The Academic Program

The academic program at Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the intellectual embodiment of the College’s mission. It combines a substantial and coherent required core curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences with extensive opportunities for students to pursue their own interests and talents through advanced courses and independent study. In their first year, students meet weekly with an advisor to talk about their work (and their life). In general, students take an extraordinary amount of responsibility for the shape and scope of their education, working with advisors and professors to choose (or design) courses, tutorials, independent projects, research projects, internships, and off-campus opportunities. In their senior year, students complete a major research project in their field—intensive work that is often equivalent to graduate-level scholarship.

We ask our students to be permanently, passionately engaged with the world.