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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4/24Friday11:00 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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4/24Friday9:30 am – 4:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
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4/24Friday9:30 am – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Revisiting “On Violence”: Political Power and Non-violent Struggle
Spring 2026 Hannah Arendt Center Conference and De Gruyter-Arendt Center Lecture in Political Thinking
Friday, April 24, 2026Hannah Arendt's essay “On Violence” concisely articulates her theory of power: “Power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert. Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and remains in existence only so long as the group keeps together.” Exercising power is open-ended, which is why Arendt thinks it differs from exercising violence, which always serves as the means to a particular end. Arendt cautioned against confusing power and violence, though she acknowledged the difficulty of distinguishing one from the other: “Power and violence, though they are distinct phenomena, usually appear together.”
9:30 am – 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Various Campus Locations
Arendt’s essay, published in 1970, offers more than just a set of abstract reflections on timeless concepts. “On Violence” was occasioned by key issues of the day, from the various student movements transforming the university to the Black Power movement and the fight for self-determination by colonized peoples—all alongside her enduring concerns regarding totalitarianism and modern world alienation. These questions have taken on a new salience in the wake of recent conflicts over the place of the university in struggles for justice and over the use of violence in anti-colonial politics.
This conference invites scholars to return to this classic and controversial essay 55 years after its publication to read it carefully and critically. We do so to better understand the place of Arendt’s work in the broad political and theoretical terrain into which she herself attempted to situate it, as well as to understand the relevance of Arendt’s reflections for the present moment. To what degree do Arendt’s categories illuminate—and to what degree do they obscure—the challenges faced by 20th-century and contemporary political actors? Is Arendt’s distinction between violence and power still useful, or are there other, more pertinent concepts and frameworks for understanding our shared world? How might we assess Arendt’s judgment of anti-colonial and Black Power movements? Are there thinkers and movements relevant to Arendt’s discussion that she did not consider, but which enhance our understanding of her work?
The conference will be structured as a text seminar.- Three scholars—Dr. Joy James (Williams), Dr. Alexander Livingston (Cornell), and Dr. Rose Owen (SUNY Purchase) have been invited to propose text or set of texts on violence and power to put in conversation with Arendt’s essay. Each scholar will lead one session of the seminar over the course of the conference.
We invite all those interested in participating in the seminar to please fill out this application form.
Arendt Center Spring Conference 2026 Schedule
Thursday April 23rd, 2026
5 – 6:45 pm De Gruyter–Arendt Center Lecture and Discussion
Prof. Uday Mehta, “Militant Nonviolence”
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center North – 25 Robbins Road, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY and livestreamed on YouTube
Friday April 24th, 2026
All seminar sessions are for registered participants only, as space is limited. Please reach out to [email protected] if you would like to attend.
9:30 am – 11:00 am – Session 1
Prof. Rose Owen leads a discussion of “On Violence” and- Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth, chapter 1
- Patrice Douglass’s Engendering Blackness, introduction
11:15 am - 12:45 – Session 2
Prof. Alexander Livingston leads a discussion of “On Violence” and- Selected Writings by M.K. Gandhi
12:45 – Lunch Break
2:30 - 4:00 – Session 3
Prof. Joy James leads a discussion of “On Violence” and- Kathryn Gines’s Hannah Arendt and the Negro Question, chapter 5
- Prof. James’s “‘Concerning Violence’: Frantz Fanon’s Rebel Intellectual in Search of a Black Cyborg”
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4/24Friday1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Graduate Degree Recital: Minghui Mia Wu, dizi
Friday, April 24, 2026
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
Free and open to the public. Livestreaming on the Conservatory YouTube Channel here.
Contact: Bard Conservatory Concert Office
Phone: 845-758-7196
E-mail: [email protected]
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4/24Friday2:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Workshop on Dialogue and Deliberation: Advocating For Democracy
Friday, April 24, 2026
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Arendt Center
The Hannah Arendt Center is offering a workshop that is both experiential and intellectual on dialogue and deliberation--with the purpose of advocating for democracy.
Public dialogue and new processes of deliberation such as citizen assemblies, exemplify Hannah Arendt's concept of the political, where everyone is seen and heard. Good will, one’s own and others’, is the basis for deciding whether or not to participate. In dialogue the purpose is communication itself, in deliberation, the group must come together to make judgments. Having a plurality of views for all to “go visiting” as Arendt calls it, allows us to put ourselves in another’s place. The more views we encounter, the better equipped we are to make judgments.
Concerns about the state of US democracy abound. But clarity about what it is and how to advocate to strengthen it, is rare. The practice of democracy, also rare, requires us to speak in the public realm--an act of courage. Public dialogue and deliberation are practices of democracy that build plurality.
Email Susan Oberman [email protected] to reserve a spot. Or register online at https://bardian.bard.edu/register/vrg.