Newsmakers

Lilly Bechtel '09 harnesses the healing power of yoga in her work with veterans who are coping with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching (Bard MAT) graduate Colleen Bucci ’08 has been named a New York State Master Teacher by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Bucci is one of 104 educators from four regions to be selected as the first group of New York State Master Teachers. Bucci, who graduated from the Bard MAT Program in 2008, is a biology teacher in the Hyde Park Central School District.

Larissa Phillips examines the social, environmental, and parenting implications of hunting for food.

Composer Sung Jin Hong '03 plans to stage his new mini-opera Breaking Bad—Ozymandias next year. The piece will combine elements of the hit show with Percy Bysshe Shelley's sonnet "Ozymandias."

Alumni/ae Day and Family Weekend will take place on campus October 25–27. Join us for a variety of events, including What's New at Bard, the Ask the President forum, sample classes, performances by the American Symphony Orchestra, campus tours, and panel discussions. Click below to view the full program.

How do you turn a graphic novel into a musical? Broadway veterans took the unconventional childhood memoir Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel A.A. '79, and adapted it for the stage.

City Year volunteers work as tutors, classroom assistants, and after-school program leaders to give struggling students a boost in U.S. cities. Jennifer Spadaccia '13 is among the 42 young adults providing academic support in New Orleans schools with City Year.

Bard alumnus, actor, and filmmaker Andrew Gilchrist '05 discusses his new film, Sea Pig, which recently won Best Short Film at both the Kansas City Film Festival and the Coney Island Film Festival.

Canadian and Omaskêko Cree artist and Bard alumnus Duane Linklater MFA '13 has won the nation's Sobey Art Award for contemporary artists under the age of 40.

Gabriel Blau '02 founded the God and Sexuality National Academic Conference at Bard in 1998. These days, he's advocating for LGBT families as the new executive director of the Family Equality Council.

Meher Varma '07 encourages international students to consider studying in the United States by relating some of the best things about being at Bard.

The Bard Prison Initiative is expanding. This summer the program opened two new campuses in New York State, one of which restored BPI's program for women after Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan was closed after Hurricane Sandy. BPI has more students enrolled in its programs and a more diverse array of classes than ever before. In June, the program hosted a conference on the liberal arts in prison with its growing consortium of national partner organizations. BPI has also hired three new site directors, all of whom are Bard alumni/ae: classicist Rana Al-Saadi Liebert '01, writer Joe Vallese '06, and sculptor Pamela J. Wallace '87.
Read More

Artist Amy Sillman is both a graduate and faculty member of Bard's MFA program. Her first museum retrospective, one lump or two, opens Thursday at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Bard alumnus Dan Gettinger '13, of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, considers questions of collectivism and individuality raised at the recent Maker Faire in New York City.

Recent graduate Saim Saeed '13 writes about the challenges of political self-determination and the appeal of patriarchs.

Bard alumna Lisa Kereszi's photography is an homage to the medium, guided by everyday life and objects rather than any preconceived goals by the artist.

President Obama has nominated Richard G. Frank '74 for the position of assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Vocal Arts Program alumnae Lucy Dhegrae M.M. '12 and Ariadne Greif M.M. '10 performed at the Resonant Bodies Festival in Brooklyn, and will sing at Bard on Sunday in "Dawn Upshaw and Friends."

Bard alumnus, writer, and director David Cote '92 will direct two plays in New York City this month: Otherland, which he wrote, and Something Something Über Alles, written by late Bard faculty member Assurbanipal Babilla.

Gia Coppola's first feature film, Palo Alto—which she adapted from James Franco's short story collection—was well received at the Telluride Film Festival.

Opus 40, the sculptural masterwork (now museum) of the late Bard alumnus and professor Harvey Fite '30, hosted the Felice County Fair last weekend, featuring Béla Fleck, the Felice Brothers, Amy Helm, and more.

Independent theater companies like Skin Horse Theater are finding fertile ground for experimentation in the city.

“The first photo books that registered with me were a few Aperture titles at the bookstore at Bard College," writes Michelle Dunn Marsh. "Stephen Shore’s Uncommon Places, Larry Fink’s Social Graces ..."

You may never look at a hamburger the same way again. “Despite the rather disgusting quality of many of these images," writes Feinstein, "there is still an allure.”

