Welcome to the Institute for International Liberal Education

The Institute for International Liberal Education (IILE) was formed at Bard in 1998. Its mission is to advance the theory and practice of international liberal arts education. We believe that international educational partnerships must be based on mutuality and equality, and that it is important for international exchange to occur at the undergraduate level.

Bard Abroad Programs

Who We Are

Susan H. Gillespie, Founding Director, IILE; Vice President for International Education
Jonathan Becker, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Director, Center for Civic Engagement; Associate Professor of Political Studies; Director, Globalization and International Studies
James Ketterer, Dean of International Studies and Director, Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program
Jen Murray, Director, IILE and Bard Abroad
Leiah Heckathorn, Assistant Director, Bard Abroad
Hannah Barrett, International Program Manager, Berlin programs
Quinton Scribner, International Program Coordinator, Russian and Kyrgyz programs
Gillian Brundrett, Assistant to the Director and Financial Coordinator
Trish Fleming, Study Abroad Adviser
Katarina Garcia-Renart, Program in International Education (PIE) Assistant
Lauren Cooke, Program Assistant, IILE
Thomas Jackson, IILE Fellow

Our Mission

Our long-term partnerships are characterized by the exchange of students, faculty, and curricular elements. Comprehensive exchanges afford the best possibility for the participants, both in and out of the classroom, to enter into direct, sustained dialogue on intellectual and cultural issues–precisely the kind of international dialogue that is needed to respond to the global challenges of the 21st century. Unlike the unilateral “exchanges” of the past, such substantive academic partnerships foster mutual respect and understanding and enrich learning and teaching for all students and faculty at Bard and participating institutions, not just those individuals who go abroad themselves. The Institute does not seek to export American models and methods. Rather, our aim is to create dynamic relationships through which we and our partner institutions learn from each others’ ideas and experience.

Our Partnerships

The Institute’s projects, developed under the leadership of the Center for Civic Engagement, are located in regions undergoing rapid political and economic transformation (currently Russia, East Central Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia). Our partners are leading universities with an interest in educational reform.

Special Initiatives

The IILE and Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College participate in the Institute for International Education's (IIE) commitment to support students from Syria through a scholarship for a displaced Syrian student.

Additional student initiatives supported through the IILE and CCE include a fund to support a Berlin - Jerusalem exchange for students at Bard College Berlin and Al-Quds Bard College and funds to support science majors from Al-Quds Bard in the Bard Summer Research Internship at Bard College in Annandale.