First-year students at Bard College immerse themselves in this intensive introduction to the liberal arts and sciences. They spend three weeks reading extensively in several genres, concentrating on different writing projects. Working in small, dynamic discussion groups, students learn to read and listen more thoughtfully, articulate ideas more clearly, and review their own work critically.
Important Dates
First-Year Students
Arrival Day: August 8, 2025
Language and Thinking Program: August 11–27, 2025
Transfer Students
Arrival Day: August 22, 2025
Transfer Student Language and Thinking Program: August 25–27, 2025
Arrival Day: August 8, 2025
Language and Thinking Program: August 11–27, 2025
Transfer Students
Arrival Day: August 22, 2025
Transfer Student Language and Thinking Program: August 25–27, 2025
About the L&T Program
It All Starts with a Conversation
“The Language and Thinking Program is about finding your own voice in conversation with others—your teachers, your peers, the texts you read—while you are also cultivating new habits of writing, critical reflection, and serious play. To be a student in L&T is to sometimes find yourself startled by all the connections that you are making as a reader, a writer, and as an active participant in a new intellectual community.” —William Dixon, former director and faculty member, Language and Thinking Program
Sakinah Bennett on the Bard Experience
Sakinah Bennett is a Bard College student majoring in dance and historical studies. She is a Posse Scholar from Atlanta, Georgia. Sakinah talks to incoming students about the experience of being a new student at Bard, including the Language and Thinking Program, student advising, and getting involved on campus.
Contact Us
Language and Thinking
Bard College, P.O. Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
[email protected] | 845-758-7559
