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Citizen Science

Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00
2020 Program Dates: Friday, January 10 – Friday, January 24
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?
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Key Dates, Deadlines, and Other Information

Thursday, January 9: Citizen Science students return to campus no later than 5:00 p.m.
Friday, January 10: Mandatory student check-in, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m in the RKC lobby. Citizen Science classes begin.
Saturday, January 11: Second day of classes. This is a full day of classes. Holding class on this first Saturday allows students an extra day for their between-semester break.
Friday, January 24: Classes end by noon on this day only.

No classes will be held on the following days:

  • Sunday, January 12. However, there is a mandatory keynote speaker event for all students from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • Saturday, January 18
  • Sunday, January 19
  • Monday, January 20: Martin Luther King Jr Day. Students will not have classes but will be participating in events that focus on the intent of the day. There is a mandatory speaker event at the end of this day as well.
Class Sessions
Other than the first and last day of classes, all Citizen Science class days include *two* sessions of 2.5 hours each, and all classes are scheduled to be held between 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Attendance at Citizen Science classes and speaker events is mandatory for a student to successfully complete the program.

The Program
Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00

The Program

First-year students return to Bard in January for a first-of-its-kind course focusing on a specific scientific issue—infectious disease, for example—and look at it from different methodological and conceptual approaches. This technique leads to an understanding of the impact of science and mathematics on everyday life, and how Bard students, regardless of major, can become constructive participants in the debate over, and the solutions to, such crucial global problems as climate change and disease control.

The Curriculum
Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00

The Curriculum

Inspired by stories from places like Flint, Michigan, and Hoosick Falls, New York, the Citizen Science program tackles 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?

Four Paths to Engaged Science

The program consists of a common core of coursework and one of four lab strands. Students are assigned to a strand during the fall semester based on interest.

Developing Science Literacy
Photo by Pete Mauney '93 MFA '00

Developing Science Literacy

“This required program is designed to give all students the tools, attitudes, and motivation to use science and mathematics concepts in their daily lives.” —Leon Botstein, President, Bard College

Contact Us

Citizen Science
Bard College, P.O. Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
citizenscience@bard.edu | 845-758-7490

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