Ian Buruma’s New Book Stay Alive Reviewed in the Forward
Julia M. Klein writes that Buruma’s work is “at once panoramic and intimate, dispassionate and deeply moving.”
Ian Buruma’s New Book Stay Alive Reviewed in the Forward
Ian Buruma. Photo by Pete Mauney ’93 MFA ’00
The Human Rights Program at Bard is a transdisciplinary program involving such diverse fields as literature, political studies, history, anthropology, economics, film and media, and art history. It emphasizes integrative historical and conceptual investigations, and offers a rigorous background that can inform meaningful practical engagements. The program seeks to orient students in the intellectual tradition of human rights and provide them the resources with which to appreciate and criticize its contemporary status.
Post Date: 03-24-2026
Bard College and PEN America Announce the Launch of the Central America Independent Media Archive
CAIMA was built in partnership with the Russian Independent Media Archive (RIMA) team, and is the latest project under the umbrella of Kronika.Bard College and PEN America Announce the Launch of the Central America Independent Media Archive
Ramón Zamora. Photo by Bernardo Díaz
Founded in response to the escalating criminalization and persecution of journalism in Central America, CAIMA’s mission is to empower journalists, researchers, and civil society actors to deepen investigative work across the region. The collection currently preserves archival publications from 12 media outlets, including the complete editorial history of elPeriódico, a Guatemalan publication internationally recognized for its decades of investigative reporting on corruption and abuse of power.
In 2022, elPeriódico’s founder and director, José Rubén Zamora, was arbitrarily detained after the newspaper published 144 consecutive weeks of investigative reporting on corruption during the administration of former Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei. Following his arrest, the newsroom faced political, legal, and financial pressure, forcing nine journalists into exile. In May 2023, the publication was forced to shut down, cutting off public access to decades of investigative journalism. To protect their father’s legacy and the work of the newsroom, Zamora’s sons, Ramón and José Carlos, secured a complete digital copy of elPeriódico’s archive, an effort that laid the groundwork for CAIMA.
“Our goal is to preserve the first draft of Central America’s history and ensure that the work of courageous journalists is never erased,” said CAIMA coordinator Ramón Zamora. “CAIMA is both a shield against censorship and a tool for journalists and researchers committed to exposing corruption and understanding how power operates across borders.”
The archive is designed to grow by continuously incorporating collections from other independent media organizations across Central America that face censorship, shutdowns, or forced exile. In a region where authoritarian practices increasingly restrict access to information, CAIMA strengthens journalism’s ability to hold power accountable and supports deeper, evidence-based regional analysis. To access CAIMA, please visit elarchivo.media/en
Post Date: 03-23-2026
Bard Alumna Sonita Alizadeh ’23 Profiled in Forbes
“Today, Sonita’s message is simple but profound: never underestimate the power of your voice.”Bard Alumna Sonita Alizadeh ’23 Profiled in Forbes
Sonita Alizadeh ’23, Bard College alumna and human rights activist.
Post Date: 03-17-2026
M. Gessen Spoke with WMCU’s Here and Now About Kronika, Joint Civic Tech Project of Bard College and PEN America
Gessen outlined how Kronika has gone from being an archive to a set of tools in response to worldwide threats to free speech.M. Gessen Spoke with WMCU’s Here and Now About Kronika, Joint Civic Tech Project of Bard College and PEN America
M. Gessen.
Post Date: 02-16-2026
Upcoming Events
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5/20Wednesday11:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today: 2026 Graduate Student Curated Exhibitions
Saturday, April 4, 2026 – Sunday, May 24, 2026
11:00 am – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today collects curatorial projects organized by the Class of 2026 at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, in fulfillment of their MA in Curatorial Studies. From solo exhibitions that revisit and reinvigorate historical legacies to group shows that foreground contemporary practices, the projects span diverse disciplines, time periods, and materials.
