Wednesday, October 1, 2025 – Thursday, October 9, 2025
Olin Humanities Auditorium 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 16-17 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.
First, schedule 1:1 with Christine Gonzalez Stanton: HERE. Next, please review the shifts using the link below. When signing up, include your name, T-shirt size, cell, and email so we can stay in touch. Claim at least two shifts that fit your schedule here: JOY SHIFTS.
As a token of our appreciation, please enjoy these special perks we have set up for all our volunteers:FREE ICE CREAM!Fortunes Ice Cream at 55 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583
7:00pm-9:00pm on Thursday, October 16thYOU'RE INVITED!On Thursday, we also host an Opening Night Dinner for our speakers.
You're welcome to stop by to mingle and meet our speakers at The Corner, next door to Fortunes, from 8:00pm-9:00pm.
Come by to enjoy some light bites, desserts, and toast to a joyous occasion.FREE JOY T-SHIRT!It's super soft too!All volunteers are required to attend the mandatory All Hands Meeting on Wednesday, October 15 at 5:00 PM to review assignments, pick up t-shirts, and answer questions. Responsibilities Include: Assisting with conference logistics such as registration, guiding attendees, and ensuring smooth transitions between sessions. Supporting speakers and panelists in preparation and during their presentations. Facilitating logistics and Q&A sessions to foster rich engagement among participants. Providing event support, including setting up and managing materials or technical equipment.
Deadline: October 9
Questions: Email [email protected]
JOY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Be part of the 17th annual fall conference: JOY: Loving the World in Dark Times.Olin Humanities Auditorium 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 16-17 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.
First, schedule 1:1 with Christine Gonzalez Stanton: HERE. Next, please review the shifts using the link below. When signing up, include your name, T-shirt size, cell, and email so we can stay in touch. Claim at least two shifts that fit your schedule here: JOY SHIFTS.
As a token of our appreciation, please enjoy these special perks we have set up for all our volunteers:FREE ICE CREAM!Fortunes Ice Cream at 55 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583
7:00pm-9:00pm on Thursday, October 16thYOU'RE INVITED!On Thursday, we also host an Opening Night Dinner for our speakers.
You're welcome to stop by to mingle and meet our speakers at The Corner, next door to Fortunes, from 8:00pm-9:00pm.
Come by to enjoy some light bites, desserts, and toast to a joyous occasion.FREE JOY T-SHIRT!It's super soft too!All volunteers are required to attend the mandatory All Hands Meeting on Wednesday, October 15 at 5:00 PM to review assignments, pick up t-shirts, and answer questions. Responsibilities Include: Assisting with conference logistics such as registration, guiding attendees, and ensuring smooth transitions between sessions. Supporting speakers and panelists in preparation and during their presentations. Facilitating logistics and Q&A sessions to foster rich engagement among participants. Providing event support, including setting up and managing materials or technical equipment.
Deadline: October 9
Questions: Email [email protected]
The Annual Conference: What it's All About
Bold and Provocative Thinking.
Together.
Together.
Every year, students, thinkers, artists, writers gather at Bard College's Annandale campus for two days of exploration into a pressing contemporary issue. Our aim is to bring together speakers from diverse careers to think together - and often to disagree- in public.
Our Conferences
The Center's annual conferences are known for bringing together speakers from diverse careers to think in public about the most important issues of our time. Previous conferences have explored the economic crisis, education, surveillance, and privacy. In conjunction with the conference, the center sponsors an annual student competition and a student debate.
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View video playlists of past conferences on our YouTube channel.
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Citizenship and Civil Disobedience
took place at Bard College on
Thursday, Oct. 11 and Friday, Oct. 12, 2018
