Skip to main content.
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni/ae
  • Families
  • Students
Bard
  • Bard
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics
    • Academics
      • Programs and Divisions
      • Structure of the Curriculum
      • Courses
      • Requirements
      • Academic Calendar
      • Faculty
      • College Catalogue
      • Bard Abroad
      • Libraries
      • Dual-Degree Programs
      • Bard Conservatory of Music
      • Other Study Opportunities
      • Graduate Programs
      • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission
    • Applying
      • Apply Now
      • Financial Aid
      • Tuition + Payment
      • Campus Tours
      • Meet Our Students + Alumni/ae
      • For Families / Para Familias
      • Join Our Mailing List
      • Contact Us
      • Link to Instagram @bardadmission
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    • Living on Campus
      • Housing + Dining
      • Campus Resources
      • Get Involved on Campus
      • Visiting + Transportation
      • Athletics + Recreation
      • Montgomery Place Campus
      • Current Students
      • New Students
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    • Bard CCE The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Bard College embodies the fundamental belief that education and civil society are inextricably linked.

      Take action.
      Make an impact.

      • Get Involved
      • Engaged Learning
      • Student Leadership
      • Grow Your Network
      • About CCE
      • Our Partners
  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    • News + Events
      • Newsroom
      • Events Calendar
      • Press Releases
      • Office of Communications
    • Special Events
      • Commencement + Reunion
      • Fisher Center + SummerScape
      • Family and Alumni/ae Weekend
      • Athletic Events
    • Join the Conversation
      • Link to Facebook @bardcollegeny  Link to Twitter/X @bardcollege   Link to Instagram @bardcollege  Link to Threads @bardcollege  Link to YouTube @bardcollege

  • About Bard sub-menuAbout Bard
    • About Bard College
      • Bard History
      • Campus Tours
      • Employment
      • Visiting Bard
      • Support Bard
      • Inclusive Excellence
      • Sustainability
      • Title IX and Nondiscrimination
      • Board of Trustees
      • Bard Abroad
      • Open Society University Network
      • The Bard Network
  • Give
  • Search

Program Events 

Religion Menu
  • Requirements + Courses
  • Faculty
  • Students
  • Resources
  • News room
  • Home
The Chaplaincy at Bard College

Professor Karen Barkey Receives Grant to Support Research on Historical Religious Pluralism

Professor Karen Barkey has been awarded a 2024 Expenses Grant from the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University in support of her upcoming book project, Successful Religious Pluralism in the Mediterranean: A Comparative-Historical Study. The grant also supports Barkey’s work with a Bard undergraduate who is transcribing, translating, and organizing Greek interviews into English.

Professor Karen Barkey Receives Grant to Support Research on Historical Religious Pluralism

Charles Theodore Kellogg and Bertie K. Hawver Chair of Sociology and Religion Karen Barkey has been awarded a 2024 Expenses Grant from the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. This grant was awarded in support of her upcoming book project, Successful Religious Pluralism in the Mediterranean: A Comparative-Historical Study. The grant supports Barkey’s archival trips to religious communities including Marseille Espérance, a faith leaders’ committee in Marseille, France, and the Simon Attias Synagogue and Haim Zafrani Research Center in Essaouira, Morocco. It also supports Barkey’s work with a Bard undergraduate who is transcribing, translating, and organizing Greek interviews into English.

Professor Barkey has taught at Bard since 2021, during which time she was named the 2021-22 Germaine Tillion Chair of Mediterranean Studies from the Institute for Advanced Studies D'aix-Marseille. Her current research explores how religious coexistence, toleration and sharing occurred in different historical sites under Ottoman rule. Previously, she focused on the comparative and historical study of the Ottoman Empire in relation to France and the Russian Empire.

Post Date: 02-17-2025

Bard College Hosts Book Launch for Eden Revisited: A Novel by László Z. Bitó ’60 on October 22

Bard College will host a book launch and colloquium to honor the novel Eden Revisited, written by the late, distinguished alumnus László Z. Bitó ’60. Bitó, granted asylum from his native Hungary in 1956, went on to develop the gold standard drug for glaucoma as he pursued a celebrated scientific career at Columbia University. In later life, he devoted himself to writing and became a force in Hungarian intellectual life and philanthropy, and published numerous works. Eden Revisited is his first book to be published in English in more than a decade.