More exhibition information here. Not open Monday or Tuesday.
Contact: CCS Bard
Phone: 845-758-7598
E-mail: [email protected]
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5/20Wednesday12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Hannah Arendt in Hamburg
with Natan Sznaider
Wednesday, May 20, 2026In 1959, Hannah Arendt was invited to Hamburg to receive the Lessing Prize. Did she even want to accept it? As a Jew, she could not refuse the prize, but neither could she accept it as a German. So in her acceptance speech she radically reformulated what the Lessing Prize meant. Invited as a humanist, she spoke as a Jew. In her speech, identity becomes a political fact, one that she then brings onto the stage of the award ceremony itself. We carry within us personal, familial, and collective histories, and it is precisely these histories that ultimately shape our political passions.
12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Online Event
All of this lies openly concealed within Hannah Arendt’s now iconic Lessing Prize acceptance speech. The Jew had indeed returned—but not the
Enlightenment-minded German who now happened to live in New York City and to whom a prize had been offered. Rather, it was a Jew who knew that she was also speaking before those who, only shortly before, had sought to destroy her. Her speech stands as a paradigmatic intervention in contemporary debates about particularism and universalism, and it should also be considered as a point of reference for thinking through those debates.
Natan Sznaider is Professor emeritus of Sociology at the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo. His research focuses on the theory of sociology, globalization, and memory culture. Born in Germany, he emigrated to Israel in 1974. Most recently, he co-authored a play about Hannah Arendt and the Lessing Prize: Niemandes Schwester. Natan Sznaider lives in Tel Aviv.
This event is organized by The Lessing Workshop.
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5/21Thursday
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5/21Thursday3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Chance Encounters with John Cage: Ed McKeon on Curatorial Composing
Thursday, May 21, 2026
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Online Event; Zoom
Join us for a discussion on "curatorial composing," focusing on works by John Cage, Heiner Goebbels, Pauline Oliveros, and others.
“Curatorial composing” is curatorial producer and researcher Ed McKeon’s term for the way John Cage shifts attention from musical works to musical encounters, and the consequences that follow. Rather than follow the hierarchical flow of composer, then performer, then listener, curatorial composition distributes the responsibility from that model to a situation in which all are equally present and responsible for the meaning of an encounter. This means that these compositions are neither anchored in historical time nor suited to “Historically Informed Performance” in the sense of a reconstruction.
These pieces (and we as listener-observers) are always undergoing change. Curatorial composing is post-canonic. It invites us to experience and understand historical time and historical significance differently.
Exemplified in many ways by Cage, this approach means that musical composition need no longer be limited to organizing sound, but can extend to text, typography, movement, visual elements ,etc. Contrary to visual art histories in which visual art loses its “medium specificity” to become “post-conceptual,” Cage shows that music can occur in and across any medium.
Cage was not alone in this. We’ll chat about the work of Heiner Goebbels, and perhaps as well about Pauline Oliveros and Jani Christou, among others. Curatorial composing marks a shift in historical ontology, and of how we might understand historical time (and the relation of "history" and "temporality").
Please register in advance on Zoom for the free event.
Contact: Jeffrey Lependorf
Website: https://https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chance-encounters-with-john-cage-ed-mckeon-on-curatorial-composing-tickets-1988339782815?aff=oddtdtcreator
Phone: 917-609-7112
E-mail: [email protected]
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5/22Friday
Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend
Class Years Ending in 1 and 6: It’s Your Reunion
Friday, May 22, 2026 – Sunday, May 24, 2026Reunion Weekend 2026 Is May 22–24!
Bard College Campus
We encourage alumni/ae in classes ending in 1 and 6 to return to beautiful Annandale to celebrate, reconnect, and have a great time! Come back to look at your favorite Bard spots, and see all the amazing changes happening on campus. All alumni/ae are invited!
Contact: Jane Brien
Phone: 845-758-7406
E-mail: [email protected]