Skip to main content.
Bard
  • Bard
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics

    A place to think.

    Discover Bard
    • Academics
      • Programs and Divisions
      • Structure of the Curriculum
      • Courses
      • Requirements
      • Academic Calendar
      • Faculty
      • Libraries
      • College Catalogue
      • Bard Abroad
      • Dual-Degree Programs
      • Bard Conservatory of Music
      • Other Study Opportunities
      • Graduate Programs
      • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission

    Do you love to learn?

    Discover Bard

    Apply Now
    • Discover Bard
      • Our Students
      • Our Alumni/ae
      • Campus Tours
      • Bridge Program
      • Video Gallery
    • Applying
      • First Year
      • Transfer Students
      • Early College Transfers
      • International Students
      • Homeschooled Students
      • DACA and Undocumented
      • Bard Conservatory
      • Return to College
      • Admitted Students
      • Enroll Now!
      • New Students
      • Prospective Families
      • Familias
      • Financial Aid
      • Tuition and Payment
      • Contact Us
      • Admission Team
      • Tour Guides
      • Graduate Admission
      • Early College Admission
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    Bard Campus Life

    Make a home in Annandale.

    • Living on Campus
      • Housing + Dining
      • Campus Resources
      • Get Involved on Campus
      • Bard Connects
      • Visiting + Transportation
      • Athletics + Recreation
      • New Students
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    • Bard CCE The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked.

      Take action.
      Make an impact.

      Get Involved
      • Campus + Community
      • In the Classroom
      • U.S. Network
      • International Network
      • About CCE
      • Resources
      • Support
  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    Upstreaming
    • News + Events
      • Newsroom
      • Events Calendar
      • Video Gallery
      • Press Releases
      • Office of Communications
      • COVID-19 Updates
    • Special Events
      • Commencement Weekend
      • Alumni/ae Reunion
      • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
      • Fisher Center
      • Bard SummerScape
      • Bard Athletics
  • About Bard sub-menuAbout Bard

    A private college for the public good.

    Support Bard
    • About Bard College
      • Mission Statement
      • Bard History
      • Love of Learning
      • Visiting Bard
      • Employment
      • OSUN
      • Bard Abroad
      • The Bard Network
      • Montgomery Place Campus
      • Campus Tours
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • Title IX
      • HEOA Disclosures
      • Institutional Support
      • Safety and Security
      • Inside Bard
      • Alumni/ae Network
      • Family Network
      • Support Bard
  • COVID-19 Response
  • Give
  • Search
Main Image for Division of the Arts

Division of the Arts

Arts Menu
  • Overview
  • Arts Events Calendar
  • Arts Faculty
  • Arts News
The Division of the Arts offers programs in architecture, art history and visual culture, dance, film and electronic arts, music, photography, studio arts, and theater and performance. Theoretical understanding and practical skills alike are developed through production and performance in all disciplines. In the course of their program studies, students in the arts also develop aesthetic criteria that can be applied to other areas of learning. Students may undertake the arts for different reasons—as a path to a vocation or an avocation, or simply as a means of cultural enrichment. Working with a faculty adviser, the student plans a curriculum with his or her needs and goals in mind.

Our Programs

The Division of the Arts includes the following academic programs:

Architecture
Art History and Visual Culture
Dance
Film and Electronic Arts
Music
Photography
Studio Arts
Theater and Performance

Susan M. Merriam, Division Chair; Associate Professor of Art History

Coursework and Requirements

As a student progresses to the Upper College, the coursework increasingly consists of smaller studio discussion groups and seminars in which active participation is expected. Advisory conferences, tutorials, and independent work prepare the student for the Senior Project. This yearlong independent project may be a critical or theoretical monograph, a collection of essays, or, for a large proportion of students, an artistic work, such as an exhibition of original paintings, sculpture, or photography; performances in dance, theater, or music; dance choreography or musical composition; or the making of a short film with sound. In designing their Senior Project topics, students may have reason to join their arts studies together with a complementary field or discipline, including programs or concentrations in other divisions. Plans for such integrated or interdivisional projects are normally created on an individual basis with the adviser.

Discover More

Live Arts Bard
(L-R) Rebecca Capper '17 and Joanna Warren '17 in the LAB commission of Sarah Michelson's "September17." Photo by Paula Court

Live Arts Bard

“When I was a student at Bard, I was drawn to the Fisher Center because of Live Arts Bard. LAB is pushing the frontiers of these art forms, all of which are becoming more open and fluid.” —Sam Miller ’15

Live Arts Bard (LAB) is the interdisciplinary residency and commissioning program of Bard’s Fisher Center. LAB creates a community of groundbreaking professional artists who work alongside students to create unconventional projects. Year 6 of LAB supported 37 artists across nine projects. Since 2012, LAB has supported 50-plus projects. Projects developed during LAB’s first six years have been performed in more than 70 communities worldwide.

LAB at the Fisher Center

Featured News

Bard College Conservatory Student Sophia Kathryn Jackson ’25 Awarded Prestigious Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship to Study Abroad in Dublin
Bard College Conservatory student Sophia Kathryn Jackson ’25 has been selected as a 2021 Frederick Douglass Global Fellow, an honor awarding her a full scholarship to represent Bard in a summer study abroad program focused on leadership, intercultural communication, and social justice. In an online St. Patrick’s Day roundtable, the fellows were congratulated by Vice President Kamala Harris, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, and Nettie Washington Douglass, the great-great-granddaughter of Frederick Douglass. More >

Recent News

  • Five Bard Faculty and Bard MFA Faculty and Graduates Awarded 2021 Guggenheim Fellowships
  • Filmmaker Rebeca Huntt ’12 Receives Sustainable Artist Grant from Brown Girls Doc Mafia
  • Bard College Dance Program Presents a Celebration of Aileen Passloff (1931–2020)
  • Lake Street Dive Band Members Discuss the Impact of Singer-Songwriter Akie Bermiss ’05 on the Band’s New Album, Obviously
View All News >>

Upcoming Events

  • 4/12
    Monday

    The Future is Present
    Various
  • 4/15
    Thursday

    Emily Han Senior Concert
    8:15 pm – 9:15 pm EDT/GMT-4 Bito CPS
  • 4/16
    Friday

    Eli Lotz's Moderation Concert
    8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Bard Hall
  • 4/22
    Thursday

    *****Drop Everything***** 
    7:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Online Event
View All Events >>