Bard’s extraordinary faculty are dedicated to the philosophy of teaching. Today and throughout Bard’s history, members of the faculty have effected change in medicine, the arts and letters, international affairs, journalism, scientific research, and education, among other endeavors. These distinguished scholars are advisers as well as instructors: Bard has no graduate teaching assistants. And the average class size of 16 in the Lower College and 12 in the Upper College allows for intimate discussions and one-on-one interaction.
David Bloom ’13 MM ’15. Photo by Bruce Kung
“What brought me to Bard, in a word, was the faculty.”
“To work with Joan Tower, George Tsontakis, and James Bagwell was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. I had long followed and admired their work, and then I found out that each of them taught here. It’s easy for musicians to focus only on music, whereas I wanted to have a broader education that would prepare me for a world that requires a more well-rounded base of knowledge and experience.”
—David Bloom ’13 MM ’15
—David Bloom ’13 MM ’15
Faculty News
Jonathan Becker Publishes Article in the EDU Ledger on Voting Rights
The article argues that Gomillion vs. Lightfoot, a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court, is still relevant in the fight for voting rights today.
Jonathan Becker Publishes Article in the EDU Ledger on Voting Rights
Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College.
Post Date: 03-06-2026
Jonathan Becker Interviewed in Inside Higher Ed About Youth Voting Rights
Becker spoke about his longstanding work to protect youth voting rights.
Jonathan Becker Interviewed in Inside Higher Ed About Youth Voting Rights
Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College.
Post Date: 03-04-2026
More News
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Bard Professor Bryson Rand Receives Ellis-Beauregard Residency
Bard Professor Bryson Rand Receives Ellis-Beauregard Residency
Bryson Rand, visiting assistant professor of photography at Bard College, has been selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Ellis-Beauregard Residency in Rockland, Maine. The residency, which will take place in June 2026, will support Bryson’s development of his ongoing body of work, A Need to Leave the Water Knows. Engaging with coastal and inland landscapes through site responsive and experimental image making, he will build upon his recent exploration of long exposure photographs made at night. Bryson plans to use this dedicated time to pursue new visual directions shaped by place, chance, and close attention to the surrounding environment. The Ellis-Beauregard Residency was created to recognize and support artists whose work demonstrates innovation, experimentation, and creative risk-taking across disciplines, and will provide dedicated time and space for artistic inquiry at its new coastal Maine campus.Bryson Rand, visiting assistant professor of photography.
Post Date: 03-03-2026
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Jonathan Becker Publishes Article on Youth Voting Rights in Forbes
Jonathan Becker Publishes Article on Youth Voting Rights in Forbes
Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College, together with constitutional rights litigator Yael Bromberg, published an article in Forbes. In the Forbes article, Becker and Bromberg, who are coeditors of the book Youth Voting Rights: Civil Rights, the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, and the Fight for American Democracy on College Campuses, discuss the importance of youth political participation, and explore case studies of college communities which helped establish legal voting rights precedent. “As we approach the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation, every day proves that we are in the midst of a constitutional crisis to define the nation’s identity” write Becker and Bromberg. “With a new shadow of entrenchment enveloping the nation, it serves to recall the civic ethos and action which overcame prior anti-democratic impulses.”Jonathan Becker, vice president for academic affairs and director of the Center for Civic Engagement.
Post Date: 02-25-2026
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Bard College Partners With City of Kingston and World Affairs Council on Historic “Music and Diplomacy” Event
Bard College Partners With City of Kingston and World Affairs Council on Historic “Music and Diplomacy” Event
Bard College, together with the City of Kingston and the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley, will host “Music and Diplomacy” on March 29 as part of the City of Kingston’s 250 Years of America’s Voices, Stories and Histories series of events. The event, which takes place on Sunday March 29 from 3 to 5 pm at Old Dutch Church in Kingston, will explore how music has served as an important element of intercultural exchange and American soft power throughout US history. It will open with a performance by the Bard East/West Ensemble, founded by the Bard Conservatory of Music’s US-China Music Institute, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Malia Du Mont, vice president for strategy and policy and chief of Staff at Bard. The panel will comprise renowned musicians who have a background in international education, diplomacy, and cultural exchange including Jindong Cai, director of the US-China Music Institute; Jim Ketterer, senior fellow at the Bard College Center for Civic Engagement; and Philip D. Tappan, pianist, composer, conductor, and deputy commander of the West Point Band. “Music has long played an important part in diplomatic and cultural relations between nations,” Du Mont said. “We are lucky that our community is home to musicians who have played a part in this story, bringing America’s musical heritage to other countries. This program will be a fascinating opportunity to hear from musician-diplomats about their experiences, in their own words and also through a unique musical performance.”Clockwise L–R: Malia Du Mont, Jindong Cai, and Jim Ketterer.
