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 at Bard aims to work at the systemic as well as the interpersonal level to address the implicit and explicit ways racism, sexism, classism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and religious discrimination impact the learning process.
Artwork by Rebecca MeekTuesday, September 15, 2020 – Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Meshell Ndegeocello Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin
UPSTREAMING Inspired by the writing of James Baldwin Created by Meshell Ndegeocello In collaboration with Charlotte Brathwaite Featuring the contributions of Staceyann Chin, Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, Paul Thompson '93, Justin Hicks, and more.A Co-Production of Bismillah, LLC and Fisher Center at Bard Co-Commissioned by Live Arts Bard, UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre, and Festival de Marseille.“No label, no slogan, no party, no skin color, and no religion is more important than the human being.”—James Baldwin
A project inspired by James Baldwin’s truth-telling treatise on justice in the United States, The Fire Next Time, and our endlessly changing world. Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 21st-century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times.
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace—not in the infantile American sense of being made happy—but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” —James Baldwin
Each month, September–December 2020, we offered gifts—music, thoughts, meditations, and visual testimonies of resilience—inspired by James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time.
“This is my offering to you. This is a different experience so I hope you have an open mind or at least an open heart. I see James Baldwin as an Orisha, his writing as the living word. I wanted to pay homage to him and to the time and effort it took to sit, to physically and emotionally fill the page with a truth that made my own sorrow feel less lonely. He put me on a path of empathy and humility towards my parents. It humbled me towards my mother born in 1944 and my father born in 1939—a time I can’t imagine living in while black.” —Meshell
Dial a toll-free telephone number and discover songs, meditations, and chants to ease your mind any time, day or night when you need it most.
SEE
Experience visual testimonies of Baldwin’s text, with original music created by Meshell and artistic collaborators, including Suné Woods, Nicholas Galanin, and Charlotte Brathwaite.
Hotspots of Democracy: Grasping Russian Democracy With Mind: Can We Still Believe in It?
How would a change in internal power relations affect the global geo-political context for the EU?
Online Event8:00 am – 9:30 am EST/GMT-5 The participants of the second edition of the Democracy Institute's Hotspots of Democracy debates will pose the questions: Can we, after thirty decades, still believe in the rise of a liberal type of democratic system in Russia? Is the Navalny case the beginning of a new chapter for the Russian democracy or it is just a prologue for another change of oligarchic elite? Is the actual Russian political elite discredited enough to sharpen the reactions of the EU and USA? How should Western Democracies react to the openly repressive and anti-democratic measures of the Russian 'hybrid regime'? How would a change in internal power relations affect the global geo-political context for the EU?
BBC-journalist Olga Ivshina, political scientist Ivan Krastev, MEP Sergey Lagodinsky and legal expert Olga Sidorovich will address these questions in a discussion moderated by CEU’s President and Rector, Michael Ignatieff.
8:00 am – 9:30 am EST/GMT-5 Online Event
3/01
Monday
Monday, March 1, 2021
"Black is the New Black: Haredi Jews on Israeli TV” with Dr. Shayna Weiss
Online Event2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST/GMT-5
While Israeli TV established its international reputation based on terrorist thrillers, it also has developed a rich cadre of programs examining Jewish identity and belonging, many of these shows focus on Haredi (ultra-Orthdox) Jews. I propose a three-part typology. The first type of show establishes likeness, calling for the Haredi Jew to be understood as the same as any secular viewer. Series in the second category argue that Haredim are inherently better and more interesting than any secular subject. The third grouping rejects the claims of the first, and instead argues for a more nuanced look into the darker aspects of Haredi life today. We will explore these three types, and what they say about the relationship between Haredim and the State of Israel today.
Dr. Shayna Weiss is the Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. Previously, she was the inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Israel Studies at the United States Naval Academy. Her research interests converge at the intersection of religion and gender in the Israeli public sphere, as well as the politics of Israeli popular culture. Currently, she is completing a book on gender segregation in the Israeli public sphere and researching the rise of Israeli television in the global market.
Meeting ID: 843 0954 1838
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST/GMT-5 Online Event
3/01
Monday
Monday, March 1, 2021
Forging the Anti-Lexicon with Hephaistos
A Talk with Hannah Silverblank (Haverford College) Online Event4:30 pm – 6:30 pm EST/GMT-5 In both ancient Greek and English, the language of disability is notoriously fraught with ideological assumptions about the wide variety of human bodies, minds, and ways of being. In the first half of this talk, Hannah Silverblank (Haverford College) will discuss the generative example of a Homeric adjective used to describe the god Hephaistos: the epithet ἀμφιγυήεις (amphi-gu-ē-eis). Does the word really mean ‘with both feet crooked, lame’, as the standard Greek-English lexicon (LSJ) would indicate? What are readers to make of the inconsistency that translators have brought this word into English, from ‘of the two lame legs’ (Murray 1924), to ‘strong-handed’ (Lattimore 1951) to ‘the… crook-legged god’ (Alexander 2015)? How do English translations of Homer’s Iliad grapple with the uncertainty of the word’s meaning, and, by extension, the meaning of Hephaistos’ embodiment? Together we will discuss the ways in which ableist assumptions of lexicographers and translators have coded and distorted Greek representations of the smith god and his disability, with ideological consequences that spill out beyond the lexicon and the Iliad.
