The New Jersey Clemente Course in the Humanities is part of a national program of New
York's Bard
College in local partnership with the New Jersey Council for the Humanities
and various social service agencies. This eight-month college level course of study
was offered
at the Middlesex County Economic Opportunities Corporation in
North Brunswick between 1999 and 2005. The Clemente program is now being
offered in Perth Amboy at the Jewish Renaissance Foundation. The program is geared towards men and women in the community with at least a
high school level education whose social and economic circumstances have kept them
from following traditional routes to higher education. Students in the Clemente Course explore literature, art history, philosophy,
and
American history, and receive additional writing instruction. Bard College awards six
college credits to students who complete the course at a high level of
academic performance. Clemente participants meet two nights a week over an
eight-month period, receiving 110 hours of instruction.
Experienced college professors provide instruction in the
humanities. The Clemente Course eliminates many of the barriers that may
hinder the pursuit of a college degree. Not only is the program offered
tuition free, but books, carfare, and childcare are provided. To apply to
the Clemente Course in the Humanities, please contact:
For more information and national program locations, visit Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities at: www.bard.edu/academics/additional/additional_pop.php?id=204042.
History of the Clemente Program:
Started as a pilot project on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Clemente Course (named after Puerto Rican baseball player and humanitarian Roberto Clemente) is currently in its ninth year of operation. In 2002-2003, approximately 300 students matriculated at 15 sites around the country: three in New York, four in Illinois, and others in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Four additional programs will open in the 2003-2004 school year. In its first eight years, the program has enrolled 1,480 students, of whom approximately 900 completed the full course of study, 780 earned college credit, and 670 transferred to four-year colleges and universities or plan to do so in the coming year. In the spring of 2003, eight graduates of the Clemente Course were working toward their bachelor’s degree at Bard; three others had already graduated. Bard’s plan for the Clemente Course during the next seven years includes the establishment of 50 community-based humanities programs across the country.
New Jersey Council for the Humanities article in Ideas:
"Congratulations, Clemente Graduates!"
Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City (April 26, 2006)
2005-2006
Visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City (April 9, 2005)
2004-2005
Graduation Day, North Brunswick (May 20, 2004)
2003-2004
American History class, North Brunswick
(December 18, 2002)
2002-2003