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Citizen Science

  • The program offers all first-year students at Bard an introduction to global science issues.

    The program offers all first-year students at Bard an introduction to global science issues.

  • Experiments are an important part of the program, giving all students exposure to lab work, regardless of their chosen major.

    Experiments are an important part of the program, giving all students exposure to lab work, regardless of their chosen major.

  • What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues?

    What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues?

  • Students collect data and evidence in the laboratory, which they then apply to the global questions they're considering in class.

    Students collect data and evidence in the laboratory, which they then apply to the global questions they're considering in class.

  • Faculty members work closely with students to examine the issues from a historical, societal, and scientific perspective.

    Faculty members work closely with students to examine the issues from a historical, societal, and scientific perspective.

  • Instructors create a supportive and immersive teaching environment.

    Instructors create a supportive and immersive teaching environment.
The program offers all first-year students at Bard an introduction to global science issues.1 Experiments are an important part of the program, giving all students exposure to lab work, regardless of their chosen major.2 What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues?3 Students collect data and evidence in the laboratory, which they then apply to the global questions they're considering in class.4 Faculty members work closely with students to examine the issues from a historical, societal, and scientific perspective.5 Instructors create a supportive and immersive teaching environment.6

Contacting Us

Phone: 845-758-7490
citizenscience@bard.edu

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Citizen Science

The 2019 Program Dates Are:
Sunday, January 13 – Friday, January 25

Student Arrival: Friday and Saturday, January 11–12

The goal of the Citizen Science program at Bard College is to provide students with opportunities to develop their personal science literacy through hands-on, real-world coursework and projects. We ask: What does it mean to be scientifically literate? What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues? How can citizens find the scientific information they need in order to meet the challenges they face in their lives and respond to the scientific issues of their day? What are the skills we all need in order to adequately and thoroughly interpret scientific claims, and how can we be sure that the conduct, analysis, and interpretation of science are not unduly influenced by political or other potentially distorting factors?

Inspired by stories from places like Flint, Michigan, and Hoosick Falls, New York, the 2019 Citizen Science program will tackle urgent, present-day questions related to water. We will explore the properties of water, as well as how these properties influence the contamination (and decontamination) of drinking water. We will also consider the extent to which problems of contamination are not purely scientific in nature: Where and how does politics enter the picture? In what ways are social, historical, and political factors at work even when we think we are engaged in “objective” science?

******** There is a required text for the program:
             The Big Thirst by Charles Fishman
             Order your copy through the Bard Bookstore by clicking on the link below: