The fifth annual BPI Public Health Fellowship Symposium featured 2021 Public Health Fellows delivering video presentations (below) of their individual projects, each of which spans a diverse array of scholarly, programmatic, and policy-based examples of work in the area of public health, followed by… Read More
BPI Blog
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Announcing the Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership
Bard College Launches the Nation’s First Tuition-Free College Dedicated to Advocacy, Arts, and Sciences HARLEM, N.Y. — The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) has announced the launch of its third tuition-free microcollege, which will open in Harlem this fall. The Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership will… Read More
#TurnOnTheTAPNY Legislative Briefing
On February 25th BPI joined with College and Community Fellowship and colleagues in the field of college-in-prison to discuss with legislators and staffers the importance of restoring eligibility for NY's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to incarcerated students in New York State. Click here to… Read More
Their Stories Helped Lift a 26-Year Ban on Pell Grants for Prisoners
A college education transformed [formerly incarcerated people's] lives. But some critics fear low-quality programs will rush in. Every time Vivian D. Nixon has publicly testified about the power of a college education to transform the lives of those behind bars, she’s drawn attention to one… Read More
Five Years Since Harvard Win
This month marks the five year anniversary of the BPI Debate Union's win against Harvard in September 2015. While the team had been racking up wins since well before the Harvard match, the meet up with Harvard brought international attention to their efforts and… Read More
BPI Gardens in September
Since the spring when faculty first stopped going into the prisons in person, BPI students have received a weekly newsletter from the college informing them of important news, academic updates, writing prompts and math problems, messages from the community, and instructions on how to… Read More
BPI’s Work Continues Despite COVID-19
In March, BPI shifted our in-person work in the prisons to a distance model and in June students successfully completed the spring semester of more than 85 courses across six prisons. Although we were unable to hold commencement ceremonies in June, every student who… Read More
Faculty Opinion: Grading During a Pandemic
This reflection on teaching in the pandemic by Bard Microcollege Holyoke faculty Susanna Kohn is part of the Community Voices op-ed series. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, BPI alumni, staff, and faculty and Bard Microcollege students will be posting reflections about their work, studies, and response… Read More
Summer Residency 2020
Today we closed out our second annual BPI summer residency. This year's gathering was all virtual with members of BPI's Consortium For the Liberal Arts in Prison joining BPI staff on Zoom for two rich weeks packed with workshops on the nuts and bolts… Read More
Remembering David Kaiser
After a prolonged battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer, we lost our friend David Kaiser last week. Only fifty years old, David leaves behind his wife, two daughters and a challenge to all of us. At BPI, we are proud that David counted… Read More