The second half of the talk will take the form of a speculative dialogue between the speaker and the audience. How do we think about the role of the dictionary in our Classical Studies courses? How might students and faculty search for meaning in ancient languages through and beyond the lexicon? What forms of experiential and linguistic knowledges are assumed or privileged in our Greek-English lexica, and which are repressed or excluded? How does the epistemological potential of the lexicon inform and shape the kinds of meaning and interpretation derived from studies of the ancient Mediterranean? How can we — together, or collecta, in Classics — collaborate to forge new, sharper tools of wordsmithy?
Collecta in Classicis : “Together in Classics,” will provide a space for scholars, teachers, and students to have a conversation about inclusivity in Classics, what that means, what it looks like, and why Classics is not always inclusive. We welcome scholars who have engaged critically with diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, physical ability, and more as it relates to their experience in the field of Classics, or in their study of the Classical World, or both. Furthermore, we hope to include voices of marginalized groups typically silenced either in the past, or even today, by the Classics. How we make Classics more inclusive and accessible, and what that means and looks like, are difficult questions. We hope to encourage productive dialogues that contribute, in individual steps, to the transformative work needed in order for the field of Classics to be reimagined.
This talk will feature Hannah Silverblank, scholar of ancient disability Haverford College.
*A note on the name: The Latin title is representative of Classics, and having the words declined in the neuter, accusative, plural is representative of the inclusivity. The neuter excludes neither men nor women, while also including people identifying outside of masculine or feminine binaries. The plural is—quite literally—denoting that Classics is for and made up of all people.
Online Event5:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST/GMT-5 Collecta in Classicis : “Together in Classics,” will provide a space for scholars, teachers, and students to have a conversation about inclusivity in Classics, what that means, what it looks like, and why Classics is not always inclusive. We welcome scholars who have engaged critically with diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, physical ability, and more as it relates to their experience in the field of Classics, or in their study of the Classical World, or both. Furthermore, we hope to include voices of marginalized groups typically silenced either in the past, or even today, by the Classics. How we make Classics more inclusive and accessible, and what that means and looks like, are difficult questions. We hope to encourage productive dialogues that contribute, in individual steps, to the transformative work needed in order for the field of Classics to be reimagined.
The third panel will be led by Hannah Silverblank, scholar of Ancient Disability Haverford College.
*A note on the name: The Latin title is representative of Classics, and having the words declined in the neuter, accusative, plural is representative of the inclusivity. The neuter excludes neither men nor women, while also including people identifying outside of masculine or feminine binaries. The plural is—quite literally—denoting that Classics is for and made up of all people.
“I want to express our solidarity with all who grieve for the deaths, with all who live in constant fear of the brutality of racial discrimination, and with all who find themselves without hope in these dark and violent times.” —President Botstein Read the Response
Bard College acknowledges that its origins are intertwined with the systems of racial injustice that have been a part of this nation’s history from its foundations. More on Bard's History Land Acknowledgement
What We Do
DEI collaborates with faculty, staff, and students on learning, teaching, student development, institutional functioning, and engagement in local and global communities. In an increasingly intertwined and rapidly changing world, we are dedicated to a rigorous examination of the institutions and structures that sustain inequality. Above all, we maintain an ongoing commitment to decreasing the distance between these ideals and our everyday realities.
The Council for Inclusive Excellence (CIE) sponsors and cosponsors campus-wide events such as speakers, panels, and movie screenings that relate to social justice, intercultural communication, equity, and inclusion. The council is committed to making Bard an environment that is supportive of communities historically marginalized in liberal arts and sciences education.
Campus Resources
Excellence in Athletics
A Coalition to Support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Bard College Athletics
This coalition—composed of student-athletes, faculty, and staff—is charged with reviewing Bard’s Office of Athletics and Recreation in areas of accessibility as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion, taking into account existing policies, facilities, and student and staff experiences. As the coalition’s work progresses, the administration of the Department of Athletics and Recreation has undertaken the important work of creating a diversity strategic plan that includes goals for mandatory training for all student-athletes, increasing diversity in the coaching staff, increasing community engagement, and more diversity among student-athletes.
Chinese Calligraphy Club at the Bard College Club Fair. Photo by Sarah Wallock '19.
Student Clubs
Student clubs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion at the College include the Bard Christian Fellowship, the Latin American Student Organization, and the Trans Lyfe Collective. For more information about these and other clubs, visit student.bard.edu/clublist.
Student Government provides leadership for students interested in making Bard College a better place, and is always ready to support students working on issues of diversity and inclusion.
Housing the Dean of Student Affairs Office, CSLA provides support to students struggling to figure out what diversity means, what they want it to mean, and how to bridge the gap between the two.
The OSA helps students plan programs, organize events, and lead clubs in an effort to make Bard a more diverse and accepting place, all while keeping students engaged and making sure they have fun.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the dedication of Gilson Place. Photo by Najwa Jamal '21
Gilson Place: Dedicated in Support of Students of Color
Gilson Place, formerly Grey Stone Cottage, is a space dedicated to the advancement of students of color. Bard faculty and student leaders collaborated on its recent renovation and redesign. Gilson Place supports the academic, personal, and social success of members of the Bard community historically underrepresented in liberal arts and sciences education and fosters dialogue about race and culture on campus. The space is named for Alexander Gilson (c. 1824–89), an African American who labored for 50 years at Montgomery Place, now part of the Bard College campus. Gilson became head gardener at Montgomery Place and eventually opened up his own nursery business.
Posse graduates. Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00.
Spotlight on the Posse Program
The Posse Foundation recruits talented public high school students who might have been overlooked by traditional college selection processes, forming them into supportive Posses and connecting them with participating colleges. Every year Bard accepts a Posse of 10 students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, offering them full-tuition scholarships.