Post Date: 02-25-2026
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Artist in Residence Isabelle O’Connell Awarded a 2026 Culture Ireland Grant
Artist in Residence Isabelle O’Connell Awarded a 2026 Culture Ireland Grant
Artist-in-Residence and pianist Isabelle O’Connell has been awarded a Culture Ireland Grant for 2026. The Culture Ireland Grant supports the presentation and promotion of Irish arts internationally, funding travel and amenities for artists. The grant supported her recital at Johanneskirche Schlachtensee in Berlin on November 29, 2025, which was intended as a conversation between impressionist and contemporary sounds. The solo recital featured works by Claude Debussy, Caroline Shaw, and Jane O’Leary, the latter inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's design of the Guggenheim Museum in New York.Isabelle O'Connell. Photo by Stefan Seyfert
O’Connell teaches in the Bard Conservatory of Music, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music.
Post Date: 02-24-2026
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Bard College Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities Celebrates Launch of Saw Kill Watershed Community Database
Bard College Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities Celebrates Launch of Saw Kill Watershed Community Database
On Tuesday, February 24, at 7 pm the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities at Bard College is presenting the first ever Saw Kill Watershed Community Database, a publicly accessible data tool housing datasets developed by community members, researchers, and Bard faculty and students since the late 1800s. Funded in part by the Hudson River Foundation, Bard Community Sciences Lab, and Hudson River Estuary Program of the DEC, the database is designed to expand in real time as the community surrounding the watershed continues to unearth historical information about the Saw Kill, and conducts community sciences in the watershed with efforts such as ongoing sampling.Community members and Bard staff and students taking Saw Kill water samples at the Annandale Bridge, 2016. Photo by Laurie Husted
The database will be launched at a celebration held at the Elmendorph Inn at 7562 N. Broadway, Red Hook, NY, at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 24. The event is free and open to the public, with refreshments provided.
“This project is like a love letter from Bard to the community we have been part of and served for over 100 years,” said Elias Dueker, associate professor of Environmental and Urban Studies at Bard. “Students, faculty, and staff are working side by side with community leaders to make the database as comprehensive as possible. We have found information in people’s closets, basements, paper files, art, photos, and stories. I don’t think there is anything like this project across the country, but I hope we can inspire other communities to rediscover how much they already know and study about their watersheds—just how much information is waiting there to help them step up to environmental challenges that seem at emergency-level today.”
The project—a collaboration between the Center for Experimental Humanities, Bard Biology and Environmental Studies, and community groups including the Saw Kill Watershed Community, Riverkeeper, and Hudson River Watershed Alliance—represents over 50 years of Bard's commitment in nurturing community efforts to provide meaningful stewardship of the Saw Kill Watershed, which provides drinking water and recreation for both Bard and the surrounding region. By compiling all available information and ongoing environmental research about the watershed in one accessible repository, the project is intended to serve as a versatile resource: as a teaching tool for local schools, for new residents wanting to learn about their surroundings, for community members who may have concerns about what they are observing in the watershed, and to provide meaningful data required to inform policy decisions that would affect the Saw Kill and its communities. For more information, please visit: cesh.bard.edu/csl/saw-kill-monitoring-program
Post Date: 02-24-2026
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Bard Professor Emeritus Peter Filkins Awarded Freudenheim Translation Prize
Bard Professor Emeritus Peter Filkins Awarded Freudenheim Translation Prize
Peter Filkins, professor emeritus at Bard College, has been awarded the inaugural Freudenheim Translation Prize, presented by the Jewish Literary Foundation in partnership with the Times Literary Supplement. This new international award, which is the largest offered by the foundation, celebrates excellence in translated fiction and nonfiction, highlighting the power of Jewish literature to engage diverse audiences. Filkins, who was also formerly Richard B. Fisher Professor of Literature at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and visiting professor of literature at Bard, is recognized for his translation of The Book Against Death by Elias Canetti, published in the U.K. by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2024. In the judges’ citation, chair Boyd Tonkin praised Peter’s “masterly translation,” noting how his thoughtful and deeply attentive rendering brings Canetti’s reflections on life and death vividly into English.Peter Filkins, professor emeritus at Bard College.
The Literature Program at Bard emphasizes cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity, challenging national, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries.
Post Date: 02-24-2026
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