The Future of Early College: An Interview with Dr. Leon Botstein

The first public, tuition-free Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) opened in Brooklyn in 2001. Today, an entire network of Bard Early Colleges operates in partnership with public school systems to offer students affordable access to higher education in a cohesive, engaging environment. Simultaneously, alternative takes on early college (Early College High Schools, dual enrollment, early entrance) have proliferated across the United States, providing even more opportunities for younger students to earn college credit. In December 2022, the author, Dean of Bard Early College, sat down with Bard College President Leon Botstein to examine how the pandemic made new demands of educators everywhere. Together, they looked ahead to the next two decades of public early college, taking a closer look at some limiting and unexamined assumptions about adolescent education, equity, and inclusion, and predicted the ways Bard Early College can meet the academic, social, and developmental needs of current and future students

Dyeing Textile-fabrics Using BJB312 Violacein Strain to Test Against Gram-positive Bacteria

Natural dyes are rapidly gaining popularity due to the adverse effects of synthetic dyes on human health and the environment. Among the various options available, violacein, a pigment produced by certain bacteria, has emerged as a highly promising alternative. In this study, violacein produced by Jactinobacterium sp. BJB312 bacterial strain has been seen as a potential alternative dyeing agent for textile fabrics. In addition to its dyeing properties, it has been found to possess vigorous antibacterial activity against various Gram-positive bacteria. To test the antibacterial activity of violacein-dyed fabric produced from LB culturing, three strains of Gram-positive bacteria were chosen as model organisms: B. subtilis, S. epidermidis, and S. saprophyticus. The results showed that the violacein-dyed fabrics ranged in shades of purple depending on the material and possessed excellent color fastness. It was also found that the antibacterial properties of the pigment varied depending on the dyed fabric type against the Gram-positive bacteria. This study offers a promising alternative approach to dyeing fabrics and can help prevent the spread of bacteria in hospitals and other public spaces

On Space

Our architecture is becoming more and more abstract; financial speculation, square-footage, zoning, taken-for-granted shapes, and the repetition of trivially differentiated prefabricated components represent an increasingly (supposedly) adequate description of our architecture - a description largely divorced from the lived reality of its social inhabitation or, in other words, what it means to us and how we use it. Meanwhile, the extraction of more new materials and the production of more, new, and different buildings has always been unsustainable. A practice is needed that reverses and resists this force of abstraction and that does not involve new construction but instead involves creative and transformative engagements with our existing architecture. This project argues that epigraphy, or graffiti, points to the sort of practice we need - one that makes and maintains constitutive links between our perception of space and the lived realities of its social inhabitation. This is achieved through a short introductory text and the architectural documentation of two sites in Pompeii. The project is presented in the form of a book to be exhibited at the Bard Architecture open house following submission

In the Drylands: Making a Living in Northern Kenya

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Non-player Character

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College

Plymouth Hoe in the Rain: Costuming A Steampunk Elizabethan Fantasy

This thesis documents my year abroad in the city of Plymouth, England and how my time there inspired me to create costumes which combine the historical elements of the Elizabethan era with the fantasy genre of steampunk while maintaining theatrical practicality. I explore the history of Plymouth and the Plymouth Hoe, a key landmark in the city, and analyze a poem from which I base characters that I designed in reference to the poem and location. I discuss how the design process offered many roadblocks when deciding on factors such as the era of fashion and historical accuracy. I present my research on the Elizabethan era and the fashion of the time, on steampunk as a genre, and on theatrical costuming techniques, while going in depth on the construction process of each individual garment. I also include examples of my documentation of the process such as notes and schedules. Finally, I present sketches, renderings and photos from my exhibition in Plymouth as well as my exhibition at Simon’s Rock

Art on D̶r̶u̶g̶s̶ Medication: An Exploration of the Effects of Psychotropic Medication on the Artist and Their Art

There have been many paradigm shifts throughout history in relation to psychiatry and psychology. The major one that will be discussed through a literature review in this thesis is the shift from pre-psychiatry (pre-medication), into the world of medication. The pharmaceutical industry holds most, if not all, of the power when it comes to the development, research, and ultimately the distribution of such medications. Something that comes at a cost to the individuals involved. In this thesis, it was my goal to address a lack of research to date into the non-physical side effects of psychotropic medication, and I was particularly interested in the effects among those engaged in the creative arts. I thus examined how psychotropic prescription medications interact with the subjective experiences of those who create and produce art. Two studies explored these research questions. A set of qualitative interviews (n=4) and a more quantitative survey (n=53) were conducted in order to see how people experience the side effects that medications may have on their art and creativity. Finding suggest that, generally, people experience negative side effects from medications—such as SSRIs, SNRIs, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics—on their creativity. Overall, it appears that people on Adderall may create art that comes forth from anger more than from any other class of medication. It was also found that between men, women, and non binary people, men seem to find it easier to make art when they are happy. While medication does do some good, in the hands of the pharmaceutical tyrants, this good comes with a cost, not only financially, but to people’s brain, to emotions, and to one’s creativity. Medication shouldn’t be given out widely to a society, it must be personalized to individuals and their needs. Only then will we be able to make some progress for the sake of our bodies and minds—and our art

Math Communication (or Lack Thereof): An Exploration of the Ways We Communicate About Mathematics

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A Gut Shaped Snake

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College

ya llegamos | we are here

ya llegamos | we are here, a Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College, is piece on gender and migration. It is a play that explores how family dynamics, class issues, education, and gender play a role in why people leave their home country. It explores the journey and relationship of Saturnina and Francisco as they travel across the Mexico/U.S. border