Jonathan Becker

Jonathan Becker is vice president for academic affairs, associate professor of political studies, and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Bard College.
Dr. Jonathan Becker is the director of the Center for Civic Engagement and vice president for international affairs and civic engagement at Bard. He is also an associate professor of political studies specializing in Russian and eastern European politics, media and politics, and education reform. Jonathan arrived at Bard in 1997. For a decade, Jonathan has overseen the academic development of Bard’s international partnerships, including those in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and the West Bank. He also played a central role in founding Bard’s Globalization and International Affairs Program in New York City; Bard’s debate and Model United Nations teams; and election.bard.edu, which registers students to vote, facilitates student internships with local officials, and has fought voter suppression efforts in Dutchess County.
Jonathan earned his B.A. from McGill University in 1987 and his Ph.D. from St. Antony’s College, Oxford in 1993. He is the author of Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition (1999; revised and expanded edition, 2002) and articles and chapters in a variety of publications, including European Journal of Communication, Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, and The Globalist, among others.

Prior to coming to Bard, he served as assistant vice president of the Central European University in Budapest and as the European director of the Civic Education Project.

As director of the center, Jonathan has general oversight of the center’s activities and coordinates programming among the center affiliates and the Bard network.