Undergraduate Academic Programs

Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00

Academic Programs

Undergraduate students can earn a bachelor of arts degree in one of approximately 35 stand-alone programs in the following academic divisions. They may moderate into a concentration, or cluster of related courses, in conjunction with moderation into a program.

Program and Concentration Approach to Study

A liberal arts education offers students both breadth and depth of learning. At Bard, the primary sources of breadth are the First-Year Seminar and the distribution requirements. The primary source of depth is the requirement that each student major in a stand-alone academic program, possibly in conjunction with a non-stand-alone field of study, or concentration, or with another program in a joint major.

Programs and Concentrations

A program is a sequenced course of study designed by faculty (and sometimes by students in conjunction with faculty) to focus on a particular area of knowledge or a particular approach to an area. A concentration is a cluster of related courses on a clearly defined topic.

Programs and Concentrations

A program is a sequenced course of study designed by faculty (and sometimes by students in conjunction with faculty) to focus on a particular area of knowledge or a particular approach to an area. A concentration is a cluster of related courses on a clearly defined topic.

A student may moderate into a concentration, but only in tandem with his or her moderation into a program. The course of study in an academic program begins at the introductory level and moves in progressive stages toward the development of the ability to think and/or create, innovatively and reflectively, by means of the formal structures that the discipline provides.
Interdisciplinary Study

With a curriculum based on programs rather than more traditionally defined departments, the faculty are encouraged to rethink boundaries between divisions and disciplines and to examine the content of their courses in terms of how the courses interact with one another.

Interdisciplinary Study

With a curriculum based on programs rather than more traditionally defined departments, the faculty are encouraged to rethink boundaries between divisions and disciplines and to examine the content of their courses in terms of how the courses interact with one another.

This more flexible framework allows students to create interdisciplinary plans of study. Many programs and concentrations, such as Asian Studies and Human Rights, are interdisciplinary in nature and can take advantage of the faculty and offerings of the entire College. For example, the Asian Studies Program may draw from courses in history, literature, art history, and economics.
Program Requirements

The requirements for Moderation and graduation differ from program to program and are summarized in the College catalogue. All students must declare a major in a program in order to moderate from the Lower College to the Upper College and become a candidate for the bachelor of arts degree.

Program Requirements

The requirements for Moderation and graduation differ from program to program and are summarized in the College catalogue. All students must declare a major in a program in order to moderate from the Lower College to the Upper College and become a candidate for the bachelor of arts degree.

A student who decides to pursue a double major—say, physics and philosophy—must satisfy the requirements of both programs and complete two Senior Projects. A student who pursues a joint major moderates into two programs, ideally in a joint Moderation, and completes course requirements for both programs and a single, unified Senior Project. A student who pursues study in a concentration must also moderate into a program, fulfill all course requirements, and produce a Senior Project that combines the interdisciplinary theories and methods of the concentration with the disciplinary theories and methods of the program.

Divisional Programs

The requirements for moderation and graduation differ between programs and are summarized in each program description in the College catalogue or on the program’s webpage. Students studying in an interdivisional program generally moderate into both the divisional program, which serves as the home discipline for their concentration, and into the interdivisional program. A student who decides to pursue a double major must satisfy the requirements of both programs.

Dance students in a workshop taught by choreographer Quilan "Cue" Arnold. Photo by Karl Rabe

Division of the Arts

Architecture
Art History and Visual Culture
Dance
Film and Electronic Arts
Music
Photography
Studio Arts
Theater and Performance

arts.bard.edu

Associate Professor of Literature Rebecca Cole Heinowitz. Photo by Scott Barrow

Division of Languages and Literature

Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
Literature
Written Arts

langlit.bard.edu

The Citizen Science Program at Bard College, in a lab taught by Professor Brooke Jude. Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00

Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing

Biology
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Computer Science
Mathematics
Physics
Psychology

science.bard.edu

A student in Professor Tabetha Ewing's course on the Enlightenment. Photo by Scott Barrow

Division of Social Studies

Anthropology
Economics
Economics and Finance
Historical Studies
Interdisciplinary Study of Religions
Philosophy
Politics
Sociology

socialstudies.bard.edu

Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations

Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations is home to 24 interdisciplinary fields: 11 are offered as majors, 13 as concentrations (minors). A major in literature might pair it with a concentration in Victorian studies, or political studies with a concentration in Middle Eastern studies, or human rights with a concentration in Latin American and Iberian studies. The variety of possible combinations illustrates the richness of study at Bard.

interdivisional.bard.edu

Students in the course Reimagined Farms in Reimagined Spaces work in the greenhouse on Bard’s Montgomery Place Campus. Photo by China Jorrin ’86

Interdivisional Programs

American and Indigenous Studies
Asian Studies
Classical Studies
French Studies
German Studies
Global and International Studies
Human Rights
Italian Studies
Middle Eastern Studies
Russian and Eurasian Studies
Spanish Studies

Photo by Scott Barrow

Interdivisional Concentrations

Africana Studies
Environmental Studies (starting fall 2022)
Environmental and Urban Studies (ending spring 2024)
Experimental Humanities
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Global Public Health
Irish and Celtic Studies
Jewish Studies
Latin American and Iberian Studies
Medieval Studies
Mind, Brain, and Behavior
Science, Technology, and Society
Theology
Victorian Studies

Specialized Degree Programs

In addition to the bachelor of arts degree, Bard College offers two five-year, dual-degree undergraduate programs.

The Economics and Finance Program offers a BS degree in economics and finance and a bachelor of arts degree in another field in the liberal arts or sciences other than economics.

The Bard College Conservatory of Music offers a BM in music and a BA in another field in the liberal arts or sciences other than music.

Preprofessional undergraduate and joint-degree options (for example, prelaw and engineering) are also available. For more information, see the “Additional Study Opportunities and Affiliated Institutes” chapter in the College catalogue. Bard and its affiliates also offer several graduate degrees.