Call for Student Volunteers: Join us at the JOY Conference!
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 – Friday, October 17, 2025
Olin Humanities Auditorium
This event occurs on:
Wed. October 1 – Fri. October 17
The Hannah Arendt Center invites passionate and dedicated student leaders to be part of our JOY: Loving the World in Dark Times conference on October 16 and 17 in Olin Auditorium. This thought-provoking event will bring together writers, musicians, scholars, and performers for a timely exploration of joy as a powerful force, and a vital conversation around fostering resilience.
Featured speakers include: Teju Cole, a novelist, essayist, and photographer, whose books include the award-winning novels Open City and Tremor, among others; Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director of New York Live Arts and award-winning choreographer and performer; Ann Lauterbach, who writes at the intersection of poetics, politics and the visual arts; Jeremy Eichler, chief classical music critic of The Boston Globe in conversation with Bard College President Leon Botstein; Ilya Kaminsky, award-winning author, in a special collaboration with actor Ella Dershowitz and Bard's director of the Institute for Writing & Thinking and the Language & Thinking Program, erica kaufman, a writer in residence at the college; Shane McCrae, the author of ten books of poetry, including most recently, New and Collected Hell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), a book-length poem.
Why Participate?
As a student leader at this prestigious conference, you’ll have the unique opportunity to:
Qualifications: Must be available to volunteer a few hours on one or all of the following dates: October 15-17. We have several shifts to fill and will work with your schedules.
Contact: Christine Gonzalez Stanton at [email protected] to sign up!
The Hannah Arendt Center invites passionate and dedicated student leaders to be part of our JOY: Loving the World in Dark Times conference on October 16 and 17 in Olin Auditorium. This thought-provoking event will bring together writers, musicians, scholars, and performers for a timely exploration of joy as a powerful force, and a vital conversation around fostering resilience.
Featured speakers include: Teju Cole, a novelist, essayist, and photographer, whose books include the award-winning novels Open City and Tremor, among others; Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director of New York Live Arts and award-winning choreographer and performer; Ann Lauterbach, who writes at the intersection of poetics, politics and the visual arts; Jeremy Eichler, chief classical music critic of The Boston Globe in conversation with Bard College President Leon Botstein; Ilya Kaminsky, award-winning author, in a special collaboration with actor Ella Dershowitz and Bard's director of the Institute for Writing & Thinking and the Language & Thinking Program, erica kaufman, a writer in residence at the college; Shane McCrae, the author of ten books of poetry, including most recently, New and Collected Hell (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024), a book-length poem.
Why Participate?
As a student leader at this prestigious conference, you’ll have the unique opportunity to:
- Engage directly with leading thinkers: Dive deep into the theme of joy by assisting in conference sessions and networking with keynote speakers, panelists, and guests.
- Build professional skills: Hone your leadership, organization, and communication skills while gaining behind-the-scenes experience in event management and intellectual discourse.
- Expand your network: Connect with scholars and professionals from a variety of fields who share a commitment to addressing critical societal challenges.
- Be part of something bigger: Your contribution will support a platform dedicated to meaningful dialogue, exploring how we can bridge divides in an increasingly polarized world.
- Engage and network with conference speakers and invited guests.
- Enjoy special events during and around the conference like the BRAD Comedy Club's performance, a staged reading of Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, a walking tour on campus to visit Hannah Arendt's grave commemorating the 50th anniversary of her death, and post-conference receptions each evening.
Qualifications: Must be available to volunteer a few hours on one or all of the following dates: October 15-17. We have several shifts to fill and will work with your schedules.
Contact: Christine Gonzalez Stanton at [email protected] to sign up!