Founded in 2006, the West Point–Bard Initiative (WPBI) serves as a model of cooperation and collaboration between a U.S. liberal arts college and a service academy.
WPBI provides unique opportunities for students to explore the complexities of civil-military relations in a democracy. Students and faculty from Bard and the United States Military Academy at West Point exchange ideas in the classroom and through public presentations, debates, and extracurricular activities. Initiative efforts also include annual leadership discussions between cadets and Bard’s Women and Leadership class; regular debates on a wide range of public policy issues between the West Point debate team and the Bard Debate Union, including the Bard Prison Initiative debate team at Eastern Correctional Facility; and Bard student participation in the annual West Point Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA). Both institutions regularly exchange faculty as guest lecturers in counterinsurgency, strategy, military history, and advanced international relations theory, and West Point professors often serve as faculty in Bard’s Global and International Affairs program in New York City. In addition, Bard and West Point hold regular joint conferences, accompanied by a seminar simultaneously taught at both institutions, by which students exchange views and faculty produce published work on key issues of civics and public life.
WPBI provides unique opportunities for students to explore the complexities of civil-military relations in a democracy. Students and faculty from Bard and the United States Military Academy at West Point exchange ideas in the classroom and through public presentations, debates, and extracurricular activities. Initiative efforts also include annual leadership discussions between cadets and Bard’s Women and Leadership class; regular debates on a wide range of public policy issues between the West Point debate team and the Bard Debate Union, including the Bard Prison Initiative debate team at Eastern Correctional Facility; and Bard student participation in the annual West Point Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA). Both institutions regularly exchange faculty as guest lecturers in counterinsurgency, strategy, military history, and advanced international relations theory, and West Point professors often serve as faculty in Bard’s Global and International Affairs program in New York City. In addition, Bard and West Point hold regular joint conferences, accompanied by a seminar simultaneously taught at both institutions, by which students exchange views and faculty produce published work on key issues of civics and public life.
What We Do
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Joint ClassesEvery spring, Bard College students and West Point cadets participate in advanced seminars on international relations theory. The classes meet separately in Annandale-on-Hudson and at West Point, then come together several times during the term for joint sessions.Joint Classes
Every spring, Bard College students and West Point cadets participate in advanced seminars on international relations theory. The classes meet separately in Annandale-on-Hudson and at West Point, then come together several times during the term for joint sessions. Joint sessions are supervised by faculty from both institutions, and include breakout sessions to facilitate student-cadet exchanges. Bard students and West Point cadets have also come together for classes ranging from classics to grand strategy. West Point faculty have also taught courses at Bard in counterinsurgency, military history, and advanced international relations theory.
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DebatesFor the past several years, Bard and West Point students and cadets (who are sometimes joined by faculty) have held mixed-team debates on issues ranging from relations with Iran to just war to drones. -
Extracurricular ActivitiesEach fall, Bard students participate in West Point’s Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA). Most springs, Bard students present their Senior Project research as part of West Point’s Projects Day.
Discover More
Whitney Slaten, professor of ethnomusicology.
Podcast: The Influence of Military Music on the American Sound
Listen now to this three-part series on on the influence of military music on the American sound, from reconstruction to the roaring twenties. Bard’s Whitney Slaten, professor of ethnomusicology, joins Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jonathan Crane and Staff Sergeant Kristina Teuschler of the West Point Band for a wide-ranging conversation across three episodes.
Photo courtesy Josh Minsup Kim ’22
Bard Students Attend Conference on U.S. Affairs at West Point
Bard students represent the College at the annual Student Conference on U.S. Affairs (SCUSA) at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. SCUSA attracts students from colleges and military academies across the country and has students participate in intensive roundtable sessions on specific national security issues as well as plenary sessions led by prominent military and civilian officials. Bard's participation in the conference is supported by the Mellon Foundation.