates, the Rhodes is a fully funded award for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. Alizada, originally from Afghanistan, is one of only two applicants to have been awarded a Global Rhodes Scholarship, available to students from nations that are not members of established Rhodes constituencies. She joins Ronan Farrow ’04 as the second Rhodes winner from Bard College in Annandale, and she distinguishes herself as the first Bard student to receive the scholarship while still an undergraduate. Alaboud, originally from Syria, is the first Bard College Berlin student to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. She was awarded one of two Rhodes Scholarships in partnership with the Saïd Foundation for students from Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine. More >

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Upcoming Events

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