Bard College Hosts Book Launch for Eden Revisited: A Novel by László Z. Bitó ’60 on October 22

Bard College will host a book launch and colloquium to honor the novel Eden Revisited, written by the late, distinguished alumnus László Z. Bitó ’60. Bitó, granted asylum from his native Hungary in 1956, went on to develop the gold standard drug for glaucoma as he pursued a celebrated scientific career at Columbia University. In later life, he devoted himself to writing and became a force in Hungarian intellectual life and philanthropy, and published numerous works. Eden Revisited is his first book to be published in English in more than a decade.

The colloquium brings together preeminent scholars of religion who will speak to the novel’s themes: Bruce Chilton ’71, director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard, which is copublishing the book with Natus Books, Alan Avery-Peck, Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, and Claudia Setzer, professor of religion at Manhattan College. Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, will introduce the panel. A discussion with audience members will follow the talks.

The book launch and colloquium take place on Saturday, October 22 from 1:45 pm-3:15 pm in the Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space. It will also be livestreamed.

This event is part of Family and Alumni/ae Weekend at Bard College. Visit families.bard.edu for more information.

Alan Avery-Peck is Kraft-Hiatt Professor in Judaic Studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts. At Holy Cross, he teaches courses on all aspects of Judaism, ranging from an introduction to Judaism to an upper-level seminar on theological responses to the Holocaust. A specialist in early rabbinic Judaism, Avery-Peck’s research focuses on early Rabbinic Judaism and the relationship between early Judaism and emergent Christianity, especially in the context of contemporary interfaith relations. Among other projects, he is part of a team of scholars and clergy producing a new presentation of the Revised Common Lectionary (http://readingsfromtheroots.bard.edu), that is, the list of Hebrew Bible and New Testament readings used in church worship. He is also a series editor and author for The New Testament Gospels in Their Judaic Context (Brill Publishers), and his commentary on Second Corinthians appears in The Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford University Press).

Claudia Setzer (Ph. D. Columbia) is Professor of Religious Studies at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY. Her books include, The Bible in the American Experience (Society of Biblical Literature, 2020 with David Shefferman), The Bible and American Culture: A Sourcebook (Routledge, 2011, with David Shefferman), Resurrection of the Body in Early Judaism and Early Christianity (Brill, 2004), and Jewish Responses to Early Christians (Augsburg Fortress, 1994). She studies early Jewish-Christian relations, the development of belief in resurrection, women in the Greco-Roman era, nineteenth-century women interpreters of Scripture, and the Bible in American culture. She currently chairs the SBL group “The Bible in America” and is an associate editor for a forthcoming Study Bible from Westminster John Knox Press. In 2006, she founded the Columbia University Seminar on the New Testament. She is currently writing a book on the use of the Bible in progressive movements (abolitionism, women’s suffrage, civil rights, environmentalism, anti-trafficking).

Bruce Chilton ’71 is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He received his B.A. from Bard College; M.Div. and ordination to the diaconate and the priesthood from General Theological Seminary; and Ph.D. from Cambridge University. His books include Abraham’s Curse; Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography; God in Strength; Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography; Judaic Approaches to the Gospels; Mary Magdalene: A Biography; Revelation; Trading Places; Jesus’ Prayer and Jesus’ Eucharist; Forging a Common Future; Jesus’ Baptism and Jesus’ Healing; Visions of the Apocalypse; and Christianity: The Basics. He was editor in chief of Bulletin for Biblical Research and founding editor of Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Studying the Historical Jesus series (E. J. Brill and Eerdmans).
Watch the livestream

Post Date: 10-14-2022

Hillary A. Langberg Named 2022 Robert H. N. Ho Foundation Buddhism Public Scholar

Hillary A. Langberg, visiting assistant professor of religion, has been named a 2022 Robert H. N. Ho Foundation Buddhism Public Scholar. The cohort of scholars, through a fellowship made possible by the American Council of Learned Societies and Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global, will spend up to two years “bolster[ing] the capacity of museums and publications in Buddhist art and thought across all traditions and regions in which Buddhism is practiced.”

