Bard College Berlin remains committed to conducting as many course sessions in-person as is safe and legally allowable. All courses will meet online until 14 February.

• If conditions and regulations permit, foundational and practicing arts courses will return to in-person instruction in the week of 15 February.
• German levels A1-B1 (including B1) will also be permitted to meet in person in the week of 15 February.
• All other advanced courses are projected to remain online until 31 March.

Please note that regulations may change in either direction, however, and we all have to be prepared to make adjustments quickly as needed. If state guidance is amended, you will be alerted of any changes.

The college has an obligation to safeguard the community’s health as well as our students’ academic progress to the best of our ability. For this reason, we strongly recommend that all students arrive in Berlin before the beginning of the semester, regardless of whether their classes are expected to begin in-person or online.

Yes. Bard College Berlin is in full compliance with all social distancing guidelines issued by the Berlin Senate.

• In-person seminars will allow for social distancing, which means that larger seminars will either be scheduled in larger spaces, such as the Lecture Hall or Reading Room, or they will be conducted in a blended format in which some participants will be joining in person and some participating from another campus location.
• Lectures given to a larger group will be conducted online or in a blended format.
• When in use, classrooms will be ventilated regularly.
• Once weather conditions allow, some classes may even be held outdoors.  

Yes. Masks are required:

• Whenever social distancing cannot be maintained
• Inside academic/administrative buildings
• While waiting in line inside in the cafeteria
• While speaking with faculty or staff in their offices, unless otherwise directed
• During in-person seminars

Masks are not required outdoors, when social distancing can be maintained; in your household (your on-campus apartment), while studying, practicing, or meeting in a small group in the library, reading room, computer lab, or other campus space where social distancing can be maintained.  

Yes, this will be possible without any disadvantage to the student. All students and instructors must refrain from in-person attendance if they are feeling ill or are exhibiting any symptoms linked to Covid-19. However, regular attendance is essential to the collaborative work of learning in seminar format and forms part of the participation grade. Unless prevented by illness, students are expected to engage fully with their classes. Instructors will offer alternatives to in-person attendance where needed, including remote participation or asynchronous options.

Yes, but cafeteria service is take-away only until further notice.

• Diners must not eat inside the cafeteria. On-campus students should take meals to their residence hall or eat outside. Off-campus students should eat lunch outside or use kitches, terraces or other suitable campus spaces.
• Students waiting in line outside must stand 1.5 meters apart.
• Faculty and staff are asked to eat lunch in their offices or outside, or to use the kitchens, terraces, or free spaces of the academic/administrative buildings.
• All community members may sit and eat outside the cafeteria at any time, if social distancing can be maintained.

Student Clubs and the Civic Engagement Office have been very active remotely throughout the fall semester and are encouraged to continue in the spring. Any inside gatherings with members of more than one household is not permitted, so all clubs will meet online in the spring.

If any member of the college experiences symptoms associated with Covid-19 or learns that they may have been exposed to the virus, they must immediately isolate themselves from all college members and notify the college.

• Students, please email Student Life (student life@berlin.bard.edu) and your professors. You may also use the college’s 24-hour emergency phone hotline (+49-1575 7926095).
• In addition, students should check the Berlin state website and call the Coronavirus Hotline and follow its professional guidance on quarantine and testing (+49 - 30-90 282828), Monday to Friday, 8 am - 8 pm. Student Life staff can assist with arranging care and finding testing, as available when requested.

As the situation evolves constantly, one of the most comprehensive resources are the reports that are regularly issued by the Robert Koch-Institute (RKI), the German Center for Infectious Diseases. The RKI provides daily updated infection numbers on Germany and specific numbers for Berlin are provided (in German only) by the Berlin Senate.

On public transportation, in supermarkets, and public offices you are required to wear masks in Berlin. You are also required to wear a mask outside in designated shopping areas. A minimum distance of 1.5 m is to be maintained from all persons who do not belong to your household. As these stipulations are under regular review, please refer to the official guidelines from the Berlin senate for a comprehensive list of social distancing measures.

Bard College Berlin community members are expected to download and utilize the Corona-Warn App, issued by the German federal Government, to track any potential exposure to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.

A number of hospitals in Berlin have set up special coronavirus screening centers. You should call beforehand to ask when and how you should travel to the screening center; please observe preventive measures when traveling to the center.

For all mental health concerns, Bard College Berlin offers its students a variety of services. Students have the possibility to set up online appointments and speak confidentially to a professional counselor about any personal difficulties. In addition, Student Life staff and trained peer counselors (BRAVE Counselors) also assist students in finding mental health specialists. You can also pursue mental health support from professionals where you live.