Bard College Professor Jenny Xie Awarded a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in Literature

Assistant Professor of Written Arts and National Book Award finalist Jenny Xie has been selected as a 2023 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow in literature. Xie received one of 54 fellowships awarded to early-career artists based in Minnesota and New York City. Xie will receive $50,000 over two years ($25,000 per year) in direct support to create new work, advance artistic goals, and/or promote professional development. “I strive to create work that demonstrates the vital force unassimilated language can have, of the power and charge that can pulse through words when they behave differently, against rules and convention, and against forces that collude to render language more utilitarian, more homogenous, and free of nuance and rich complexity,” she writes.

Professor Omar G. Encarnación Writes about the Resilience of Brazil’s Democracy for The Nation

The recent attack on the presidential palace in Brazil bears a seeming resemblance to the events of January 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol. For Professor of Political Studies Omar G. Encarnación, however, the similarities are in appearances only. In The Nation, he examines how Brazil’s democracy is better designed to withstand threats. “Even though political violence driven by conspiracy theories and mass delusion about a stolen election will forever unite the Trump and Bolsonaro administrations, Brazilian democracy fared better than American democracy under a president who was hell-bent on undermining the institutions and norms that he was elected to protect,” he writes.

Bard College Astronomer Shuo Zhang and Undergraduate Student Rose Xu Discover New X-ray Flares from the Galactic Center Supermassive Black Hole Sgr A*

Assistant Professor of Physics Shuo Zhang and Rose Xu ’23 Present Research at the 2023 American Astronomical Society Press Conference

Bard College Assistant Professor of Physics Shuo Zhang and Bard mathematics and dance major Rose Xu ’23 were invited by the American Astronomical Society (AAS) to present their most recent findings on new x-ray flares from the now inactive supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Their talk, “Detection of Seven High-Energy X-ray Flares from the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole,” was presented at the 241st AAS press conference on January 12 in person in Seattle and virtually.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Cuts Ribbon on New Building for Bard High School Early College

On Thursday, January 5, Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee, and Department of General Services Director Keith Anderson cut the ribbon on the new, permanent home for Bard High School Early College DC. “When we first launched this innovative partnership with Bard in 2019, we knew we were embarking on something important. Now, with this beautiful, modernized building, Bard has a permanent home to provide innovative and tuition-free pathways to college,” said Mayor Bowser. “Students who choose Bard have bet on themselves – they have bet on their futures and their ability to make the most of a reimagined high school experience.”

Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude to Lead Regenerative Dye Research as Part of Daughters for Earth Grant

As part of one of 26 women-led projects in 17 countries, Associate Professor of Biology Brooke Jude will participate in a project to regenerate natural fabric dyeing processes with traditional Moroccan weavers as part of a Daughters for Earth grant awarded to Around the World in 80 Fabrics. Professor Jude will lead microbial dye foraging alongside our natural plant dye research as part of a team that “will bring together traditional weavers, researchers, designers, textile experts, scientists, anthropologists, and businesswomen to create sustainable dyeing processes that Ain Leuh Women's Cooperative can use.”

Bard College Awarded $399,000 Grant from Mellon Foundation for Project on Voting Rights

Bard College is proud to announce that it has received a $399,000 award from the Mellon Foundation to support a three-year applied learning research curricular project on voting rights. The project, done in collaboration with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Tuskegee University, Prairie View A&M University, and The Andrew Goodman Foundation, will use the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and outlawed age-based voter discrimination, as a prism through which to understand the history of voting and disenfranchisement in the United States and the role of college communities in the fight for voting rights. 

Music in Time of War: President Leon Botstein Writes about Music’s Role in War Beyond the Battlefield in The Musical Quarterly

Bard College President Leon Botstein traces the “complex and subtle connection between music and war in Europe and North America” in history and the present day in his Notes from the Editor for The Musical Quarterly’s Fall-Winter 2022 issue. “Music has long been employed to inspire fear in one’s opponents and bravery in one’s own warriors. Since the advent of technologies of mass communication, however, it is the role of music in war beyond the battlefield that invites equal scrutiny. Indeed, there turns out to be no shortage of music directed at the civilian population designed to deepen patriotic fervor, extol victory, and lament defeat without embracing capitulation,” he writes.

ARTnews Highlights Bard among People and Places that Made a Stage for Indigenous Art in 2022

ARTnews highlighted individuals and institutions that had a significant impact on public engagement with Indigenous art in 2022, including Bard College on the short list. In September, the College announced a transformational $25 million endowment gift from the Gochman Family Foundation to support a renamed American and Indigenous Studies Program. A matching commitment by the Open Society Foundations will create a $50 million endowment for Native American and Indigenous Studies in undergraduate and graduate academics and the arts in Annandale, to include a center for Indigenous Studies and the appointment of an Indigenous Curatorial Fellow at the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS Bard).

News from the Arboretum

We want your opinion!

The outdoor space at Kline Commons is being redesigned and we want your thoughts on what you'd like to see!  Simply visit us online and fill out a 10-question survey to let us know what you'd like to see at Kline - new accessible paths, improved lighting, an amphitheater for outdoor eating and student performances, improved landscaping, etc!

Thank you! We look forward to talking with you!

Bard Buildings & Grounds, Horticulture & Arboretum
Amy Parrella, [email protected]