News

Valerie Doescher '11 was an all-star activist for global human rights while a student at Bard. She is the recipient of the Cooky Heiferman Signet Award and the Clinton R. and Harriette M. Jones Award from the College. These days her work continues as a programs associate at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

Thai Jones considers the recent bombing in Boston in light of the nation's history of terrorist attacks and government responses.

BHSEC-Manhattan political studies professor Steven Mazie examines the Boston Marathon bombing in light of the democratic tradition of the marathon.

Arendt Center director Roger Berkowitz looks at Massive Open Online Courses and the transformative power of teaching.

Faculty members from Bard College and West Point have collaborated on the new book Just War in Religion and Politics, which developed out of a joint project between the two institutions. Bard religion professors Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton have jointly edited the book with West Point faculty member Robert Tully. The book features chapters by several Bard faculty members, including professors Chilton and Neusner, Roger Berkowitz, Richard Davis, Carolyn Dewald, Joel Perlmann, Kristin Scheible, and Mairaj Syed. Faculty members from West Point and other institutions also contributed. The collaboration between Bard and West Point has comprised a joint course; an international conference hosted at Bard; and a public debate on whether war can be just, with Bard students and West Point cadets working together to argue both sides of the issue. The project, which was carried out with the cooperation of the West Point–Bard Exchange, has served as a model for a Mellon Foundation program on cooperation between service academies and liberal arts institutions.

Bard professor and world-renowned author Norman Manea was well received at the prestigious Salon du Livre in Paris. Manea was an honorary guest at the event in March, which was dedicated to Romanian literature. The French press praised Manea's participation and his new book, The Fifth Impossibility: Essays on Exile and Language. During the Salon du Livre Manea gave interviews, participated in a public debate, and spoke to a large audience about Romanian history and literature. Click here to download PDF.

The Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College is presenting a special series of three concerts titled, “Music in the Holocaust, Jewish Identity and Cosmopolitanism,” featuring music composed and performed by Jewish prisoners in Nazi territories during World War II. Part two, “Nationalism, Continuity, and Creativity: Music of Warsaw, Lodz and other Eastern Ghettoes,” will take place on Saturday, April 20. The event will include Robert Cuckson’s 2003 song cycle, “Der Gayst funem Shturem,” with text taken from the poems of Binem Heller. It will be performed in Yiddish by mezzo-soprano Malena Dayen, with piano accompaniment by David Rosenmeyer.

Millennials like Bard sophomore Anna Daniszewski are changing the way we communicate, says Wired magazine.

Nicholas Platt—longtime China specialist, three-time U.S. ambassador (Pakistan, Zambia, and the Philippines), and author of the published memoir China Boys—will share his experiences and insights gained from a long and distinguished career in the diplomatic service and as president of the Asia Society in New York.

A production of The Bakkhai (The Bacchae) by Bard College students takes place at the Fisher Center through April 14. Sunday's events also include a panel discussion, "Euripides' The Bakkhai: Play and Performance" with Daniel Mendelsohn (Bard College), Helene Foley (Barnard), Rachel Kitzinger (Vassar), and Emily Wilson (University of Pennsylvania). The panel is free and open to the public.

Orchestra of Exiles tells the story of how violinist Bronislaw Huberman saved close to 1,000 Jews from the Nazis by moving them to Palestine to form what became the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In this preview, President Botstein discusses why Jews stayed in Europe prior to WWII.

After the death this week of former U.K. prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Bard professor Richard Aldous talks about her complex relationship with U.S. president Ronald Reagan.

The Bard College Debate Union continues to expand, and is having a big impact on campus and in the local community. “Bard students tend to be very successful in debate because they think outside of the box,” says Dean Jonathan Becker. In this video, Bard students and coaches discuss building friendships and pushing their intellectual boundaries in competition.

On Monday, April 29, the Hannah Arendt Center of Politics and Humanities at Bard College will host a film screening of the biopic Hannah Arendt. Directed by renowned German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta, the biopic was recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, and has just been nominated for six LOLA awards, Germany's version of the Oscar.

Assistant Professor of Psychology Kristin Lane gave the keynote presentation on unconscious biases at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Diversity Summit.