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Bard Graduate Center is an advanced graduate research institute in New York City dedicated to the cultural histories of the material world. Our MA and PhD degree programs, Gallery exhibitions, research initiatives, scholarly publications and public programs explore new ways of thinking about decorative arts, design history, and material culture.

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Applications for our MA program may be submitted until March 1, 2025





About

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).


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BGC PhD candidate, Rebecca Matheson (right), received first prize at the 45th Annual Cleveland Symposium, hosted each fall by the Department of Art History and Art at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Museum of Art Joint Graduate Program. The theme of this year’s graduate symposium was Visualizing Sound and Silence in Art and Architecture, and the title of Rebecca’s paper was “‘Susurrus of Silk’: Sounds of Fashion in Late-Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century America.”


BGC PhD candidate, Sarah Scaturro, was featured in Vogue UK, for coverage of the Met’s Costume Institute Conservation Laboratory, where she is head conservator. According to Vogue, “Alongside her co-workers, Scaturro cares for a collection of 33,000 objects dating from the 15th century to the present day. The team assesses, repairs, preserves and prepares this massive catalogue for exhibition, but its work is far more complicated than a day at the dry cleaners. History, ethics, philosophy and science all influence a conservator’s decision-making — it can be surprisingly complex. ‘By investigating fashion, we can learn a lot about the human condition,’ Scaturro says.”
Photo Courtesy of Rebecca Matheson. Pictured is herself, with the runner ups.