Hannah Bronfman '11 is a woman of many talents—among them DJ, restaurateur, and brand creator. In this interview, she talks about her new mobile app and gives advice to enterprising college students.

Bard Conservatory graduate Ming Aldrich-Gan '10 is the music director for Bradley Cole at the New York International Fringe Festival.

Arthur Holland Michel '13, of Bard's Center for the Study of the Drone, examines the many possible uses of drone technology, and the ethical implications of drone development.

Bard alumnus, performer, screenwriter, and playwright Nick Jones '01 talks about how the Netflix approach of making an entire series available at once enables a different kind of viewing experience.

Contemporaneous, a new music ensemble featuring Bard alumni/ae and students, was on WNYC's Soundcheck this week with musician Jherek Bischoff.

Bard alumnus Adam Goldman '08, creator of the hit Web series The Outs, is working on a new show called Whatever this is., featuring alumnae Sasha Winters '08 and Madeline Wise '12. The series focuses on the junior members of a video production crew in New York City, as they struggle to meet their personal goals while working underpaid jobs.

Scott Gendel '99 weaves an Appalachian tale through music.

Alex Kalman cofounded Red Bucket Films while studying at Bard. Later this month he plans to release a new, free app called Camra, which enables users to edit a one-minute video on the go.

Gaby Hoffmann '04 lived in the famous Chelsea Hotel in New York City as a child, setting the stage for her acting career.

Bardians Liza Birnbaum '10, Molly Schaeffer '10, and Paul Cavanagh '11 started a new literary journal in Portland, Oregon, in memory of Bill Cranshaw '10, their friend who passed away after graduation.

Mohammed Adawulai came to Simon's Rock from Ghana in 2005 as an exchange student. This May, he graduated magna cum laude, sharing the commencement stage with Ben Bernanke, and calling attention to the wealth gap between nations in the global north and south.

Bard artist, alumnus, and longtime faculty member Harvey Fite crafted the massive Opus 40 sculpture park, "one of the most extraordinary pieces of sculpture ever created by a single man."

A Rite opens this weekend at the Fisher Center. Co-creators Anne Bogart '74 and Janet Wong discuss the innovative dance-theater piece.

Bard Conservatory Vocal Arts Program graduate Julia Bullock receives a rave review for her "full-voiced, stunningly paced account of 'Somewhere,'" in the San Francisco Symphony's concert performance of West Side Story.

Bard lands at number 15 on the Forbes list of top 50 colleges for return on investment.

Bard alumnus Ben Rubenstein '04 MAT '06, a member of the mathematics faculty at BHSEC Manhattan, has received a 2013 Blackboard Teaching Award. Presented by Manhattan Media, the United Federation of Teachers, Columbia Teachers College, and the New School, the Blackboard Awards honor outstanding educators from all grade levels and education communities.

The New York Times calls Corps Exquis, by Daniel Wohl '03, a "deliciously lovely new album." Bard percussion faculty members, who compose the group So Percussion, perform on the album.

Sara Wintz's first full-length collection of poetry, Walking Across A Field We Are Focused On At This Time Now, "takes the twentieth century and gives it a new haircut," writes Claire Wilcox.

Writer Sherman Yellen '53 pens "Screenplay for a 60th Wedding Anniversary" for his wife, designer Joan Yellen '55.

Several Bard alumni from the mid-90s have reunited Challenge of the Future, the band they started at Bard, for concerts and recordings to benefit the daughter of their late classmate Sebastian Quezada '96. Band members include Nick Zinner '96, Aaron Diskin '95, Mike Guy '96, Seth Prouty '96, and Simon Marcus.

Bard alumnus Jordan Bridges '96 continues a family legacy of acting, following in the footsteps of his father Beau Bridges, grandfather Lloyd “Sea Hunt” Bridges, and uncle Jeff Bridges (of Big Lebowski fame).

Bard alumnus Adam Goldman '08, creator of the hit Web TV series The Outs, gives the New York Times a tour of his Brooklyn home.

Actor, comedian, and Bard alumnus Chevy Chase '68 and his wife, Jayni, will be in Woodstock this weekend to be recognized by the Catskill Mountainkeeper environmental organization and to raise funds for the Opus 40 sculpture park and museum.