ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.  Liza Batkin, a first-year student at Bard College, is a dancer whose academic interests run to philosophy and literature. But here she was in a laboratory on a snowy day in January  while many of her peers across the country were still on winter break  inserting a piece of DNA into bacteria with a micropipette.

At least she had company. In an intensive new program, she and every other freshman at Bard, a campus with a decidedly arty bent, have had to spend six hours a day over the past two and a half weeks learning about science through the prism of infectious disease.

The 480 students have studied under two dozen scientists recruited from across the country for the program. Using lab equipment, computer modeling and classroom discussions, they have explored all aspects of disease, including detecting germs and managing pandemics.

“There are mixed opinions, from total apathy  ‘Why am I here? This isn’t why I came to Bard’  to total enthusiasm,” Ms. Batkin said of her classmates. “I decided to take it 100 percent seriously; otherwise I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of it. I definitely find myself becoming more critical of the science articles I read.”