Realizing Bard’s mission as a private college operating in the public interest. The Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College coordinates a broad range of initiatives that connect students to internships, volunteer opportunities, community engagement, and activism. Bard students tap into their own idealism and vision, developing civic skills that are fundamental for active citizenship.
Upcoming Events
10/17
Thursday
Olin Hall
Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism: How Can We Imagine a Pluralist Politics?
Thursday, October 17, 2024 – Friday, October 18, 2024 | | Olin Hall
Hannah Arendt was suspicious of cosmopolitanism, world government, and the loss of the common sense connections that are part of living with and amidst one's tribe. Wary of assimilation and universalism, Arendt understood the need for a tribe, whether that tribe be her “tribe” of good friends or living amongst people with whom one shares cultural and social prejudices. At the same time, Arendt was also deeply suspicious of tribalism in politics. Politics always involves a plurality of peoples. Thus tribal nationalism—what she called the pseudo-mystical consciousness—is anti-political and leads to political programs aimed at ethnic homogeneity.
Arendt believed that the aspiration of politics is to bind together a plurality of persons in ways that do justice to their uniqueness and yet find what is common to them as members of a defined political community. Wary of the nation-state that would privilege the national community of the state over "foreigners" and "minorities," Arendt nevertheless opposed assimilation into a cosmopolitan sameness. Instead, she held onto a vision of politics centered around plurality and federalism, one in which homelands and regions of like-minded peoples would also live together in federalist republics that both respected the particularity of local identities and sought to build meaningful political bonds that transcend tribal sensibilities. Her plan for a federation in Israel and Palestine imagined Jewish and Palestinian homelands as part of a larger federal structure.
The rise of tribalist and populist political movements today is in part a response to the failure of cosmopolitan rule by elites around the world. As understandable as tribalism may be, the challenge today is to think of new political possibilities that allow for the meaningful commitments of tribal identities while also respecting the fact of human plurality. The Hannah Arendt Center Conference Tribalism and Cosmopolitanism responds to the undeniable fact that tribalism is real, appealing, and dangerous. We ask:
• If humans are tribal beings, how can they live in multicultural liberal societies? • Are experts and elites themselves simply one tribe defending their self-interests? • Must social media contribute to the fracturing of society into raging tribes? • Is there a common interest in society knowable through reason? •What is a tribe and is it a useful word in our political vocabulary? •Is there an alternative to the cosmopolitan tribalism of global elites? Above all, we ask, how can make a space for tribal loyalty and tribal meaning while at the same time maintain our commitment to pluralist politics?
Commencement Season Across the Bard Global Network
This paper, which is part essay and part memoir, provides a series of snapshots from the 2024 commencement season across Bard’s global network, roughly a four-week period from the middle of May to the middle of June 2024. While the commencements described here occurred during a relatively short period of time, the very fact that so many students were able to graduate is the result of years of work in response to the tumult that occurred around the globe during the four years since most graduating seniors entered university in the fall of 2020.
Kingston Air Quality Initiative at Bard College Reports After Four Years of Monitoring
The Center for the Environment Sciences and Humanities at Bard College is pleased to announce the findings of the Kingston Air Quality Initiative (KAQI) after four consecutive years of research and data collection. The success of KAQI has also led to an expansion of air quality initiatives in the Hudson Valley, including the recent establishment of a second regional air quality station in partnership with the Poughkeepsie Library, as well as plans to install a third station in Newburgh in partnership with Mount Saint Mary College.
Bard was named one of the top 10 colleges for student voting in the United States, with a voter registration rate topping 85%.*
The Election@Bard team works tirelessly to ensure your right to vote. Bard students, staff, and faculty have been fighting voter suppression in Dutchess County for decades, and recently won a legal battle to secure an on-campus polling place. Are you registered to vote yet? Registration is easy, and we’ll help you with the process. Register Now *Washington Monthly, October 2020
Voices of Action
Voices of Action celebrates the diversity of students, staff, and faculty at Bard College and across Bard's international partnerships and the greater Open Society University Network. We hope this community-centered project sparks conversation and highlights how we are connected by common interests, especially around civic and community engagement. Voices of Action showcases two platforms: Being(s) at Bard on Instagram (@beingsatbard) and the What Is Your Why? podcast series.
Leadership isn’t handed to you. It’s learned, and it’s earned. Bard provides many opportunities to drive positive change in the College community and beyond. Have an Idea? Get Started.