Affiliated Centers

Discover opportunities for civic engagement
across the Bard Network.

Civic engagement is at the core of Bard’s institutional mission, reflecting the fundamental belief that
institutions of higher education can and should operate in the public interest.

Our Affiliates

Hannah Arendt Center's 10th Annual Fall Conference, "Crises of Democracy: Thinking in Dark Times." Photo by Karl Rabe.

The Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities

The Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities is a student and community space for bold and risky humanities thinking about ethical challenges and our political world inspired by the spirit of Hannah Arendt, the leading thinker of politics and active citizenship in the modern era. The Arendt Center promotes thinking that challenges common sense assumptions, gives depth to public understandings, and provides an intellectual space for thinking that can reframe the questions that form the center of our democracy.

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Bard Center for Environmental Policy

We are living at an extraordinary moment in human history: can we meet the needs of soon-to-be 10 billion people in a world in which we are already fighting over water, oil, topsoil, forests, fish, and biodiversity, and which is getting hotter all the time? Our graduates are leading the work to rewire the world with clean energy; reimagine the global food system; redesign cities across the planet; regenerate forests, grasslands, lakes, and oceans; reinvent transportation; and in doing all this, provide for human needs sustainably.

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Bard Office of Sustainability

We seek to grow our environmental, social, and economic capital while operating within the limits of the ecosystem. Our primary work areas involve efficient transportation, the flow of goods, and energy use. We foster dialogue among community members, assess new technology and industry best practices, coordinate projects, develop policy, and market programs. We believe all community members have a part in furthering sustainability. We are all Bard-E3s (Bardies) who understand the three “E’s” of sustainability – environment, equity and the economy.

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Photo by Sarah Wallock '19

The Human Rights Project

The Human Rights Project (HRP) is an exploratory research and action initiative at Bard College. Through teaching, public programs, research, and engagement with communities in the region and globally, HRP aims at once to foster critical discussions of human rights theory and practice, and to engage with practitioners on the leading edges of human rights research. Founded in 1999, HRP developed the first interdisciplinary undergraduate degree (BA) program in human rights in the United States in 2003.

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Bard Center for Environmental Sciences and Humanities

We put Bard’s dedication to the environment, science, and social change into practice to support the fair management of our shared natural resources. We solve problems using tools that span academic disciplines. We conduct quantitative research in the natural and social sciences, participate in policy making, and bridge academic inquiry with community need. In doing our work, we strive to shift the understanding of “environment” to include humans and the urban ecosystem. And we recognize that real solutions to environmental issues must acknowledge the barriers that race, class, and gender inequities present to the cultural shifts required to make real change.

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