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Bard College student Thomas Harris ’22 has won a highly competitive Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. Harris was awarded $3,000 scholarship towards his participation in the Bard-Smolny Program at Smolny College in St. Petersburg, where he will study in Russian for the fall 2019 semester. Harris is currently pursuing dual degrees in math and engineering through Bard College and Columbia University’s 3+2 program, in which a Bard student may transfer to Columbia at the end of their junior year at Bard, and upon completing a two-year program at Columbia, qualify for both a BA from Bard and a BS from Columbia. Born and raised in Chicago, Harris is also a concept artist and poet, going by his distinctive Russian name Foma. He is currently working on several projects, including his second book.

Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply towards their study abroad or internship program costs with additional funding available for the study of a critical language overseas. The Gilman scholarship supports American undergraduate students of limited financial means to study or intern abroad and, since 2001, has enabled more than 25,000 outstanding Americans of diverse backgrounds to engage in a meaningful educational experience abroad. The program has successfully broadened U.S. participation in study abroad, while emphasizing countries and regions where fewer Americans traditionally study. The late Congressman Gilman, who served in the House of Representatives for 30 years, chaired the House Foreign Relations Committee, and was honored with the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, commented, “Study abroad is a special experience for every student who participates. Living and learning in a vastly different environment of another nation not only exposes our students to alternate views, but also adds an enriching social and cultural experience. It also provides our students with the opportunity to return home with a deeper understanding of their place in the world, encouraging them to be a contributor, rather than a spectator in the international community.”  gilmanscholarship.org

Bard professor Felicia Keesing and her husband and research partner Rick Ostfeld explain their work on the Tick Project, the prevalence of misinformation on tick-borne diseases, and how to talk about parasites at a cocktail party.

“Eyes in the Sky is that rare creature: a deeply reported and deftly written investigation that seeks to understand both the implications of a technology and the motivations of its creators.”

Michel, codirector of the Center or the Study of the Drone at Bard College, provides a “persuasive look at how society might regulate cutting-edge technology to assure both individual privacy rights and the government’s ability to guard public safety.”

A new study of nearly 3,000 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders links a midday nap with greater happiness and self-control, fewer behavioral problems, and a higher IQ—a finding that was particularly evident in sixth graders.

With Public Lecture “What Is Time?” by Carlo Rovelli, World-Renowned Scientist and Best-Selling Author, on Thursday, June 13

— Further Reading —

Jim Bardeen, Hal Haggard, and Carlo Rovelli, faculty members in the Bard Summer School on Quantum Gravity, weigh in on “White Holes: Black Holes’ Neglected Twins,” in Space.