These are just a few ways to get started with civic engagement at Bard. Want to learn more? Stop by the CCE offices in Ward Manor Gatehouse or email [email protected].
Upcoming Events
5/03
Friday
11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Online Event
"The Bridge" Screening and Discussion
Friday, May 3, 2024 | 11:00 am – 12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 | Online Event
Please join an online screening and discussion about "The Bridge," a fictional film about the daily life of humanitarian interpreters, who are also refugees, in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. It aims to advocate for changes in their working conditions.
The film is based on research that Bard College Professor of Anthropology Laura Kunreuther did with interpreters at the camp. The interpreters, who are also the filmmakers who made the piece--Mulki Mohamed Ali, Adam Mohamed Bashar, and Kamoso Jean Bertrand, will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening.
This rare screening is presented by the Center for Human Rights and the Arts, the Center for Experimental Humanities, Bard Human Rights, and Bard's Center for Civic Engagement.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 9:00 am – 10:30 am EDT/GMT-4 | Online Event
9 AM New York l 3 PM Vienna
In higher education, experiencing failure is often observed as an unavoidable event when mastering new concepts; yet failure is an element of learning that many students dread and that many faculty may overlook. While educators might communicate messages about their acceptance of failure, all too often in practice there is a disconnect between such messaging and the actual design of courses and assignments to allow for failure in constructive ways.
This interactive 90-minute event aims to guide educators in practices to support students in taking risks and learning from their mistakes, without jeopardizing their grades. Led by Lydia Eckstein, Amelia Finaret, and Lisa Whitenack of Allegheny College, and inspired by their 2023 piece "Teaching the Inevitable: Embracing a Pedagogy of Failure," attendees will explore a range of strategies for incorporating a pedagogy of failure in ways to acknowledge and constructively address students' potential fear of failure and related concerns about academic aptitude.
Lydia Eckstein is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Amelia Finaret is an Associate Professor of Global Health, and Lisa Whitenack is an Associate professor of Biology.
ONLINE Summer Workshop in Public Finance and Economic Policy
Monday, June 17, 2024 – Friday, June 21, 2024 | 8:00 am – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 | Online Event
OSUN-EDI Summer Workshop Public Finance and Economic Policy ONLINE
This event is fully remote and free of charge; registration required and spots are limited. We are accepting applications from undergraduate students until April 30, 2024. Learn more and apply here. Website: https://edi.bard.edu/programs/osun-summer-workshop/
10/17
Thursday
Olin Hall
Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism: How Can We Imagine a Pluralist Politics?
Thursday, October 17, 2024 – Friday, October 18, 2024 | | Olin Hall
Hannah Arendt was suspicious of cosmopolitanism, world government, and the loss of the common sense connections that are part of living with and amidst one's tribe. Wary of assimilation and universalism, Arendt understood the need for a tribe, whether that tribe be her “tribe” of good friends or living amongst people with whom one shares cultural and social prejudices. At the same time, Arendt was also deeply suspicious of tribalism in politics. Politics always involves a plurality of peoples. Thus tribal nationalism—what she called the pseudo-mystical consciousness—is anti-political and leads to political programs aimed at ethnic homogeneity.
Arendt believed that the aspiration of politics is to bind together a plurality of persons in ways that do justice to their uniqueness and yet find what is common to them as members of a defined political community. Wary of the nation-state that would privilege the national community of the state over "foreigners" and "minorities," Arendt nevertheless opposed assimilation into a cosmopolitan sameness. Instead, she held onto a vision of politics centered around plurality and federalism, one in which homelands and regions of like-minded peoples would also live together in federalist republics that both respected the particularity of local identities and sought to build meaningful political bonds that transcend tribal sensibilities. Her plan for a federation in Israel and Palestine imagined Jewish and Palestinian homelands as part of a larger federal structure.
The rise of tribalist and populist political movements today is in part a response to the failure of cosmopolitan rule by elites around the world. As understandable as tribalism may be, the challenge today is to think of new political possibilities that allow for the meaningful commitments of tribal identities while also respecting the fact of human plurality. The Hannah Arendt Center Conference Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism responds to the undeniable fact that tribalism is real, appealing, and dangerous. We ask:
• If humans are tribal beings, how can they live in multicultural liberal societies? • Are experts and elites themselves simply one tribe defending their self-interests? • Must social media contribute to the fracturing of society into raging tribes? • Is there a common interest in society knowable through reason? •What is a tribe and is it a useful word in our political vocabulary? •Is there an alternative to the cosmopolitan tribalism of global elites? Above all, we ask, how can make a space for tribal loyalty and tribal meaning while at the same time maintain our commitment to pluralist politics?
The Trustee Leader Scholar Program (TLS) is a student leadership incubator at Bard College. Students design and run their own projects, from local partnerships with community organizations to annual international volunteer trips. You can join an established project or start your own with support from the TLS Office. Visit the second floor of the Campus Center or email [email protected] to learn more.
Election@Bard is a student-led initiative that helps students register to vote, provides ballot information, hosts candidate forums, and protects the rights of students to vote and have their votes counted.
Bard students often connect community-based work with a personal passion or area of expertise. CCE supportsspecial initiativesin the areas of math and science, the arts, and in partnership with Bard Athletics.
Partnershipscan take many forms, including internships, volunteer and community-based learning opportunities, joint projects, conferences, and research, as well as innovative cross-cultural and artistic initiatives.
The Bard Prison Initiative began as a student-led TLS project and has grown into a national force for prison education. Bard students can volunteer as tutors and support BPI’s advocacy efforts.
Every January, Bard College students, staff, and faculty members volunteer with organizations across the Hudson Valley for the College’s MLK Day of Engagement in conjunction with the nationwide Day of Service that takes place on the holiday.
Every August, incoming Bard first-year students participate in the Language and Thinking Program (L&T). L&T Engagementactivities introduce new students to volunteer opportunities, student leadership projects, and much more.
Photo by Sarah Wallock ’19
Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences Courses
Engaged Liberal Arts and Sciences (ELAS) courses bring theory to practice by linking coursework, critical thinking, and engagement activities. A form of experiential learning, ELAS courses allow students to test ideas in the real world and develop creative approaches to social, cultural, and scientific issues.
The Annual Get Engaged Student Action and Youth Leadership Conference, organized by Bard College and the Open Society University Network (OSUN) Civic Engagement Initiative in partnership with the Community Engagement Office at Central European University, brings together student leaders and affiliated staff from OSUN partner institutions every year.