
Carla R. Stephens
Dr. Carla R. Stephens holds a B.A. in Political Science and in History as well as a PhD in History from Temple University. Her areas of interest include the transnational nature of the black freedom struggle in the 1950s-1970s, particularly activism by African Americans in the liberation struggles of the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. She also earned her M.S. in Educational Leadership at Montclair State University. Carla became founding faculty at Bard High School Early College in Newark, NJ in 2011. Carla was promoted to the principalship in 2017 and served the youth and Newark community in that capacity for six years. In 2023, Carla became the first Director of the Bard Queer Leadership Project at Simon’s Rock. She has recently been honored to serve as the first Borough of Brooklyn Chair of History and Culture at the Bard Microcollege at the Brooklyn Public Library, a position within the Bard Prison Initiative.