Liberal Studies (MA)

The New School is a progressive university in New York City where scholars, artists, and designers come together to challenge convention and create positive change. Founded in 1919, the university consists of Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, The New School for Social Research, and numerous renowned graduate programs. The New School’s rigorous, multidimensional approach to education gives students the academic freedom to shape their unique, individual paths of study for a complex and rapidly changing world.

About

The program's core courses will ground you in the history of ideas and in the practice of sustained writing, while you develop an intellectual peer community. From there, you can branch out, taking advantage of the rich offerings and distinguished faculty of The New School. Work with both a faculty advisor and a student advisor to create a robust pathway tailored to your individual needs and academic ambitions. We offer a rich selection of courses with world-class professors who can extend your command of critical theory, the history of ideas, aesthetics, philosophy, politics, anthropology, media theory - wherever your curiosity takes you. Courses are available in both the daytime and the evening to fit into even the busiest schedule.

At the heart of the program are two core courses. The first - The Making of the Modern World - considers the origins and fate of modern societies as understood by key thinkers who have explained and championed modern social developments, as well as those who have harbored grave anxieties about the shape of modern life. We cover significant currents in the arts, social history, cultural theory, literature, politics, and philosophy. Our second core course - the Master's Critical Writing Seminar - helps students work on nonfiction writing and criticism so that they can better express their own views with clarity and force. Students often use this course to write the required MA thesis, exploring a topic of their choice in-depth and producing a substantive and polished work of prose.

Program highlights

• 30-credit interdisciplinary program.
• Develop contextual thinking and writing skills across multiple humanities disciplines in a positive, judgment-free environment.
• Design your own curriculum and engage with leading scholars, journalists, and intellectual writers.

About us

Discover a new kind of university in New York City, one where scholars, artists, and designers come together to challenge convention and create positive change. Our university takes full advantage of its location in one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in the world. Our colleges include Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, The New School for Social Research, the Schools of Public Engagement, and Parsons Paris.

Since our founding in 1919, The New School has redrawn and redefined the boundaries of intellectual and creative thought as a preeminent academic center. Our rigorous, multidimensional approach to education dissolves walls between disciplines and helps nurture progressive minds. At our university, students have the academic freedom to shape their unique, individual paths for a complex and rapidly changing world.

With leading-edge faculty and world-renowned alumni, we are committed to developing students who will have an impact on the world and solve the most pressing social issues of our time.

Mission & Vision

The New School’s future will be shaped by the core values that have defined our past: academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation.

Mission

The New School prepares students to understand, contribute to, and succeed in a rapidly changing society, thus making the world a better and juster place. We will ensure that our students develop both the skills that a sound education provides and the competencies essential for success and leadership in the emerging creative economy. We will also lead in generating practical and theoretical knowledge that enables people to better understand our world and improve conditions for local and global communities.

Vision

We are and will be a university where design and social research drive approaches to studying issues of our time, such as democracy, urbanization, technological change, economic empowerment, sustainability, migration, and globalization. We will be the preeminent intellectual and creative center for effective engagement in a world that increasingly demands better-designed objects, communication, systems, and organizations to meet social needs.

Our vision aligns with shifts in the global economy, society, and environment, which animates our mission and our values:

• Creativity, innovation, and a desire to challenge the status quo will affect what and how we teach and the intellectual ambitions of the university itself.
• Social engagement should orient students' academic experiences to help them become critically engaged citizens, dedicated to solving problems and contributing to the public good.
• The New School must embrace these principles and innovate to address shifts in the global economy, society, and environment that require individuals to grapple with complex problems, pursue more fluid and flexible career pathways, and collaboratively create change.

Educational Approach

We will fulfill our mission by extending The New School's legacy as a nontraditional university and community, nimble and responsive to change, that:

• Focuses on and engages with critical contemporary issues
• Prioritizes humanity and culture in designing systems and environments to improve the human condition, an approach that draws on design thinking and the liberal, creative, and performing arts
• Places collaborative, project-based learning at the center of the educational experience
• Takes full advantage of our New York City location and connectivity to global urban centers

University leadership

The future of The New School will be shaped by the core values that have defined our past: academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Our leadership team brings this mission to life.

With a commitment to providing excellent service to students and advancing a rigorous academic environment, the leaders of our university ensure that we adapt and respond to contemporary issues, create a more inclusive community, and foster creativity and collaboration among students.