Admitted Students Day


Saturday, April 15th, 2023



Welcome to BCB

Congratulations on your admission! We're delighted to invite you to get to know Bard College Berlin on Admitted Students Day: join us for a day on our campus where you can meet fellow admitted students, attend a seminar with our professors, meet our staff, and hear from our current students about life as a Bard Berliner.

 Below you will find the schedule for the day – register now through your applicant portal to decide which seminar you'll attend and begin planning your trip to Berlin! 

Admitted Students Day Schedule

10:00 - 10:45am

Welcome Remarks




Join college leadership for a cup of coffee and an official welcome to campus and to our community. 

11:00 - 12:00pm

Experience a BCB Seminar

Choose to attend one of four seminars taught by our professors to get a taste of courses at Bard College Berlin

Game Changers in 20th and 21st Century Art

With Prof. Dr. Dorothea von Hantelmann

The 20th century was not yet out of its teens. What was anyone to make of the porcelain urinal Marcel Duchamp submitted to a New York art exhibition? Fountain, with its signature R Mutt and the date 1917, was photographed and remembered. It became art, and so changed art forever. Every once in a while, artworks change how we define and talk about art. We want to understand how artworks can represent and simultaneously influence the cultural zeitgeist and discourse of their time. We also want to comprehend how the iconic status of an artwork can change over time: Is Duchamp still/again contemporary? Can we look at Duchamp differently when we see him through the lens of Jeff Koons? Or Andy Warhol? Or Kanye West? What characterizes an “iconic artwork” of today? 

This seminar is open to all participants, but is especially recommended for students interested in the Art and Aesthetics concentration or BA in Artistic Practice and Society offered at Bard College Berlin. 


Is Globalization Dead? 


With Prof. Dr. Boris Vormann


How do crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit impact globalization? Climate change and depleting resources, renationalization tendencies, large-scale infrastructural development projects and resurfacing territorial conflicts have all led to a reinvigoration of geopolitical thinking and practice in the very recent past. What potential futures does this imply for cooperation and for conflict? Join Prof. Dr. Boris Vormann to discuss the concept of globalization and its future.


This seminar is open to all participants, but is especially recommended for students interested in the Politics, or Ethics and Politics concentrations offered at Bard College Berlin. 

Ethics and Economics of Climate Change 

With Prof. Dr. Israel Waichman


How much pollution is too much? How can global actors coordinate to lower carbon emissions and mitigate global warming in the absence of an international government? Should lesser developed countries be prevented from using fossil fuels to advance industry for the sake of the climate? Global warming and climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time with potentially catastrophic consequences. This seminar will introduce participants to economic tools and methods that can be used to address global warming, and will also explore how ethics and economics intersect on this topic. 

This seminar is open to all participants, but is especially recommended for students interested in the Economics, Politics, or Ethics and Politics concentrations offered at Bard College Berlin. 


What is a Novel? 


With Prof. Dr. Catherine Toal


What is a Novel? How do formal aspects, such as tone, characterization, length, and genre impact our connection to the book as an object? Where does the novel exist in the history  of narration, and reversely, how does our collectively narrated history impact the modern novel? How and what do we gain from reading stories? We will focus on these seminal questions to guide discussion around excerpts from some of the most impactful works in modern memory. Join this seminar to dive into the important history of this literary form, and to build the theoretical beginnings to question it. 

This seminar is open to all participants, but is especially recommended for students interested in the Literature and Rhetoric concentration offered at Bard College Berlin. 

11:00 - 12:00pm

Parent Information Session



While your student attends class, join staff from Admissions and Student Life for coffee and a chat about any questions you may have regarding your student's enrollment and life as a Bard Berliner. 

12:15 - 2:00pm

Lunch and Campus Life Fair



Meet members of the faculty, student life, and the admissions office for an open lunch hour and learn more about important aspects of life at BCB such as housing, health insurance, study abroad, student clubs, and much more!

2:00 - 3:o0pm

Campus Tour



Go on a tour of our campus led by one of our current students. See classroom spaces, student apartments, and teaching buildings all the while learning more about our neighborhood and the history of our campus. 

3:00 - 4:00pm

Student Panel: Why I Chose BCB



Join a panel of current students as they discuss what led them to BCB, and what their life as a student looks like. The student panel will end with an open Q&A section. 


Directions to Campus

Our campus is located in the beautiful, quiet neighborhood of Niederschönhausen, in the district of Pankow. It can be easily accessed via public transport, with several bus and tram lines serving the areas. The closest stop to the lecture hall, where your day will begin, is “Am Iderfenngraben” on the M1 tram line going to Rosenthal Nord. The stop “Hermann-Hesse-Str./Waldstrasse" is also nearby. The full address of the administration building is Platanenstrasse 24, 13156 Berlin. The Berlin Public Transport services (BVG) have an app and website where you can easily obtain directions, transit times, as well as tickets, which you can find here: https://www.bvg.de/de.

Hotel Recommendations

Motel One Berlin Hackescher Markt 

Address: Dircksenstr. 36, 10179 Berlin

The affordable design hotel is situated right by Hackescher Markt – so if you are hoping to explore Berlin, this is the perfect place to stay. Hotel rooms starting at 89 EUR per night. Organic breakfast buffet is available for an additional 15.90 EUR.  Motel One has 10 locations around Berlin.

Nearest public transport stops: Hackescher Markt and Alexanderplatz. Public transport link to Bard College Berlin via the M1 tram line. (30 minutes)


The Circus Hotel

Address: Rosenthaler  Straße 1, 10119 Berlin

The Circus Hotel is a boutique, design-orientated hotel in Berlin-Mitte, housed in a beautifully restored 19th-century landmark-protected building overlooking Rosenthaler Platz. Close to all the main attractions of the city and in a lively neighborhood of bars and restaurants. Single rooms start at 115 EUR per night. Warm breakfast is served from 8AM–11AM, including homemade granola, eggs, breakfast burritos, to name a few of the options. The menu and prices are listed here.

Nearest public transport stop: Rosenthaler Platz (U8 subway line, tram connections).

Public transport link to Bard College Berlin via the M1 tram line (30 minutes). 


Hotel Kastanienhof

Address: Kastanienallee 65, 10119 Berlin

Located in the hip and historic Prenzlauer Berg and directly on the M1 tram line, which leads directly to campus, Hotel Kastanienhof offers rooms starting around 100 EUR per night. There are several nice restaurants in the neighborhood, including a pub attached to the hotel.  


Nearest public transport stop: Zionskirchplatz. 

Zionskirchplatz is a stop on the M1 tram line, which leads directly to Bard College Berlin.