Hillary A. Langberg Named 2022 Robert H. N. Ho Foundation Buddhism Public Scholar

Hillary A. Langberg, visiting assistant professor of religion, has been named a 2022 Robert H. N. Ho Foundation Buddhism Public Scholar. The cohort of scholars, through a fellowship made possible by the American Council of Learned Societies and Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global, will spend up to two years “bolster[ing] the capacity of museums and publications in Buddhist art and thought across all traditions and regions in which Buddhism is practiced.” Langberg will spend her fellowship at the National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. “Dr. Langberg’s research on our collection will help us design programs and digital experiences that inspire connections between historic and contemporary religious practices,” said Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art.
Read More

Post Date: 06-28-2022
More News
  • Professor Shai Secunda Awarded $40,000 National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship for his Monograph on the Formation of the Talmud

    Professor Shai Secunda Awarded $40,000 National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship for his Monograph on the Formation of the Talmud

    Shai Secunda, Jacob Neusner Professor in the History and Theology of Judaism, has been awarded a NEH Fellowship to support the preparation of his book-length monograph, The Formation of the Talmud in Sasanian Babylonia, on the circa sixth century C.E. formation of the Babylonian Talmud, the almost two-million-word-long foundational Jewish text comprising the diverse traditions of rabbinic Judaism. 
     
    “The Talmud is like the Great Sea” so goes an old adage, “it is as it says, ‘All the streams go to the sea’” (Midrash Canticles Rabbah 5:14). Rather than viewing the Talmud’s formation as an abstract textual process, Secunda analyzes its emergence in cultural historical terms by locating it in the minds and mouths of Babylonian rabbis, in their scholarly circles and institutions, and alongside other religious communities in the Sasanian Iranian Empire (224-651 C.E.).
    Read the NEH announcement here

    Post Date: 03-22-2022
  • Nabanjan Maitra Joins Faculty of Bard College’s Interdisciplinary Study of Religions Program

    Nabanjan Maitra Joins Faculty of Bard College’s Interdisciplinary Study of Religions Program

    Bard College is pleased to announce the appointment of Nabanjan Maitra as Assistant Professor of the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions in the Division of Social Studies. His tenure-track appointment begins in the 2022-2023 academic year. Maitra’s focus of research and teaching will be in Hindu studies.

    Nabanjan Maitra holds the position of Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas, Austin, where he has taught courses on the Religions of South Asia and Sanskrit. He has a PhD in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago with a focus on Hinduism. His book project, The Rebirth of Homo Vedicus, examines the formulation and implementation of a novel form of monastic power in a medieval south India monastery. He has pieces forthcoming in JSTOR Daily, Journal of South Asian Intellectual History, and edited volumes on monasticism in South Asia. Professor Maitra will join the Bard College faculty in Fall 2022.

    Post Date: 02-02-2022
  • Interview: Professor of Religion Bruce Chilton Talks About His New Book, The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession

    Interview: Professor of Religion Bruce Chilton Talks About His New Book, The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession

    “Human government is often a negotiation over how divine power is reflected in human governance and also what the instruments of that governance should be,” Chilton tells the Washington Post when asked if religion always accompanies times of political ferment. “It is not reasonable to suppose that people are all going to suspend their religious ideas in order to be governed in a just manner. Rather, it’s the reverse: How do they negotiate their religious ideas in such a way that the government attracts their commitment and they can live justly with people who differ from them?” Bruce Chilton is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College and executive director of the Institute of Advanced Theology.
    Full Story in the Washington Post

    Post Date: 08-24-2021
  • Alumni Spotlight: Tyler Williams Graduates with His Third Bard College Degree

    Alumni Spotlight: Tyler Williams Graduates with His Third Bard College Degree

    Tyler Williams ’19 MAT ’21 has completed his third Bard College degree. Williams is a graduate of Bard High School Early College Baltimore, the Bard College undergraduate program, and now the Bard MAT program. He graduated from Bard High School Early College in Baltimore, Maryland in 2017 with his associate’s degree. He then enrolled as an undergraduate at Bard College, graduating in 2019 with his BA in religion. In 2020 he joined the Bard MAT program in literature and graduated on May 29, 2021 with his Master of Arts in Teaching degree in literature and a New York State secondary English Language Arts teacher certification.

