News from the Division of Languages and Literature

M. Gessen, distinguished visiting writer at Bard College and New York Times Opinion columnist, appeared on the Ezra Klein Show podcast to speak about the Trump administration’s operation in Venezuela, the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, and the broader messages that these displays of force are meant to send. Gessen also discussed how totalitarian leaders will wage war internally by designating an enemy within the country, and expanding who is included in that designation in order to escalate, as well as the swiftness with which this is now unfolding in the US. “It’s comparable to the speed at which countries that experienced an actual violent revolution have transformed that I have studied but not lived through,” Gessen told Klein. “We can use some of the tools from, particularly from the electoral autocracies in Eastern Europe to understand some of what’s happened here. But I don’t have any tools for understanding the rate at which this country is being transformed.”

Beginning February 3, Bard College is offering its first Spanish-speaking Clemente Course, a free college-level introduction to the humanities. Focusing on Spanish and Latin American literature, this class, conducted entirely in Spanish, invites students to explore the power of the written word and the joy of reading. Students attend at no cost, with tuition and books provided, and those who successfully complete the semester-long course will earn 3 college credits from Bard College transferable to any higher educational institution upon completion. 

This class will run every Tuesday from February 3 through May 26, from 6–8 pm, at 7 Grand Street, Kingston, NY, 12401. John Burns, associate professor of Spanish at Bard College, will be leading the course. Burns is an educator, poet, translator, and the author, among other works, of Contemporary Hispanic Poets: Cultural Production in the Global, Digital Age (Cambria Press, 2015). Applicants should write to professor Burns ([email protected]) to express their interest.

The Clemente Course in the Humanities provides a transformative educational experience for adults facing economic hardship and adverse circumstances. The free humanities courses empower students to further their education and careers, become effective advocates for themselves and their families, and engage actively in the cultural and political lives of their communities.

Adam Shatz, visiting professor of the humanities at Bard College, has been awarded the 2026 Grace Dudley Prize for Arts Writing bestowed by the Robert B. Silvers Foundation, in recognition of outstanding achievement in critical writing on the fine and performing arts or on cultural history. Shatz is also the US editor of the London Review of Books and a contributor to the New York Times magazine, the New York Review of Books, the New Yorker, and other publications. The Robert B. Silvers Foundation is an organization that aims to support writers working in the fields of long-form literary and arts criticism, intellectual essays, political analysis, and social reportage. 

Karen Raizen, director of Italian Studies and assistant professor of Italian and music at Bard College, appeared on Tutto Italiano “Everything Italian” hosted by Radio Kingston. Raizen discusses her involvement with the Ulster County Italian American Foundation (UCIAF) and organizing an upcoming UCIAF New Italian Cinema Showcase this spring, in collaboration with Bard College, Marist University, and Vassar college. The showcase, screening at Upstate Films in Saugerties and Rhinebeck from April 24–26, focuses on “new Italian cinema, because I think everybody knows old Italian cinema and is excited about it,” Kaizen says. “But there’s a lot happening in Italy that’s really exciting right now … What does it mean to be Italian today? That’s all changed and is still changing, and who is giving this new version of Italy life?”

Italian Studies at Bard College focuses on the acquisition of fluency in speaking, reading, and translating Italian. Students can improve their understanding of Italian culture by focusing on language and translation, literature, art, film, music, and Italian cultural studies, which encompasses transnational history, human rights and media.