Skip to main content.
Bard
  • Bard
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics
    Bard College Commencement
    • Academics
      • Programs and Divisions
      • Structure of the Curriculum
      • Courses
      • Requirements
      • Discover Bard
      • Bard Abroad
      • Academic Calendar
      • Faculty
      • Libraries
      • College Catalogue
      • Dual-Degree Programs
      • Bard Conservatory of Music
      • Other Study Opportunities
      • Graduate Programs
      • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission
    • Applying
      • Apply Now
      • Financial Aid
      • Tuition + Payment
    • Discover Bard
      • Campus Tours
      • Meet Our Students + Alumni/ae
      • For Families / Familias
    • Stay in Touch
      • Join Our Mailing List
      • Contact Us
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    Bard Campus Life

    Make a home in Annandale.

    • Living on Campus
      • Housing + Dining
      • Campus Resources
      • Get Involved on Campus
      • Visiting + Transportation
      • Athletics + Recreation
      • New Students
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    • Bard CCE The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked.

      Take action.
      Make an impact.

      Get Involved
      • Campus + Community
      • In the Classroom
      • U.S. Network
      • International Network
      • About CCE
      • Resources
      • Support
  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    Upstreaming
    • News + Events
      • Newsroom
      • Events Calendar
      • Video Gallery
      • Press Releases
      • Office of Communications
      • COVID-19 Updates
    • Special Events
      • Commencement Weekend
      • Alumni/ae Reunion
      • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
      • Fisher Center
      • Bard SummerScape
      • Bard Athletics
  • About Bard sub-menuAbout Bard

    A private college for the public good.

    Support Bard

    Legacy Challenge
    • About Bard College
      • Mission Statement
      • Bard History
      • Love of Learning
      • Visiting Bard
      • Employment
      • OSUN
      • Bard Abroad
      • The Bard Network
      • Montgomery Place Campus
      • Campus Tours
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • Title IX and Nondiscrimination
      • HEOA Disclosures
      • Institutional Support
      • Safety and Security
      • Inside Bard
      • Alumni/ae Network
      • Family Network
      • Support Bard
      • Legacy Challenge
  • COVID-19 Information
  • Give
  • Search

Catalogue

The Bard College Catalogue contains detailed descriptions of the College's undergraduate programs and courses, curriculum, admission and financial aid procedures, student activities and services, history, campus facilities, affiliated institutions including graduate programs, and faculty and administration.

Download Catalogue PDF

  • Mission
    • Mission
  • Acknowledging Bard's Origins
    • Acknowledging Bard's Origins
  • History of Bard
    • History of Bard
    • Bard College: A Selective Chronology
    • Presidents of Bard College*
  • Learning at Bard
    • Overview
    • The Five Pillars of the Bard Education
    • The Curriculum
    • Academic Programs and Concentrations
    • Academic Requirements and Regulations
    • Specialized Degree Programs
  • Admission
    • Admission to Bard
  • Academic Calendar
    • Academic Calendar
  • Division of the Arts
    • Division of the Arts Overview
    • Architecture
    • Art History and Visual Culture
    • Dance
    • Film and Electronic Arts
    • Music
    • Photography
    • Studio Arts
    • Theater and Performance
    • Interdisciplinary Arts Courses
  • Division of Languages and Literature
    • Languages and Literature Overview
    • Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures
    • Literature
    • Written Arts
  • Division of Science, Mathematics, and Computing
    • Science, Mathematics, and Computing Overview
    • Biology
    • Chemistry and Biochemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Mathematics
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Additional Courses in the Sciences
  • Division of Social Studies
    • Social Studies Overview
    • Anthropology
    • Economics
    • Economics and Finance
    • Historical Studies
    • Interdisciplinary Study of Religions
    • Philosophy
    • Politics
    • Sociology
  • Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations
    • Interdivisional Overview
    • Africana Studies
    • American and Indigenous Studies
    • Asian Studies
    • Classical Studies
    • Environmental Studies
    • Experimental Humanities
    • French Studies
    • Gender and Sexuality Studies
    • German Studies
    • Global and International Studies
    • Global Public Health
    • Human Rights
    • Irish and Celtic Studies
    • Italian Studies
    • Jewish Studies
    • Latin American and Iberian Studies
    • Medieval Studies
    • Middle Eastern Studies
    • Mind, Brain, and Behavior
    • Russian and Eurasian Studies
    • Science, Technology, and Society
    • Spanish Studies
    • Theology
    • Victorian Studies
    • Multidisciplinary Studies
    • Interdisciplinary Curricular Initiatives
  • The Bard College Conservatory of Music
    • Conservatory of Music Undergraduate Program
    • Conservatory of Music Graduate Programs
    • Advanced Performance Studies Program
    • Postgraduate Collaborative Piano Fellowships
    • Creative Center for Film Music
    • US-China Music Institute
  • Bard Abroad
    • Bard Abroad
  • Additional Study Opportunities and Affiliated Institutes
    • Additional Study Opportunities Overview
    • Additional Study Opportunities
    • Professional Education
    • Affiliated Programs and Institutes
  • Civic Engagement
    • Civic Engagement Overview
    • Center for Civic Engagement
    • Student-Led Engagement
    • Classroom, Community, and Careers
    • Bard and the Local Community
    • Innovations in Science and Sustainability
    • Education Reform
    • International Partnerships
  • Open Society University Network
    • Overview
    • Bard-Based Initiatives
    • Open Society University Network Member Institutions
  • Campus Life and Facilities
    • Campus Overview
    • Student Life
    • Student Services and Resources
    • Residence Life
    • Campus Facilities
    • Safety and Security
    • Office of Title IX and Nondiscrimination (OTN)
  • Graduate Programs
    • Graduate Programs Overview
    • Bard Center for Environmental Policy
    • Bard College Conservatory of Music
    • Bard Graduate Center
    • Bard MBA in Sustainability
    • Center for Curatorial Studies
      (CCS Bard)
    • Levy Economics Institute Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy
    • Longy School of Music of Bard College
    • MA in Global Studies 
    • MA in Human Rights and the Arts
    • Master of Arts in Teaching Program
    • Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts
    • The Orchestra Now
  • Educational Outreach
    • Overview
    • Early College Programs
    • Bard Baccalaureate
    • Bard Microcolleges
    • Bard Prison Initiative
    • Bridge Program
    • Clemente Course in the Humanities
    • Institute for Writing and Thinking
    • Lifetime Learning Institute
    • Longy School of Music of Bard College
    • Return to College Program
    • Zora Neale Hurston Writing Fellowship
    • International Partnerships
  • Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
    • Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
  • The Bard Center
    • The Bard Center
    • Fellows of The Bard Center
    • Bard Fiction Prize
    • Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series
    • Institute for Writing and Thinking
    • Leon Levy Endowment Fund
    • Cultural Programs
  • Finances
    • Financial Aid
    • Application for Financial Aid
    • Financial Aid Sources
    • Fees, Payment, and Refunds
  • Scholarships, Awards, and Prizes
    • Scholarships
    • Awards
    • Prizes
  • Faculty
    • Bard College Faculty
    • Bard College Faculty Emeritus
    • Faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music
    • Faculty of the Graduate Programs
    • Faculty of the Affiliate Programs 
  • Honorary Degrees and Bard College Awards
    • Honorary Degrees
    • Bard College Awards
  • Boards and Administration of Bard College
    • Boards of Bard College
    • Administration
  • Bard College Contact Information
    • Bard College Contact Information
    • Key Websites
  • Bard Campus Map and Travel Directions
    • Map and Travel Directions

