The curriculum of the master’s degree program includes a number of required courses, seminars, tutorials, independent studies, and internships in fields chosen by the student in consultation with a faculty adviser. Students are otherwise free to construct their own program of study (with their adviser’s help). Specialization in a particular area is possible but not required. Students interested in pursuing a museum career, for example, may choose to concentrate in Museum History and Practice; whereas students interested in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe may construct a program of study drawing on a rich array of courses in that field; and so on. Students enrolled in the doctoral program work in close collaboration with faculty advisers to craft a slate of electives in preparation for qualifying examinations and the dissertation.

Advising is an important part of the Center’s graduate training. Upon admission, every student is assigned a faculty adviser. Faculty advisers work closely with students, helping them plan their courses of study, providing academic counseling, guiding them toward professional activity and visibility, and, in a variety of ways, supporting and encouraging students’ attainment of their intellectual and vocational goals. In addition, each student has a specialist supervisor for his or her thesis (M.A.) or dissertation (Ph.D.).

Hands-on examination of objects is an essential feature of study at the BGC. Students have access to collections and curators at a variety of museums in the metropolitan New York area, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The New-York Historical Society, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Historic Hudson Valley. Auction houses, conservation studios, and commercial galleries also provide students with direct contact with objects. Students of garden history and landscape studies have the opportunity to visit historic Hudson River estates, the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Central Park, Prospect Park, and other parks in New York City.

Graduates of the BGC’s degree programs are prepared for careers or career advancement in academia, museums, historic houses, galleries, auction houses, and government agencies, and in the fields of research, consulting, publishing, and communications. Graduates with a concentration
in garden history and landscape studies will find additional opportunities in a variety
of fields that include landscape architecture, horticulture, planning, environmental conservation, historic preservation, and public garden administration. They will be prepared for careers with architectural and landscape architectural firms; regional, state, and national park services; community development agencies; public parks and gardens; historic sites; and nonprofit preservation organizations.

The Center also regularly convenes scholarly colloquia and conferences to present new scholarship in decorative arts, design history, and cultural history. Recent topics include “Liquid Culture: Chocolate, Coffee and Tea in Early Modern Europe,” “The Age of Antiquaries,” “Episodes in the History of Visual Literacy,” “From Object Analysis to Social and Cultural History: Case Studies in Design History,” “Cellini: Artist, Artisan, Author,” and “The Luxury Trade in the Early Modern Era: Dealers, Commerce, and Taste.” Students are encouraged to attend lectures and symposia held in conjunction with exhibitions hosted by the Center and to take advantage of the Center’s extensive Public Programs offerings.

Monthly forums, such as the Seminar in Cultural History, Conversations in American Art and Culture, and Garden History and Landscape Studies, and the Selz Lecture Series on 18th and 19th Century French Decorative Arts and Culture provide informal venues for scholars to present new work to an audience of students, faculty, colleagues from other institutions in the New York metropolitan area, and the interested public.

Part-time Study
The Bard Graduate Center accepts applications for part-time study in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs. To accommodate part-time students, the Center offers some evening courses. For further information about enrolling part-time at the BGC, contact the Office of Academic Programs. Financial Aid is generally not available to part-time students.

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