Bard College Faculty Member Felicia Keesing Wins the 2022 International Cosmos Prize

Dr. Felicia Keesing, Bard College’s David and Rosalie Rose Distinguished Professor of Science, Mathematics, and Computing, has been selected as the winner of the 2022 International Cosmos Prize by the Expo ’90 Foundation. Dr. Keesing will receive a certificate of merit, a medallion, and a monetary prize of 40 million yen (approximately $290,000 USD) at the award ceremony, which will be held in Osaka, Japan, on November 9. Dr. Keesing will also give a commemorative lecture, participate in a symposium held in her honor, and have an audience with the Emperor and Empress of Japan. 

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Bard Physics Professor Shuo Zhang Receives NASA Grant for Research on Galactic Center Supermassive Black Hole Sgr A*

Bard College Assistant Professor of Physics Shuo Zhang has received a $91,933 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in support of her investigation, “Joint NuSTAR and EHT Probe of SgrA*: Flares, Black Hole Shadows, a New Hard X-Ray Source.” “Among all the fascinating science one can pursue via a joint X-ray and EHT observations of our own supermassive black hole, the physics behind mysterious daily Sgr A* flares is the jewel in the crown that astronomers have been pursuing. I am proud of our own students, physics major Nathalie Jones ’21, dance and mathematics major Rose Xu ’23, and physics major Grace Sanger-Johnson ’23, who have contributed to this exciting project.” says Zhang.

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The Fisher Center’s “An Evening with Sandra Cisneros,” Part of the Big Read 2022, Recounted on Lion’s Roar

As part of the Big Read 2022, Sandra Cisneros spoke at the Fisher Center, sharing the history of The House on Mango Street and offering up advice to aspiring writers. Recounting the night for Lion’s Roar, Angélica Paljor highlighted Cisneros’s practical and spiritual guidance given to the audience at Bard this past April. “Writing, she said at Bard, ‘is sacred work, as sacred as a nun or a monk who meditates for days or hours—that’s how I see it,’” Paljor writes.

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Acclaimed Composers Jessie Montgomery and Missy Mazzoli Join Faculty of Bard College Conservatory of Music as Composers in Residence

The Bard College Conservatory of Music has appointed acclaimed composers Jessie Montgomery and Missy Mazzoli to the faculty as composers in residence. Composer, violinist, and educator Montgomery has been called “One of the most distinctive and communicative voices in the US, as a player and a creator” (BBC). Grammy-nominated composer, pianist, and keyboardist Mazzoli was recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (New York Times). They both join the Bard Conservatory in fall 2022.

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Interview: Bard Professor Daniel Mendelsohn Discusses His Most Recent Book on Between the Covers, Tin House’s Literary Podcast

Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Humanities Daniel Mendelsohn talks with David Naimon, host of Tin House’s Between the Covers podcast, about Mendelsohn’s book Three Rings: A Tale of Exile, Narrative, and Fate, which weaves together the stories of three exiled writers Erich Auerbach, François Fénelon, and W. G. Sebald. “As we all know, just to make an obvious point, we’re living in a world in which the power of narratives—true, false, deliberately false, accidentally false—is something of vital importance in our lives and that is our existential struggle now,” says Mendelsohn. 

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Elvia Wilk ’10 on Living and Writing in a Time of Planetary Extinction

Novelist, critic, and Bard alumna Elvia Wilk ’10, author of the essay collection Death by Landscape, talks with Electric Lit about decentering the human protagonist as the leader of the story. Wilk discusses the ways in which dystopian narratives can mask the crises of the present, how fiction can help us grasp the enormity of climate change, and how the pandemic lockdowns changed her perspective on work. 

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Venezuelan-American Photographer Lexi Parra ’18 Named Recipient of a 2022 Getty Images Annual Inclusion Grant

Lexi Parra ’18, who majored in human rights and photography at Bard, has been selected as one of eight photojournalists from around the world to be collectively awarded $40,000 in grants from Getty Images, a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace. Parra is a Venezuelan-American photographer and community educator based in Caracas, Venezuela. Her work focuses on youth culture, the personal effects of inequality and violence, and themes of resilience. 

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Civic Engagement Corner
Erin Cannan, Vice President for Civic Engagement

Bard prides itself on being a private institution acting in the public good. The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) is a hub where institutional and student initiatives intersect and where learning, civic action and practice take place. As the Vice President for Civic Engagement and as a co-instructor for All Politics is Local, Women and Leadership and the Civic Engagement Network Collaborative Course, I work closely with Annandale faculty, staff and students to create opportunities for Annandale students locally, nationally and internationally. This work is closely aligned with the Open Society University Network’s (OSUN) Civic Engagement initiative that includes leadership conferences, courses, internships, fellowships and microgrants where students explore their role in their own communities and in the world alongside their peers from over 40 partner institutions.

This summer, students received Community Action Awards to participate in otherwise unpaid internships locally and nationally.  We welcomed first year students, registering over 115 students locally and will be hosting two elections this fall on-campus (a special congressional election and the midterm elections) as we enter our third year with a polling place on campus. Our Trustee Leader Scholars continue to provide music lessons, English Language Instruction and youth programs regionally while faculty prepare courses that incorporate engagement under our Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences program. A new initiative called Makers and Builders features traditional guilds work including Horticulture and Carpentry.  We look forward to integrating the Guilds further into the academic community as this fledgling program develops. The Career Development Office is planning BardWorks with intensive career support, internships and mentorship through the BardWorks pathways. International travel is underway with a wide range of opportunities; I had the pleasure of facilitating the Get Engaged leadership conference for 60 students in Kyrgyzstan in June. International opportunities can even happen right here in Annandale as students learn with their peers through OSUN Courses and the Certificate in Civic Engagement.

On behalf of my teams at CCE and OSUN, we want to ask two things:

• Follow CCE and OSUN on Instagram and/or track opportunities on our websites to help your student find the ones that fit their interests.  Keep in mind that we send a weekly newsletter, table and advertise regularly!   
• Let's make this the best year of Bard student voter turnout! Encourage your Bard student to double check their voter registration status, especially if they have moved to a new address or haven't voted lately.  

If your Bard student is currently on-campus, let them know that we are registering (and re-registering) students to vote on August 16th and 23rd at Shea House (#21 on the illustrated campus map) from 4:30pm-5:30pm.
 
If your Bard student is not currently on-campus, we will be having Election@Bard office hours every Friday at the CCE Ward Manor Gatehouse (#80 on the campus map) 2-4pm during the semester. 

All of these programs have room to incorporate the family network as mentors, speakers, collaborators, etc.  We welcome your ideas.

Welcome Back to the School Year!