News

James Ketterer, Bard's director of international academic initiatives and senior fellow at the Institute for International Liberal Education, has been elected to the board of directors of the Mid-Hudson Valley World Affairs Council. The organization is a nonpartisan forum for citizen participation in world affairs. Its mission is to raise public awareness of international issues and to stimulate interest in a better understanding of world affairs. The Council presents public lectures, panels and debates, and educational and cultural programs. The council also sponsors programs and collaborative efforts to reach high school and college students and faculty. The Mid-Hudson chapter is one of 94 chapters of the National World Affairs Councils of America, the largest international affairs nonprofit organization in the United States, which works to address the need for more global understanding in America.

Alan Sussman's "Why Human Rights Are Called Human Rights" is among the top 20 Carnegie Council resources for 2014, as the year's most popular article in Ethics & International Affairs.

Daniel Mendelsohn on "plot versus plottiness"—by way of Aristotle, Jerry Seinfeld, Downton Abbey, and Scandal—in his inaugural Harper's column.

Though many Greeks hope that the 4th-century BC tomb near Amphipolis will prove to be the tomb of Alexander the Great, it may actually be his wife Rhoxane's.

Alan Clark, a defense minister in Margaret Thatcher's government in the 1980s, reveals the Thatcher administration in this outspoken book, says Richard Aldous.

As part of the Hannah Arendt Center's seventh annual fall conference, "The Unmaking of Americans: Are There Still American Values Worth Fighting For?" the Center asked university students in the United States and abroad to answer the question, "What core American ideals can inspire Americans to sacrifice self-interest and fight for justice?" In a large pool of thoughtful and provocative submissions, two entries stood out: those of Rosa Schwartzburg '16 of Bard College and Alix Tate '16 of Waubonsee Community College (Illinois). Read their winning essays here.

How are Bard students and faculty talking about the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases? Bard writer in residence Francine Prose offers a glimpse into her classroom discussion.

Danielle Riou at Bard's Human Rights Project interviews James Ketterer about his years monitoring elections around the world.

As a sophomore, Carl Amritt has already carved out a distinct place of his own in the Bard community. Carl was involved in student government in middle and high school in his native West Palm Beach, Florida. Now he's brought his passion for politics to his academic work in Political Studies and Environmental and Urban Studies. He's also become a leader in Bard student government, campus sustainability efforts, and the college's voting initiative.

Joseph O’Neill's The Dog, Francine Prose's Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, and James Romm's Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero all made the list.