Campus-Based Programs, Centers, and Initiatives
Bard Center for Civic Engagement (CCE)
The Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College coordinates a broad range of initiatives that connect students to internships, volunteer opportunities, community engagement, and activism.
Bard Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities (CESH)
The mission of the center is to develop accessible and community-based solutions to local and regional environmental problems. Projects are created and run by Bard College faculty, students, and staff, alongside community members from throughout the Hudson Valley.
Bard Center for the Study of Hate (BCSH)
The Center for the Study of Hate, an initiative of the Human Rights Project, works to increase the serious study of human hatred and ways to combat it.
Center for Indigenous Studies
The Center for Indigenous Studies (CfIS) provides dedicated programming on key topics and methods in and around Native American and Indigenous Studies and contemporary Indigenous arts and humanities throughout the Bard network.
Center for Moving Image Arts (CMIA)
The mission of the Center is twofold: to facilitate the study of cinema’s history and future in an interdisciplinary environment focused primarily on undergraduate education, and to gather various aspects of film culture—public screenings, publications, educational initiatives, and archival development—under the same umbrella.
Gagarin Center for the Study of Civil Society and Human Rights
The center allows Russian scholars forced to leave Russia as a result of the war on Ukraine and risks of political persecution to pursue research and educational activities focused on contemporary social, economic, and human rights issues in Russia. In 2023, the Gagarin Center at Bard College partnered with PEN America to launch the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA).
Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities
The Hannah Arendt Center provides an intellectual space for passionate, uncensored, nonpartisan thinking that reframes and deepens the fundamental questions facing our world.
Hudsonia Ltd.
Founded in 1981 and based at the Bard College Field Station, Hudsonia is an independent, not-for-profit institute for environmental science research and education.
Human Rights Project (HRP)
The Human Rights Project enables students to learn about, and engage in, the human rights movement. The Project links theoretical inquiry and critical explorations of human rights practice with active research and involvement in contemporary issues.
Institute of Advanced Theology (IAT)
The Institute began its program of local discussion among professional theologians in 1988, and on that basis developed research projects, interdisciplinary conferences, and focused sequences of lectures.
Institute for Writing and Thinking (IWT)
IWT was founded in 1982 by Bard College president Leon Botstein. Since its inception, it has helped teachers develop writing practices that enliven classroom learning through writing.
John Cage Trust
The John Cage Trust was created in 1993 to maintain and nurture the artistic legacy of John Cage, the late American composer, philosopher, poet, and visual artist. Since 2007, the Trust has been in residence at Bard College, and, in 2013, that residency became permanent.
The Khanga Project, Textiles That Talk
Textiles That Talk (Methali Za Khanga) is a digital archive of East African textile designs located on the JSTOR platform and sponsored by Bard College. Textiles That Talk has so far published records of more than 300 examples of khangas, the rectangular printed cotton fabrics that have been worn by women in East Africa from the 19th century to the present day.
Bard Arboretum
The Bard Arboretum is charged with promoting tree conservation and preservation on the Bard campus. As a long-standing Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus and a Level II accredited arboretum with ArbNet, an international community of arboreta and tree-focused professionals, the Bard Arboretum offers an annual Arbor Day tree celebration, campus garden tours, and lectures.
Center for Human Rights and the Arts
The Center for Human Rights and the Arts at Bard College (CHRA) researches and supports art and activist practices globally. CHRA is committed to creating networks of collaboration and solidarity and to enriching the conversation on the political potential of art within human rights discourse.
Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck
Supported by the Mellon Foundation’s “Humanities for All Times” initiative, Rethinking Place is a three-year project that proposes a Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) approach to the American Studies curriculum and sponsors conferences, reading groups, workshops, and lectures.
Rift Valley Institute (RVI)
The Rift Valley Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in Sudan in 2001 and currently working in seven countries in Eastern and Central Africa. The Institute’s US office is located at Bard College.
Wihanble S’a Center for Indigenous AI
The Center’s mission is to explore and address the ethical, legal, and societal implications of AI through an Indigenous lens, ensuring that AI technologies reflect diverse perspectives and contribute positively to society.