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).

Samrudha Dixit has a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and completed his masters in education. His research interests are in the history of design education and the identities of craft practices in India. During his design practice, he explored materials such as earth, ceramics, wood, bamboo, tensile fabric, and paper. In 2015 at CEPT University, he commenced his academic career as a field researcher and later became the principal researcher of the project, Vernacular Furniture of North-West India. As part of the project, he coauthored two books: Sahaj and Anaikya, and two catalogues with international collaborators. The Charles Wallace India Trust (CWIT) and Simon Digby Charitable Trust (SDMC) awarded him a research scholarship to study the diverse collection of majus (wooden cabinets) of Gujarat and Rajasthan at South Asia Collection, UK.

Apart from making traditions, Dixit is also interested in investigating pedagogy and curriculum. He has published his graduate research on science education and museums in the university publication of Azim Premji University. He is keen and has actively shared his research insights as part of full-time teaching, workshops, and lectures at prominent universities and forums across India. As part of his doctoral studies, he aspires to converge theories of education with his experience of working with craftspeople of India.