Bard College Catalogue 2022-23

Languages and Literature Overview


The Division of Languages and Literature offers majors in the areas of literature; written arts; and foreign languages, cultures, and literatures. All students in the division are encouraged to study languages other than English; foreign language instruction currently offered includes Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and ancient Greek and Latin. Interdisciplinary majors are also offered in Asian studies, classical studies, French studies, German studies, Italian studies, Middle Eastern studies, Russian and Eurasian studies, and Spanish studies (see “Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations” in this catalogue).

The Literature Program at Bard challenges the national, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries that have too often dictated the terms by which we understand the meaning and value of the written word. Thinking critically, both individually and collectively; speaking up with compassion and conviction; and writing with clarity and purpose are the cornerstones of what program faculty teach and practice. These skills are essential to the study of literature, to active citizenship, and ultimately, to having a voice in the world. The curriculum emphasizes cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity and is vitally engaged with interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, experimental humanities, gender and sexuality studies, human rights, Latin American and Iberian studies, and Middle Eastern studies. The Written Arts Program recommends students experiment with their own writing in a context sensitive to intellectual, historical, and social realities. Students are encouraged to consider how their writing is and can be an act of critical and creative engagement, a way of interrogating and translating the world around us. It is expected that Written Arts students are also passionate readers. Students in the Written Arts Program take writing-intensive seminars in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that emphasize innovative, experimental work, and work that foregrounds the conventions of writing. 

Seniors must summon up imagination, knowledge, discipline, and independence for the Senior Project. Senior Projects are normally 60 to 80 pages in length and represent a year’s worth of research, writing, and revision. Students usually decide on a topic in the spring of their junior year and are matched with a faculty member to serve as their Senior Project adviser at that time. During their senior year, students generally meet with their advisers for an hour each week. Over the years, students have translated works of poetry and fiction; written critical studies of texts from across the world and from the ancient past to the present day; and produced original works, including novellas, book-length poems, and short story collections. 

Several special interdisciplinary initiatives offer series of courses that are clustered thematically. Racial Justice Initiative (RJI) courses critically analyze systems of racial hierarchy and power from multiple disciplinary perspectives; Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences (ELAS) courses link academic work with civic engagement; Courage to Be seminars address the practice of courageous action in the 21st century; Hate Studies Initiative (HSI) courses examine the human capacity to define and dehumanize an “other”; Calderwood Seminars help Upper College students think about translating discipline-specific writing to a general audience; and OSUN online and collaborative courses are taught by faculty at Bard and at partner institutions throughout the world and enroll students from across the Bard Network. Other course clusters include the Thinking Animals Initiative (TAI), Migration Initiative, Asian Diasporic Initiative, and Disability and Accessibility Studies Initiative (DASI).

The course descriptions listed in this chapter represent a sampling of courses taught in the last three years.

Division chair: Matthew Mutter
 


 

 

Bard College
30 Campus Road
PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 845-758-6822
Admission E-mail: [email protected]
©2023 Bard College
Follow Us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
You Tube
Information For:
Prospective Students
Current Employees
Alumni/ae 
Families
Quick Links
Employment
Travel to Bard
Site Search
Support Bard