    Post Date: 06-08-2021
  • Sociologist Karen Barkey Joins Bard Faculty as Charles Theodore Kellogg and Bertie K. Hawver Kellogg Chair of Sociology and Religion

    Sociologist Karen Barkey Joins Bard Faculty as Charles Theodore Kellogg and Bertie K. Hawver Kellogg Chair of Sociology and Religion

    Bard College announces the appointment of Sociologist Karen Barkey to the College faculty as Charles Theodore Kellogg and Bertie K. Hawver Kellogg Chair of Sociology and Religion for the five-year period 2021-2026, beginning fall 2021. Barkey’s research explores the fields of comparative, historical and political sociology and the sociology of religion. Her research areas span from the rise of the Ottoman and Habsburg empires to the end of these empires in the late 19th and 20th centuries, and nation building in their aftermath. She is the Haas Distinguished Chair of Religious Diversity at the Othering & Belonging Institute, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion, the co-director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.

    “We are honored to welcome distinguished scholar Karen Barkey to the Bard faculty as well as the Open Society University Network at a moment when renewed efforts to understand cooperation, coexistence, and inclusion as well as conflict across difference have become increasingly critical,” said Bard’s Dean of the College, Deirdre d’Albertis.

    Karen Barkey has been engaged in the comparative and historical study of the state, with special focus on its transformation over time. She has focused on state society relations, peasant movements, banditry, opposition and dissent organized around the state. Her main empirical site has been the Ottoman Empire, in comparison with France, the Habsburg, and the Russian Empires. She also pays attention to the Roman and Byzantine worlds as important predecessors of the Ottomans.

    Her work Empire of Difference (Cambridge UP, 2008) is a comparative study of the flexibility and longevity of imperial systems. In different chapters, the book explores the key organizational and state society related dynamics of imperial longevity. This book demonstrates that the flexible techniques by which the Ottomans maintained their legitimacy, the cooperation of their diverse elites both at the center and in the provinces, as well as the control over the economic and human resources were responsible for the longevity of this particular “negotiated empire.” In the process, it explores important issues such as diversity, the role of religion in politics, Islam and the state as well as the manner in which the Sunni-Shi’a divide operated during the tenure of the Ottoman Empire. Such topics are relevant to the contemporary setting and the conflicts we endure today.

    Barkey is now pursing different projects on religion and toleration. She has written on the early centuries of Ottoman state toleration and is now exploring different ways of understanding how religious coexistence, toleration and sharing occurred in different historical sacred sites under Ottoman rule. She published an edited book, Choreography of Sacred Spaces: State, Religion and Conflict Resolution (with Elazar Barkan) (Columbia UP, 2014) that explores the history of shared religious spaces in the Balkans, Anatolia and Palestine/Israel, all three regions once under Ottoman rule. The book explores the politics and culture of conflict and cooperation over religious sites. It also provides the historical antecedents to help us understand the accommodation and contention around specific sites in the modern period, tracing comparatively areas and regime changes over time. In many places the long history of sharing sacred sites serves as an indicator of the possibilities for pluralism in the context of empire.

    Barkey is one of the curators of the traveling Shared Sacred Sites exhibition. She has worked on the exhibition in the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum of Photography and the Yeni Cami in Thessaloniki (2017) and the New York exhibition at the NYPL, Morgan Library and Museum and CUNY Graduate Center (2018). She also runs a website on this topic which brings international participants and expertise on many shared sites around the world. She started this project to promote awareness and understanding of coexistence among religions. You can see more on the site: sharedsacredsites.net.

    Barkey was awarded the Germaine Tillion Chair of Mediterranean Studies at IMéRA, for 2021-2022. IMéRA is the Institute for Advanced Study of Aix-Marseille University, and a member of the French Network of Institutes for Advanced Study. Barkey was born in Istanbul, Turkey. After she graduated from the Lycée Notre Dame de Sion, in Istanbul, she moved to the United States for her college education. She got her BA degree from Bryn Mawr College, an MA degree from The University of Washington, and a PhD from the University of Chicago.

