Commencement
Commencement
The ceremony will be held in-person on Saturday, May 18, 2024, from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm under a tent on the Blodgett Lawn. Additional seating will be available in the McConnell Theater. The event will be live-streamed for those unable to attend in person.
Seating will be on a first-come basis.
Commencement Speaker
Michael Lawrence is a professional word nerd, working at the intersection of language, design, and technology.
He earned his BA from Simon’s Rock in 2002 (summa cum laude), building a concentration that combined cultural studies, critical theory, linguistics, art history, and graphic design — ideal preparation for his current job, which did not exist at the time.
Working now in the relatively new fields of content design and UX writing, his job is to craft the language that appears in apps and web interfaces to make digital products more useful, usable, and inclusive. The work requires careful attention to the metaphors and narratives people use to make sense of new technology, as well as close partnership with software engineers, user researchers, visual designers, translators, marketers, and policy experts.
He has worked with product and brand design teams at Meta, Indeed, and eBay, and done freelance naming and content strategy for a number of creative entrepreneurs.
Michael transitioned into industry after beginning his career in academia. He served on the support staff of the first Bard High School Early College before going on to earn a PhD in rhetorical theory and criticism from the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. His dissertation explored discourses of 9/11 memorialization and national identity by examining the neoliberal epideictic practice of publicly reciting and reprinting the long list of names of the dead. The project earned the top dissertation award from the National Communication Association’s Critical Cultural Studies Division. He served on the faculty of Columbia College Chicago as a full-time lecturer in liberal arts & sciences, and acting program director for the college’s First-Year Seminar program. He’s taught numerous courses on contemporary media and culture, as well as foundational courses in communication and critical thinking skills.
He continues to work with college students, currently co-teaching an interdisciplinary seminar at the University of San Francisco on generative AI and the question of human creativity.
Calendar of Events
Wednesday, May 8
Thesis Celebration and Thesis Signing
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Hall College Center Patio
Wednesday, May 8
Affinity Graduation
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, Blodgett House
Tuesday, May 14
Dinner to Honor Associate of Arts Degree Graduates
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm, Dining Hall
Thursday, May 16
Bachelor of Arts Candlelight Dinner
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm, Dance Studio (DAC)
Friday, May 17*
Community Picnic
11:30 am – 1:30 pm, Blodgett Circle
Friday, May 17
Dinner in honor of our graduates
4:45 pm – 6:00 pm, Dining Hall
Saturday, May 18*
Breakfast in honor of our graduates
8:15 am – 10:00 am, Dining Hall
Saturday, May 18*
Commencement Ceremony
11:00 am – 1:00 pm, Commencement Tent
Saturday, May 18*
Commencement Reception
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Blodgett Lawn
*Event is open to families and friends.
*Just three miles from Bard’s College at Simon’s Rock, the newly renovated East Rock Inn is the perfect home base for your family’s celebrations. We offer stylish comfort and a convenient location for all of the scheduled festivities at the college, as well as downtown Great Barrington restaurants and shops. We are excited to extend a special offer of 15% off our standard rates, plus free early check-in and late check-out when available, to Bard College at Simon’s Rock families and alumni. Use code SimonsRock24 on our website, http://eastrockinn.com.