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
Brandon Blackwood ’13 and Visiting Artist in Residence Tschabalala Self Featured in Architectural Digest
“Brandon’s house feels like a cross between being at a spa, a luxury hotel, and my Auntie’s,” says Tschabalala Self.
Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli Featured in Opera News
“I try to make work that uses America as a lens through which to view issues and joys that are universal.”
Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli Featured in Opera News
Opera News profiled Bard Composer in Residence Missy Mazzoli ahead of her opera's premier at the Met.
Opera News also details the challenges and doubts that Mazzoli has overcome in her stellar career, such as the professor who assured her that she would never achieve an academic position as a composer—Mazzoli is now a composer in residence at Bard—as well as promises from leading figures in opera that “the current crop of women composers were not ready for the “big leagues.” Mazolli is also the first woman to premier an opera at the Met, and her previous premier, The Galloping Cure, was hailed by the Times of London as “one of the greatest operas of the century.” The piece also introduced the mentorship program she co-founded with fellow composer Ellen Reid, in order to ensure other young composers do not face the same headwinds. “These comments have reverberated through my mind every time I applied for a job, every time I put myself out there,” says Mazzoli. “My success is indeed the sweetest form of revenge I can imagine.”
Mazzoli is faculty member in the Bard Music Program and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, whose mission is to provide the best possible preparation for a person dedicated to a life immersed in the creation and performance of music. She teaches classes on composition and new music, as well as giving private studio instruction for composition majors at Bard.
Post Date: 10-07-2026
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BHSEC Math Teacher Gabe Rosenberg Interviewed in Chalkbeat
BHSEC Math Teacher Gabe Rosenberg Interviewed in Chalkbeat
Gabe Rosenberg, who has taught mathematics at Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) Manhattan since 2004, was interviewed by Chalkbeat about Illustrative Mathematics, a curriculum he helped develop. Adopted by New York City’s public school system, Illustrative Mathematics is a curriculum that uses a problem-based approach, meaning students first learn math collaboratively and by reference to real-world problems. Instructors are given resources including lesson plans, exercises, and videos designed to help students think about math more creatively.Students in class at BHSEC Manhattan. Photo courtest of BHSEC Manhattan
In June, Rosenberg won Math for America’s Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education, which recognizes two exceptional New York City math teachers each year. The award comes with a $20,000 prize, and an additional $5,000 was awarded to Illustrative Mathematics for nominating Rosenberg. “Every student should see themselves as capable doers of mathematics,” Rosenberg said. “I’ve strived to provide opportunities for all students inside a math classroom to explore and discover more interesting mathematics.”
Bard Early College is a multi-campus network with nine degree-granting campuses established to provide adolescents in American public school systems with the chance to go farther and faster than the status quo allows. BHSEC Manhattan was featured in Chalkbeat earlier this year.
Post Date: 10-07-2026
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Professor Sean Mcmeekin Reviews The Cauldron in the Wall Street Journal
Professor Sean Mcmeekin Reviews The Cauldron in the Wall Street Journal
Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture Sean McMeekin reviewed Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book The Cauldron for the Wall Street Journal. The Cauldron presents a history of the Middle East since the beginning of the 20th century. Montefiore first examines the Arab Revolt in 1916, before turning to the Cold War, the Iranian Revolution, and the Arab Spring. “Not all his stories are original,” McMeekin writes, “but he enriches them with fascinating details.” The Cauldron is “marred only by the occasional slip … its muscular prose, blending highbrow erudition with blunt and occasionally vulgar humor, is indelible.”Sean McMeekin, Francis Flournoy Professor of European History and Culture.
McMeekin teaches in Bard’s Historical Studies Program, which encourages students to examine history through the prism of other relevant disciplines such as anthropology, economics, and philosophy and different forms of expression. The program also introduces students to a variety of methodological perspectives used in historical research and to philosophical assumptions about men, women, and society that underlie these perspectives.
Post Date: 09-30-2026
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Levy Scholar Lekha S. Chakraborty’s Essay on Gender Budgeting Featured in Two Outlets
Levy Scholar Lekha S. Chakraborty’s Essay on Gender Budgeting Featured in Two Outlets
Levy Scholar Lekha S. Chakraborty, senior economist at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), was interviewed by the Times of India. Her work was also highlighted by former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in a piece for the Levy Institute. A member of the International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics, and International Economics, Chakraborty’s work focuses on the relationship between gender and fiscal policy. The Times of India and Levy Institute pieces both focused on Chakraborty’s essay, “Gender Budgeting: That Fire in My Belly,” included in the collection Women in Public Finance: Stories of Gender in Budgeting, in which she draws connections bewteen her mother’s childhood experiences in Kerala to later budget meetings she attended.The cover of Women in Public Finance: Stories of Gender in Budgeting, in which Chakraborty's essay appears.
Speaking with the Times, Chakraborty discussed the importance of gender budgeting, which is a strategy used specifically in India to achieve equality between men and women by examining how public resources are spent. “Women’s labor force participation lags their education levels. This is an efficiency loss,” Chakraborty told the Times. “Public investment in health, education, childcare, safety, and property rights expands effective labor supply and raises returns on existing human capital. Gender budgeting makes those choices visible and accountable.”
For the Levy Institute, Yellen wrote that Chakraborty’s essay, “showed that the values motivating her work could be supported by rigorous economic analysis.” Chakraborty’s work was initially ignored by the institutions she worked with, Yellen writes; “She responded by developing models, assembling data, and estimating the effects of gender-responsive budget policies on human development … In my experience, public institutions rarely change course simply because they are told they should. Durable change requires evidence, persistence, and an understanding of how institutions make decisions.”
