Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program

Experience international affairs firsthand in New York City with a term of intensive study and professional internship.

Part of Bard NYC, BGIA provides a unique opportunity for college students and recent college graduates from around the world to take advanced courses in international affairs while working in carefully selected internships based on individual interests—all while experiencing life in Manhattan, the island at the center of the world.

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What makes BGIA unique?

Intimate Teaching Environment

The seminar-style courses at BGIA are based on student discussion, research, and writing. The Core Seminar focuses on non-state actors in international affairs and provides an academic framework to contextualize students’ professional internships. Additional courses are taught by practitioners in diverse fields.

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Foundational Internships

BGIA’s internship program offers students an opportunity to work with with private, public, and nonprofit organizations in New York City. This hands-on experience enables students to put classroom theory into real-world practice. Foundational experience for future careers and graduate study.

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Discourse on Timely Issues

Discourse on timely issues of global concern. The James Clarke Chace Memorial Speaker Series features talks by leading figures in international affairs. Events are held approximately once a month, typically on a Thursday evening, and are open to the public.

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What's New

New Dorm in Brooklyn for Spring 2023

BGIA students live in a unique student residence and co-living community in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Unlike most traditional dorm rooms, our student residents can discover a whole range of thoughtfully designed shared spaces and have access to community building events and programming.

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BGIA News

Bard Student Jackson Lopez ’24 Wins 2023 Hudson Political Studies Summer Fellowship and Hertog Fellowship in Security Studies

Jackson Lopez ’24, who is majoring in global and international studies with a focus on international relations, has been awarded the Hudson Political Studies Summer Fellowship and Hertog Fellowship in Security Studies in Washington, DC. During their six-week fellowship in the nation's capital, Hudson Political Studies Fellows take courses led by master teachers, policy workshops directed by field experts and experienced government officials, and a distinguished speaker series of exemplary figures from public life.

Opinion: “Turkey’s Erdogan Is in the Fight of His Political Life” Writes Elmira Bayrasli for CNN

Turkey’s 2023 presidential election, held on Sunday, was the hardest-fought race that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced in decades and is now headed to a runoff between Erdogan and his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. For CNN, Elmira Bayrasli, director of the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program in New York City, traces Erdogan’s rise to power, his more combative orientation towards the United States and Europe, and his close alliance with Putin. “Whether Erdogan wins or loses, Ankara is unlikely to untangle itself from Moscow and turn back to the West,” she posits.

Professor Walter Russell Mead on the Peril of Ignoring the Middle East

“The Biden administration faces a real dilemma,” writes Professor Walter Russell Mead in the Wall Street Journal. “Feeling overstretched against Russian aggression in Ukraine and Chinese ambition in the Indo-Pacific, the White House wants to minimize its exposure to the Middle East. Yet the region is too important to ignore—and the more the U.S. withdraws, the more influence it sheds. As America becomes less relevant, regional actors feel free to make more decisions that Washington dislikes, effectively undermining U.S. influence around the globe.” Walter Russell Mead is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and the Humanities at Bard College.