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).

Stefan Heidemann has been professor of Islamic studies at Universität Hamburg since 2011, and currently serves as director of RomanIslam—Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies in Hamburg (2020–25). The Center compares the Roman Empire with the Islamic Empire and each post-imperial period. Heidemann was the principal investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant Project “The Early Islamic Empire at Work—The View from the Regions Toward the Center” (2014–19) and has been the editor in chief of the journal Der Islam since 2011. Formerly, he served as associate curator of Islamic art at the Metropolitan Museum and as professor of Islamic history and material culture at Bard Graduate Center. He earned his PhD at Free University Berlin in 1993 and his habilitation degree at Jena University in 2001. He has cooperated with German, British, French, and Syrian archaeological missions in al-Raqqa, Damascus, Aleppo, Masyaf, Balkh, Karakorum (Mongolia), Cerro da Villa (Portugal), and other sites.