    About Bard College
    Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in nearly 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 11 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 161-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
    # # #
    (4/09/21)
     

    Post Date: 04-09-2021
  • Bard College Inaugurates the Jacob Neusner Memorial Lectures in Jewish and Religious Studies, with Events October 24 and 27 in Annandale-on-Hudson and New York City

    Bard College Inaugurates the Jacob Neusner Memorial Lectures in Jewish and Religious Studies, with Events October 24 and 27 in Annandale-on-Hudson and New York City

    This fall, Bard College will inaugurate the Jacob Neusner Memorial Lectures in Jewish and Religious Studies  with lectures by distinguished scholar of Jewish studies Moshe Halbertal October 24 and 27 on the Bard campus in Annandale-on-Hudson and in New York City. An internationally renowned scholar of religion, Neusner, who died in 2016, was Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History and Theology of Judaism at Bard. “The Biblical Book of Samuel and the Birth of Politics: Two Faces of Political Violence” takes place Thursday, October 24, at 4:45 p.m. in room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building on the Bard College campus. “Confronting Loss: The Meaning & Experience of Mourning from the Talmud to Maimonides” takes place Sunday, October 27, at 7 p.m. at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue, 325 East 6 Street, New York, N.Y. The lectures are free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

    Post Date: 09-26-2019

Events

There are no events to display.
2025
  
2024
  
2023
  
2022
  
View Full Archive


2024

Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Richard Davis
Olin Humanities, Room 305  1:30 pm EST/GMT-5
How is it that we have the 1008 hymns of the Rg Veda, as they were recited around 1000 BCE? How is it that we know what the Buddha said, who lived around 500 BCE, when his words were not written down for some 400 years? Why do we have the massive 100,000 verse Sanskrit epic Mahabharata? In early India, specialist communities organized themselves to carry out the labor of memorizing and transmitting important works of cultural and religious memory, orally, over many centuries. These communities included Vedic Brahmins, Buddhist monks and nuns, and epic bards. This talk will explore the social organization of oral textual transmission in ancient India, and how this relates to writing a narrative history of Indian religious cultures.


Monday, November 4, 2024
  “From the River to the Sea” in the Hamas Charter
Bard Hall  12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EST/GMT-5
After the Cold War ended American politicians became fond of the mantra, “It's the Economy, Stupid.” They were not wrong, although other factors also have their sway. This autumn's series will consider global crises in which religion plays a central role, sometimes overrules self-interest, and needs to be understood for any address of the situation to be productive.

Presented by Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology.


Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Shai Secunda, Jacob Neusner Professor
Olin Humanities, Room 305  1:30 pm – 3:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Monday, October 21, 2024
  “From the River to the Sea” in Likud’s Presentation
Bard Hall  12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
After the Cold War ended American politicians became fond of the mantra, “It's the Economy, Stupid.” They were not wrong, although other factors also have their sway. This autumn's series will consider global crises in which religion plays a central role, sometimes overrules self-interest, and needs to be understood for any address of the situation to be productive.

Presented by Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, each lecture will have a different topic on the following Mondays. 

October 21: “From the River to the Sea” in Likud's Presentation
November 4: “From the River to the Sea” in the Hamas Charter


Monday, October 7, 2024
  The Confrontation of Orthodoxies in Ukraine
Bard Hall  12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
After the Cold War ended American politicians became fond of the mantra, “It's the Economy, Stupid.” They were not wrong, although other factors also have their sway. This autumn's series will consider global crises in which religion plays a central role, sometimes overrules self-interest, and needs to be understood for any address of the situation to be productive.

Presented by Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, each lecture will have a different topic on the following Mondays. 

October 7: The Confrontation of Orthodoxies in Ukraine
October 21: “From the River to the Sea” in Likud's Presentation
November 4: “From the River to the Sea” in the Hamas Charter


Monday, September 23, 2024
  White Supremacy in the American Elections
Bard Hall  12:30 pm – 2:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
After the Cold War ended American politicians became fond of the mantra, “It's the Economy, Stupid.” They were not wrong, although other factors also have their sway. This autumn's series will consider global crises in which religion plays a central role, sometimes overrules self-interest, and needs to be understood for any address of the situation to be productive.

Presented by Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, each lecture will have a different topic on the following Mondays. 

