Bard Graduate Center is devoted to the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through research, advanced degrees, exhibitions, publications, and events.

Bard Graduate Center advances the study of decorative arts, design history, and material culture through its object-centered approach to teaching, research, exhibitions, publications, and events.

At BGC, we study the human past and present through their material expressions. We focus on objects and other material forms—from those valued for their aesthetic elements to the ordinary things used in everyday life.

Our accomplished interdisciplinary faculty inspires and prepares students in our MA and PhD programs for successful careers in academia, museums, and the private sector. We bring equal intellectual rigor to our acclaimed exhibitions, award-winning catalogues and scholarly publications, and innovative public programs, and we view all of these integrated elements as vital to our curriculum.

BGC’s campus comprises a state-of-the-art academic programs building at 38 West 86th Street, a gallery at 18 West 86th Street, and a residence hall at 410 West 58th Street. A new collection study center will open at 8 West 86th Street in 2026.

Founded by Dr. Susan Weber in 1993, Bard Graduate Center has become the preeminent institute for academic research and exhibition of decorative arts, design history, and material culture. BGC is an accredited unit of Bard College and a member of the Association of Research Institutes in Art History (ARIAH).

In May, Ivan Gaskell published “Works of Art and Mere Real Things—Again,” British Journal of Aesthetics 60, 2020, pp. 131-149, and, as editor with Sarah Anne Carter, The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture (Oxford University Press). Owing to the pandemic, he was unable to take up his annual two-month residency as Permanent Fellow of the Lichtenberg-Kolleg (Advanced Study Institute) of the Georg-August University, Göttingen. Instead, he rusticated at his residence in Lexington, Massachusetts, working on philosophical puzzles.

In July, Nina Stritzler-Levine joined BGC Faculty as Professor of Curatorial Practice. This follows BGC’s new model for the Gallery to integrate research, teaching, and exhibitions.

In September, BGC welcomed three new fellows, Beeta Baghoolizadeh, Elizabeth Guffey, and Ali Karjoo-Ravary. Meet them here.