2016 News Archive

The Atlantic on scaling the Bard College at Simon's Rock early-college model, reducing achievement gaps and dropout rates by challenging students.

Peter Filkins, Richard B. Fisher Professor of Literature, reflects on this year's election season with three poems in The Common, a prominent literary magazine published based at Amherst College.

For the third year in a row Simon's Rock students took home top prizes at the Meeting of the New York State Section of the American Physical Society (NYSS-APS). Lindsey Tensen '14, Lucy Jiang '15, and Oscar Hernandez '13 won second place in the undergraduate research contest at the Fall 2016 meeting for their summer research on "Analog Artificial Neural Networks."

Dmitry Kondrashov (entering class of '92, BA '96), Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago, recently published the textbook "Quantifying Life: A Symbiosis of Computation, Mathematics, and Biology" (The University of Chicago Press, 2016).

Barfield scholar Jamie Hutchinson's recent article on C.S. Lewis's "Till We Have Faces" appears in the October issue of the Journal of Inklings Studies.

Peggy McIntosh, founder of the National SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project and a former associate director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, will lead the interactive workshop "19 Questions for Social Justice" on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 at Bard College at Simon's Rock. The workshop, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center.

Bard College at Simon's Rock, Multicultural BRIDGE, and Kickwheel Ensemble Theatre present Facing Our Truth, a collection of one-act plays inspired by the Trayvon Martin case. The performance will take place on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center, followed by a moderated panel and community discussion

Bard College at Simon's Rock, the nation's first private, residential early college, was founded in 1966 by Elizabeth Blodgett Hall, whose experience as a private school headmistress informed her belief that many young students were ready for college-level work before the system asks it of them.

Artist Kathleen Jacobs's partnership with trees and weather on view at the Hillman Jackson Gallery

Professor Chris Coggins joins experts on tigers and Asia to discuss the history of tigers in China with BBC Radio 4's Natural Histories.

Mo Constantine is pursuing a double Major in Electronic Media and the Arts and in Food Studies, Social and Environmental Justice at Bard College at Simon's Rock. This semester, those studies led Mo to the Food & Sustainability Studies Program at the Umbra Institute, an American study abroad provider in Perugia, Italy. Mo recently sat down with Umbra staff to share what it is like to be a vegan activist in Perugia.

On Friday, September 30, 2016, Bard College at Simon's Rock will hold its fifth annual Rock the Community: A Day of Service in Honor of Emily Fisher. The event was established to celebrate the leadership of Emily Fisher, former Chair of the Board of Overseers, for her commitment to both the College and the greater community.

Alumna Brooke Skinner Ricketts returns to Bard College at Simon's Rock to deliver a special talk on her extraordinary career as a brand strategist and product innovator for companies as diverse as Twitter, Kraft, Ziploc, and BMW. The talk, entitled "Selling Out Early: Lessons from a Career on the Implosion Team," will be held on Thursday, September 29, at 7:00pm at the Daniel Arts Center. It is free and open to the public, but reservations are strongly recommended.

The Hevreh Ensemble, an instrumental group dedicated to the performance of music that reflects or was inspired by Judaism and Jewish culture, will perform a concert at Bard College at Simon's Rock in the Kellogg Music Center on Sunday, September 25 at 3:00 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public.

The first Simon's Rock Faculty Forum lecture "Orientalism and Eroticism in 19th-Century Art" will be held on Monday, September 26, in Blodgett House at 4:00 p.m. During the talk, professor of art history Joan DelPlato will read from her new book, Orientalism, Eroticism and Modern Visuality in Global Cultures. The book, an edited volume of eight papers written by internationally acclaimed art historians, was published this past spring by Routledge and co-edited with Julie Codell of Arizona State University. The lecture is free and open to the public.

From the history of life to the beginning of an idea to the sense of place cultivated by our 50-year evolution, Provost Ian Bickford provides context—biological, symbolic, literary, experiential—to the paradoxical nature of knowledge and the role we play as progenitors of the early college movement.

Provost Ian Bickford's welcoming remarks to the incoming class of 2016.

Simon's Rock alumnus‬ and Florida International University biologist is on a quest to protect humans from infectious diseases transmitted by mosquitos.

An Opera Singer's Love Song to Science. This new opera-theater work delivers a live science show with lessons and lectures in song. In a theatrical setting that celebrates the scientific—from the incredibly familiar baking soda-vinegar volcano to the intensely complicated wave-particle duality of matter at the quantum level—Science Fair tackles various concepts (aided by hand-made models of things like the solar system, atomic orbitals, molecules of DNA and more) infusing them with humor and wit, employing arresting operatic vocals to uplift the ordinary into the realm of wonder.

In Orientalism, Eroticism and Modern Visuality in Global Cultures scholars look afresh at representations of nineteenth-century 'oriental' bodies, inquiring deeply into their erotic dimensions, tracing their global dissemination at cross-cultural intersections of the visual and the political.

Dr. Colette van Kerckvoorde, faculty in Language and Literature, was one of twenty scholarship recipients asked to share her expertise in a three-week workshop offered by the Herder Institute of the University of Leipzig in Germany. The objective of the event was to familiarize German faculty members with ways to meet the needs of German-language students interested in STEM fields.

In his paper “Fishing Quotas, Induced Allee Effect and Fluctuation-Driven Extinction” (Nonlinear Dynamics in Psychology and the Life Sciences, 2016, to appear), Harold M. Hastings, adjunct professor in science, mathematics, and computing, and professors Michael Radin and Tamas Wiandt at Rochester Institute of Technology, explored how harvest strategies and environmental fluctuations together affect the likelihood of fishery collapse.