September 23: White Supremacy in the American Elections
October 7: The Confrontation of Orthodoxies in Ukraine
October 21: “From the River to the Sea” in Likud's Presentation
November 4: “From the River to the Sea” in the Hamas Charter


Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Keith Kahn Harris, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and Senior Lecturer at Leo Baeck College
Olin Humanities, Room 202  4:30 pm – 5:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
The period since October 7, 2023 has seen the emergence of a "complicity discourse" manifested in injunctions to speak publicly about Israel-Palestine. While this is particularly prevalent in pro-Palestinian activism, pro-Israel groups also associate silence with complicity. This lecture explores the profound implications for Jewish life of competing demands that Jews be public. It is becoming necessary for Jews across the political spectrum to re-consider the value of the private, mundane realms of Jewish existence.

Keith Kahn-Harris is a British sociologist and writer. He is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and a senior lecturer at Leo Baeck College. The author of eight books, his next book Everyday Jews: Why the Jewish People Are Not Who You Think They Are will be published in March 2025.


Monday, September 16, 2024
Victoria Hanna
Chapel of the Holy Innocents  5:45 pm – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Building on ancient Kabbalistic traditions that see language, the voice, and the mouth as tools of cosmic creation, Victoria will reveal the Hebrew alphabet as an instrument for playing with the mouth. By thinking with foundational Kabbalistic texts such as the Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah) and the writings of Abraham Abulafia, Victoria will demonstrate how the letters have been, and can be, used for daily work with speech and the body. She will also perform works inspired by the biblical Songs of Solomon, as well as late antique Jewish amulets. 

Victoria grew up in Jerusalem in an Orthodox Jewish family with roots in Egypt and Iran. She has performed and taught at universities around the world including Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, Michigan University, Virginia Tech, Monash University, Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University. Her work combines Jewish mysticism, Dada, surrealism, and feminism.


Sunday, May 19, 2024
Dr. Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
The Rhinebeck Reformed Church  1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4

Monday, April 22, 2024
Erin Dworkin
Sarah Corwith Eckert

Olin LC 210  4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Erin Dworkin: “‘I Repel His Blows With a Bare Breast:’ The Conversion of an Early Modern Jewish Woman”
Sarah Corwith Eckert: “Hungry for McMindfulness? The Effect of Linguistic Framing on Perceptions of Vipassana (Insight Meditation)”

The Colloquium on the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions:
The colloquium is a forum for the presentation of new works in progress, where students and faculty interested in the study of religions and intersecting fields can gather to share and discuss new research and writing.

Following the Lecture please join us for an Open House in the Interdisciplinary Study of Religions. Meet ISR majors and ask questions about moderation and senior project ideas. All are welcome.


Monday, April 22, 2024
  Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard Hall  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
During the past two millennia, systemic ruptures in the understanding of religion and society have shaped the cultural contours of all the lands that once comprised the Roman Empire. These schisms have of course featured in the histories of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but they also have exerted a profound influence on the ways that people in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and later the Americas conceive of themselves of their relations with one another. Our series will deal in order with: (1) the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and the resulting contention, (2) the breach between the Latin West and the Greek East after the conversion of Constantine, (3) the rise of Islam and the proclamation of the Crusades, (4) the Reformation and its consequences, and (5) the opposition between religion and science in the modern period.

This is the final lecture in the series.


Saturday, April 20, 2024
Finberg House library  10:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
The 2024 Social Philosophy Workshop brings together early career scholars from across the humanities and social sciences who examine contemporary social and political issues. Papers are pre-read, with workshop time devoted to commentators introducing and responding to each paper, followed by general discussion.

Registration is required in order to receive the pre-read papers.

The address for Finberg House is 51 Whalesback Road, Red Hook, New York 12571.

Generous support for this workshop has been provided by the Philosophy, Politics, and Interdisciplinary Study of Religions programs at Bard; Bard's Office of the Dean of the College; the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard; and the American Philosophical Association.


Friday, April 19, 2024
Finberg House library  10:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
The 2024 Social Philosophy Workshop brings together early career scholars from across the humanities and social sciences who examine contemporary social and political issues. Papers are pre-read, with workshop time devoted to commentators introducing and responding to each paper, followed by general discussion.

Registration is required in order to receive the pre-read papers.

The address for Finberg House is 51 Whalesback Road, Red Hook, New York 12571.

Generous support for this workshop has been provided by the Philosophy, Politics, and Interdisciplinary Study of Religions programs at Bard; Bard's Office of the Dean of the College; the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard; and the American Philosophical Association.


