Coursework and Requirements
Bard students who make the study of literature the central focus of their work explore specific periods (such as medieval or Renaissance Europe), relations among national literatures (in forms such as lyric poetry or the novel), or literature within the context of culture, history, or literary theory. Comparative studies of literature, other arts, and theories of literature are a regular part of course offerings. The curriculum emphasizes cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity, and it is vitally engaged with interdisciplinary fields such as Africana studies, American and Indigenous studies, Asian studies, environmental studies, experimental humanities, gender and sexuality studies, human rights, Latin American and Iberian studies, medieval studies, Middle Eastern studies, and theology.
Students in the Written Arts Program take workshops and tutorials in prose fiction or poetry and study a foreign language, in addition to completing the same course requirements as literature majors. Those who choose foreign languages can explore a range of interests and develop courses of study that bring together work in culture, history, and other fields.
Seniors must summon up imagination, knowledge, discipline, and independence for the Senior Project. Each student usually decides on a topic in the spring of their junior year and is matched with a faculty member to serve as their Senior Project adviser at that time. During their senior year, students generally meet with their advisers for an hour each week. Over the years, students have translated works of poetry and fiction; written critical studies of texts from across the world, spanning from the ancient past to the present day; and produced original works, including novellas, book-length poems, and short story collections. With faculty permission, Senior Projects may take the form of a novel, poem sequence, play, or collection of short stories.