Post Date: 09-30-2026
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Professor Joan Tower Profiled in WHMT and the Daily Catch
Professor Joan Tower Profiled in WHMT and the Daily Catch
Asher B. Edelman Professor of Music Joan Tower, who has been a member of Bard’s faculty for 54 years, was profiled in the Daily Catch and featured on Classical music station WHMT. Tower was interviewed by WHMT along with Alexandra Balog, director of the Atalena Artists Collective, who are presenting a concert celebrating Tower’s work on October 3. “Seeing [Joan] composing every day, after all she’s accomplished … her discipline and love for music has influenced my way of thinking about music and life in general,” Balog said.Asher B. Edelman Professor of Music Joan Tower.
“[Tower] was larger than life for me [as a child],” Bard Artist in Residence and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, who will perform at the celebratory concert, told the Daily Catch. “[Her music can be] stormy, serene, humorous, nostalgic, tender, or violent.” Tower said her goal as a professor is to help writers develop their own perspective. “We don’t try to burden our students with our style,” she said. “They develop their own voice, which is something I’m very proud of.”
The October 3 concert marks Tower’s 54 years at Bard with an evening of her music performed by Bard faculty, students, the Cassatt Quartet, and musicians of The Orchestra Now (TŌN). This celebratory concert is free and open to the public.
Post Date: 09-29-2026
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Bard’s Community Sciences Lab and Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities Featured in Chronogram
Bard’s Community Sciences Lab and Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities Featured in Chronogram
Two scientists and research programs at Bard were featured in a Chronogram article exploring the history and present state of study into the ecology of the Hudson Valley. The work of Eli Dueker, who directs Bard’s Community Sciences Lab, and Jordan Ayala, at Bard’s Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities, was highlighted as part of a larger feature about ongoing efforts to study the rich ecology of the Hudson Valley. These studies, author Brian K. Mahoney notes, also inform broader understanding of Earth’s ecosystems.Students participate in the Bard Water Lab, via the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities. Photo by Sarah Wallock
“[The Hudson Valley’s] mix of forest types, climate conditions and land-use patterns allows researchers to observe how ecological systems respond to both natural variation and human influence,” writes Mahoney. “This combination of local focus and global relevance is a defining feature of the region’s scientific landscape. Many researchers in the Hudson Valley are engaged in projects that connect site-specific observations to planetary-scale processes, from climate change to biodiversity loss.”
Dueker and the Community Sciences Lab were acknowledged for their work on water and air quality, including through the Hudson Valley Community Air Network, which uses air quality sensors distributed across the region to fill gaps in monitoring data, and provide residents with up-to-date information about local air quality. These efforts include studying the movement of pollutants across environmental boundaries, underscoring the interconnectedness of all ecological systems. “What’s in the air is in the water, and what’s in the water is also in the air,” Dueker told Chronogram.
The piece also highlighted the relationship between the global and community-level science. Ayala’s work through the Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities provides the example, which as the author notes, combines geographic information systems (GIS), demographic data and participatory mapping. “By combining technical data with local knowledge, Ayala aims to better understand how environmental systems intersect with social and economic factors.” “When he looks at a map of the Hudson Valley, Ayala says, he sees not a single unified region but a patchwork of distinct conditions and experiences. ‘I see a bit of the housing crisis,” he says. “I see opportunities and challenges with respect to accessibility, connectivity and these microcosms that exist throughout the Hudson Valley.’”
The Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities puts Bard’s dedication to the environment, science, and social change into practice to support the fair management of our shared natural resources. The center conducts quantitative research in the natural and social sciences, crafts communication, participates in policy making, and bridges academic inquiry with community needs. The data and insights collected through CESH related projects are applied directly back to communities, with the end goal of addressing and solving environmental problems in real time.
Post Date: 09-29-2026
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Professor Ziad Abu-Rish Discusses the Entwined Histories of Electricity and Social Struggle in Lebanon on the Afikra Podcast
Professor Ziad Abu-Rish Discusses the Entwined Histories of Electricity and Social Struggle in Lebanon on the Afikra Podcast
Ziad Abu-Rish, associate professor of human rights and Middle Eastern studies at Bard and author of The State of Lebanon: Popular Politics and Institution Building in the Wake of Independence, appeared on the Afikra Podcast. Abu-Rish, who is also the director of the MA Program in Human Rights and the Arts, spoke with host Mikey Muhanna about the complex, decades-long interplay of international corporations and struggles over Lebanese national identity. At the heart of their discussion was the ongoing electricity crisis in Lebanon, which has faced pronounced shortages in recent months.Associate Professor of Human Rights and Middle Eastern Studies Ziad Abu-Rish
This sort of crisis is nothing new to the region, as Abu-Rish explains. He outlines the decades-long history of struggle for the provision of utilities, showing how it also traces a history of struggle that he says helped to form the current sense of Lebanese national identity, a history that begins with early regional monopolies and runs up to the creation of today’s Électricité du Liban (Electricity of Lebanon). They also consider what defines a state, and how socially disruptive and even disastrous events can refine collective identity through struggle.
Middle Eastern Studies at Bard promotes the intellectual exploration and analytic study of the historical and contemporary Middle East, from North Africa to Central Asia. The program provides a broad intellectual framework with course offerings cross-listed with history, literature, Arabic, Hebrew, religion, human rights, sociology, anthropology, gender studies, politics, art history and visual culture, and environmental studies.
Post Date: 09-29-2026
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