Monday, April 8, 2024
  Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard Hall  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
During the past two millennia, systemic ruptures in the understanding of religion and society have shaped the cultural contours of all the lands that once comprised the Roman Empire. These schisms have of course featured in the histories of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but they also have exerted a profound influence on the ways that people in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and later the Americas conceive of themselves of their relations with one another. Our series will deal in order with: (1) the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and the resulting contention, (2) the breach between the Latin West and the Greek East after the conversion of Constantine, (3) the rise of Islam and response of the Crusades, (4) the Reformation and its consequences, and (5) the opposition between religion and science in the modern period.

This series will be on the following Mondays at noon: April 8 and 22.


Sunday, April 7, 2024
Professor Yitzhak Melamed, Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, NYC  4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Yitzhak Y. Melamed is the Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He works on Early Modern Philosophy, German Idealism, Medieval Philosophy, and some issues in contemporary metaphysics, and is the author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought (Oxford 2013), and Spinoza’s Labyrinths (Oxford, forthcoming). Currently, he is working on the completion of a book on Spinoza and German Idealism, and on an introduction to Spinoza’s philosophy. His research has been featured in BBC (The World Tonight), LeMond, Ha’aretz, Kan Tarbut (Israeli Cultural Radio).

This paper argues that the most significant Jewish contribution to modern Western philosophy - the notion of acosmism, according to which only God truly and fully exists - originated in early Hassidism. I will show that through the mediation of Salomon Maimon (1753-1800) this bold notion was adopted from the school of the Maggid of Mezhrich and introduced into the systems of German Idealism.

The Bard Graduate Center is located at 38 West 86 street, New York, NY, 10024.


Thursday, April 4, 2024
Professor Yitzhak Melamed, Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University
Olin 102  5:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Yitzhak Y. Melamed is the Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. He works on Early Modern Philosophy, German Idealism, Medieval Philosophy, and some issues in contemporary metaphysics, and is the author of Spinoza’s Metaphysics: Substance and Thought (Oxford 2013), and Spinoza’s Labyrinths (Oxford, forthcoming). Currently, he is working on the completion of a book on Spinoza and German Idealism, and on an introduction to Spinoza’s philosophy. His research has been featured in BBC (The World Tonight), LeMond, Ha’aretz, Kan Tarbut (Israeli Cultural Radio).

This talk traces the influence of Spinoza’s early Rabbinic schooling on his writing from the period after he left the Jewish community. It argues that Spinoza is frequently unaware of the formative role of his early Rabbinic education, and that he commonly reads the Bible through Rabbinic eyes without the least being conscious of this fact. If this argument is cogent, it would seem that much more attention should be paid to Spinoza’s early education.

 Acosmism: Hassidism’s Gift to the Jews… and the World
Sunday, April 7th, 2024 | 4:00 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall, 38 West 86 street, New York, NY, 10024
This paper argues that the most significant Jewish contribution to modern Western philosophy - the notion of acosmism, according to which only God truly and fully exists - originated in early Hassidism. I will show that through the mediation of Salomon Maimon (1753-1800) this bold notion was adopted from the school of the Maggid of Mezhrich and introduced into the systems of German Idealism.
Free and open to the public.

Register for event here: https://forms.gle/P2qJ6vkciD74e8du6


Monday, March 25, 2024
  Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard Hall  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
During the past two millennia, systemic ruptures in the understanding of religion and society have shaped the cultural contours of all the lands that once comprised the Roman Empire. These schisms have of course featured in the histories of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but they also have exerted a profound influence on the ways that people in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and later the Americas conceive of themselves of their relations with one another. Our series will deal in order with: (1) the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and the resulting contention, (2) the breach between the Latin West and the Greek East after the conversion of Constantine, (3) the rise of Islam and the proclamation of the Crusades, (4) the Reformation and its consequences, and (5) the opposition between religion and science in the modern period.

This series will be on the following Mondays at noon: March 25, April 8, and April 22.


