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 center to house BGC’s Study Collection is planned for 8 West 86th Street.

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).

Amanda Thompson, PhD, is a design historian specializing in the social history of sewn arts, such as dress, quilts and dolls. Her research focuses on the dynamics of craft and gender within a settler colonial context and, more broadly, American craft within an intersectional framework. Her research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the American Philosophical Society, Center for Craft, Decorative Arts Trust, Hagley Museum and Library, and Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. She has written for anthologies and journals including Collections and the Journal of Modern Craft. Amanda also has over fifteen years’ experience managing collections and exhibitions for museums including the New-York Historical Society, the Museum for African Art, and The Jewish Museum. She currently serves on the Board of the Tomaquag Museum, an Indigenous-led institution committed to expanding knowledge of the Native cultures and peoples of Southern New England. Amanda received her PhD in Decorative Arts, Design History and Material Culture from the Bard Graduate Center.