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Core Curriculum

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In all fields of human endeavour and inquiry efforts have been made to establish objects, principles, and modes of thinking and proceeding that are considered important and legitimate. A multiplicity of debates and struggles shapes the standards and criteria used for judging these artefacts, ideas, and methods. Rather than relying on a traditional “great books” approach or simply on a general humanities curriculum, Bard College Berlin’s specific mission is to explore the basis for the existence of the objects and judgments of value that have shaped our intellectual, cultural and political and social life. The foundation of the degree program consists of six core courses which provide an overview of intellectual history and of the key texts and debates at the origin of the disciplines of philosophy, literature, art history, economics, and the natural and social sciences. Core courses enable students to consider the interplay between fields and phenomena often treated as separate and distinct—for instance, painting and mathematics, or literary forms and political economy—and to examine the history of philosophy in its widest interactions with the history of science, rhetoric, and the visual arts.

Core Courses

Greek Civilization: Plato’s Republic and Its Interlocutors
This course is a survey of Plato’s Republic and the works of some of Plato’s contemporaries.

Medieval Literature and Culture: Forms of Love
This course traces the development of Medieval literary forms and movements, with a focus on poetics.

Renaissance Art and Thought: Renaissance Florence
Students in the third core course study the development of Renaissance art, focusing on the city of Florence and incorporating a number of museum visits throughout Berlin.

Early Modern Science
Early Modern Science lays out the evolution of scientific thought, concentrating on prominent Enlightenment thinkers such as René Descartes and Francis Bacon.

Origins of Political Economy
Students explore another side of Enlightenment intellectual thought - the study of statecraft and the intertwining of economic and political theory.

Global Modernism
The final core course considers the concepts of modernization, modernity, modernism around the world, with particular emphasis on literary responses to technological advancement, bureaucracy, and nationalism and decolonization. 

Coordinators 2023/24

  • Prof. Dr. Ewa Atanassow
    Political Thought

    Bulgaria/Poland
    PhD from the Committee on Social Thought
    The University of Chicago
  • Prof. Dr. Tracy Colony
    Philosophy

    USA
    PhD in Philosophy
    Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
     
  • Dr. James Harker
    Literature and Rhetoric

    USA
    PhD in Rhetoric
    University of California, Berkeley
  • Dr. David Hayes
    Greek Philosophy, Literature
    USA
    PhD from the Committee on Social Thought
  • Dr. Geoff Lehman
    Art History

    USA
    PhD in Art History
    Columbia University

     
  • Prof. Dr. Laura Scuriatti
    Comparative Literature

    Italy
    PhD in English Literature
    University of Reading

     
  • Prof. Dr. Nina Tecklenburg
    Theater and Performance

    Germany
    PhD in Theater Studies
    Freie Universität Berlin
     
  • Prof. Dr. Boris Vormann
    Politics

    Germany
    PhD in Political Science 
    Freie Universität Berlin
  • Dr. Ulrike Wagner
    German Studies

    Germany
    PhD in German and Comparative Literature
    Columbia University

Alumni/ae Perspectives

Aryana Arian Assl '20

Aryana Arian Assl '20

Iran
Currently:  MA in Culture, Criticism and Curation, University of the Arts London and Editor-in-Chief at perediza

The core classes create a fascinating intersection between all the different disciplines that students study here. Core courses such as Origins of Political Economy and Plato’s Republic and Its Interlocutors are some of my favorite courses this year. Bringing together economists, philosophers, writers, and artists in a classroom discussing The Republic by Plato creates interesting discussions and perspectives. It expands everyone's views and allows for the contextualization of topics like art and economy.

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Bard College Berlin, A Liberal Arts University gGmbH

Mailing address: Platanenstrasse 24, 13156 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 43733 0
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Bard College Berlin is institutionally accredited at the national level in Germany by the Wissenschaftsrat.

In the United States, Bard College Berlin is accredited through
Bard College by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Qualifying students receive both a German BA and an American BA. 
© 2024 Bard College Berlin, A Liberal Arts University gGmbH
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