Monday, March 11, 2024
  Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard Hall  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
During the past two millennia, systemic ruptures in the understanding of religion and society have shaped the cultural contours of all the lands that once comprised the Roman Empire. These schisms have of course featured in the histories of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but they also have exerted a profound influence on the ways that people in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and later the Americas conceive of themselves of their relations with one another. Our series will deal in order with: (1) the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and the resulting contention, (2) the breach between the Latin West and the Greek East after the conversion of Constantine, (3) the rise of Islam and the proclamation of the Crusades, (4) the Reformation and its consequences, and (5) the opposition between religion and science in the modern period.

This series will be on the following Mondays at noon: March 11, March 25, April 8, and April 22.


Wednesday, March 6, 2024
North end of RKC  3:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Tibetan Buddhist Monks from Kumbum Chamtse Ling & Tashi Kyil Tibetan Buddhist Institute will generate a sand mandala dedicated to the aspiration for world peace in the atrium of RKC. 

March 1–6 (Friday through Wednesday) the monks will construct the mandala from 10 am – 12:30 pm and 1:30–5 pm
Closing Ceremony and Reception: Wednesday, March 6 at 3 pm
All are welcome.


Monday, February 26, 2024
  Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Philosophy and Religion; Director, Institute of Advanced Theology
Bard Hall  12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST/GMT-5
During the past two millennia, systemic ruptures in the understanding of religion and society have shaped the cultural contours of all the lands that once comprised the Roman Empire. These schisms have of course featured in the histories of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, but they also have exerted a profound influence on the ways that people in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and later the Americas conceive of themselves of their relations with one another. Our series will deal in order with: (1) the emergence of Christianity from Judaism and the resulting contention, (2) the breach between the Latin West and the Greek East after the conversion of Constantine, (3) the rise of Islam and the proclamation of the Crusades, (4) the Reformation and its consequences, and (5) the opposition between religion and science in the modern period.

This series will be on the following Mondays at noon: February 26, March 11, March 25, April 8, and April 22.


Monday, February 12, 2024
Erin Atwell, PhD candidate
Olin 205  5:30 pm EST/GMT-5
While American religious institutions struggle against the rising tide of the “nones,” those who identify as religiously unaffiliated, al-Azhar in Egypt is thriving. Every day, over a million people from around the world come to al-Azhar, the thousand-year-old institution of Sunni Muslim learning. Across its many institutes, schools, research centers, and in its storied mosque, people flock to al-Azhar to hear its scholars preach. While preaching can differ greatly depending on context, location, speaker, and audience, all preaching at al-Azhar shares one crucial characteristic: citation of the early Islamic textual tradition. In this talk, I explore citation as a virtuous practice that cultivates and is cultivated by the central Islamic concept of godfearingness. We will examine this relationship between godfearingness and citation through ethnography among recently appointed women preachers at al-Azhar, and literary analysis of citational content in preacher training manuals. Fear is often understood to be an unpleasant emotion. Tacking between early Islamic texts and the art of citation that articulates them, I invite us to consider how the pious fear of God emerges as a virtue that unfolds into a vibrant form of life.


Thursday, February 8, 2024
Raissa von Doetinchem de Rande, PhD
Olin 102  5:00 pm EST/GMT-5
The question of our shared human nature has intrigued thinkers since antiquity. However, in times of persistent threats against human rights and just societies on a global scale, the issue of whether there are certain qualities, inclinations, or capabilities that are natural to all and thus bind and dignify each human being continues to animate debates in our societies. While in our search for answers we often turn to the Classics—from Plato and Aristotle, to the Bible and the Church fathers—we lack adequate accounts of the relevant debates and assumptions from Islamic perspectives. Given the contemporary importance and historical centrality of Islamic thought, this is a gap we cannot afford. My talk will focus on the ways Islamic thinkers have engaged the Qur’anic concept of the fiṭra. As I will argue, this concept is an excellent place to begin learning about Islamic perspectives on human nature and allows us to incorporate such perspectives into our present debates.


Bard College
30 Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 845-758-6822
Admission Email: [email protected]
Information For
Prospective Students
Current Employees
Alumni/ae 
Families
©2025 Bard College
Quick Links
Employment
Travel to Bard
Site Search
Support Bard
Bard IT Policies + Security
Bard has a long history of creating inclusive environments for all races, creeds, ethnicities, and genders. We will continue to monitor and adhere to all Federal and New York State laws and guidance.
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
Threads
Bluesky
YouTube