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The First Year

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All first-year students participate in a common curriculum—
the Language and Thinking Program, First-Year Seminar, Citizen Science—and take elective courses.

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The Language and Thinking (L&T) Program

The L&T Program is an intensive introduction to the liberal arts and sciences with a particular focus on writing. All incoming first-year students attend the program during the last three weeks of August. Students read extensively, work on a variety of projects in writing and other formats, and meet throughout the day in small groups and in one-on-one conferences with faculty. The work aims to ­cultivate habits of thoughtful reading and discussion, clear articulation, accurate self-critique, and productive collaboration. Satisfactory completion of the program is required for matriculation into the College. 

Language and Thinking Website

First-Year Programs

  • First-Year Seminar
    First-Year Seminar is a two-semester course that presents seminal intellectual, cultural, and artistic ideas in the context of a historical tradition. Class discussions and frequent writing assignments develop precise, analytical thinking. Core texts address a specific theme for the year. This year’s theme is: The Self in the World.
  • First-Year Advising
    All first-year students are assigned an academic adviser, with whom they meet at strategic points during each semester. The advising system helps students begin the process of selecting a program in which to major, meet the requirements of that program, prepare for professional study or other activities outside of or after college, and satisfy other interests.
  • First-Year Electives
    Electives allow students to explore fields in which they know they are interested and to experiment with unfamiliar areas of study. Students select three elective courses in each semester of the first year (the fourth course is the First-Year Seminar).

    Explore the Course List

Citizen Science

First-year students return to Bard in January for a first-of-its-kind course that focuses on a specific scientific issue—infectious disease, for example—and looks at it from different methodological and conceptual approaches. This technique leads to an understanding of the impact of science and mathematics on everyday life and how Bard students, regardless of major, can become constructive participants in the debate over and solutions to crucial global problems.

Citizen Science Website

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