Peter Filkins, Richard B. Fisher Professor of Literature, delivered his paper "H.G. Adler: The Displaced Modernist" at the Institute of Modern Languages Research, University College London, in May. Filkins, whose authorized biography of H.G. Adler will be published by Oxford University, joined fourteen other scholars from London, Oxford, Paris, Germany, and the U.S. for the two-day conference entitled "A Modernist in Exile: The International Reception of H.G. Adler" about the life and work of Adler.

As a liberal arts college, it's part of our DNA to encourage students to explore their own creativity. Rockers, by nature, are risk-takers, and when they find their voices on this unconventional educational path, it carries a bit of gravitas. When they leave, they leave with stories. We don’t always have the opportunity to see how their careers unfold, or what parts of their Simon’s Rock foundation served them best. So we interviewed four alums who are making a name for themselves in film, and asked them just that.

Carnegie Mellon University and the Tony Awards honored teachers with the Excellence in Theatre Education Award on June 12th. Alum Timothy Ryan Olson was among the 2016 professionals nominated; he received an Honorable Mention. Timothy is on the Arts faculty at Bard High School Early College in Queens, and a partner in Kickwheel Ensemble Theater with fellow alum, Sara Katzoff ’97.

Abbie Nehring receives a New York Press Club award for “City Limits 2015 Housing Coverage." The investigative series advocates for East Village tenants fighting to remain in their rent-stabilized homes. Abbie is a freelance journalist and Nonfiction MFA student at Columbia.

Physics professor, Dr. Michael Bergman’s latest work, published in Geophysical Research Letters, earned him and fellow researchers a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant. Their research focuses on irregular properties discovered in the inner core and its possible correlation to localized melting.

Youngro Lee, co-founder and chief executive officer of NextSeed, discusses new crowdfunding regulation with Betty Liu, anchor of Bloomberg Markets.

Diane Rhoades-Warner was honored with the Gregory Rhoades Award at the annual Board of Overseers dinner on Friday, May 20. This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the commendation – which is given to an outstanding member of the staff or administration each year.

Jan Staller’s '70 video installation—a 120-foot-long screen on view at 10 Hudson Yards—depicts ice floes on the Hudson River.

Aaron Williams, professor of computer science at Simon's Rock, collaborated with Erik Demaine from MIT and Giovanni Viglietta from University of Ottawa to analyze the complexity class of Super Mario Brothers. The result? Their study suggests that users may find PSPACE-hard levels in the trendy video game—or at least in raw materials of the Super Mario world.

For the first time, high school students from low-income families will have the opportunity to access Federal Pell Grants to take college courses through dual enrollment.

Director of Admission Chandra Joos deKoven partnered with Teen Life to offer real life context around college readiness.

In his recent interview with Ruth Hammond, senior editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, Provost Ian Bickford talks about tipping points, radical acceptance, and the nuances involved in creating a supportive early college environment. The two explore various aspects of the Simon's Rock mission as part of The Chronicle's video series "On Leadership".

Entry Point is a four-person exhibition showcasing the work of renowned New York-based artists, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Matthew Porter, Brea Souders, and Chris Wiley. Anastasia Samoylova, assistant professor of photography at Simon's Rock, curated the exhibition—which is on display through Wednesday, May 4.

Paul Krugman, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics, will address graduates at the 47th commencement ceremony of Bard College at Simon's Rock, The Early College on Saturday, May 21, at 11:00 a.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public; priority seating given to the families of graduates.

The Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon's Rock, now in its third year, announced its annual ThinkFOOD Conference to be held on Saturday, April 9, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Kellogg Music Center. This year's theme is Berkshire Foodways. The 2016 ThinkFOOD conference will look inward at Berkshire County to define the "what, how, and where" of food in our region.

Free individual swim lessons will be held at the Kilpatrick every Sunday afternoon and Wednesday evening throughout the month, beginning Sunday, April 3 and ending Wednesday, April 27. Registration is required.

The Orchestra Now will return to campus on Friday, April 1, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center. The Orchestra Now (TŌN), a preprofessional orchestra in residence at Bard College, will perform an all-Beethoven program under the baton of conductor Leon Botstein and pianist Peter Serkin

Stressed and angry commuters tend to take more risks behind the wheel and drive more aggressively than they normally would. Dean of Academic Affairs Anne O'Dwyer offers advice for staying calm.

Eric Kramer, faculty in Science, Mathematics, and Computing, and senior Ethan Ackelsberg '12 authored a second paper together, "Do Vacuoles Obscure the Evidence for Auxin Homeostasis?" published in the January issue of Molecular Plant.

Simon's Rock will host a screening of the award-winning documentary (T)ERROR on Friday, February 19, at 7 p.m., followed by a conversation with the film's director David Felix Sutcliffe.

As part of Black History Month, Bard College at Simon’s Rock will host its 20th Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Lecture featuring Dr. Bernard Lafayette Jr., Distinguished-Senior-Scholar-in-Residence at Emory University. The event will be held on Thursday, February 18, at 7 p.m. in the Daniel Arts Center’s McConnell Theater. This lecture is free and open to the public.

Students in the Montserrat Signature Program post field notes about the tropical ecology, conservation biology, sustainability issues and life on the island.

Staller's Manhattan - as seen through his New York Times photographic collection - evokes a pristine, mid-winter ghost-town in the hours before pandemonium.