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).

Alexandra Stern is a first-year doctoral student in the Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture program at the Bard Graduate Center. She holds a BA from Haverford College (through the departments of the History of Art and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College,) and an MA from Southern Methodist University in the Rhetorics of Art, Space, and Culture. Her work focuses on the intersection of material culture, trauma, and memory, exploring the role of dolls, miniatures, and the image of the child in the memory project of the Holocaust. Most recently, she worked as an archivist and conservation assistant with the Bridwell Library in Dallas, Texas. Other previous work experience includes internships with the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections, and the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.