Design and Urban Ecologies (MS)

Parsons School of Design in New York City – recently named the Best School for Art and Design in the US and ranked 2nd in the world – has offered innovative approaches to design education since its founding in 1896. Today, Parsons is the only major American art and design school within a comprehensive university: The New School. At Parsons, you can master establish established creative practices and spark new ones while studying across all university disciplines.

About

The 60-credit Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies program radically reframes the study of urban environments and design approaches to cities. By combining urban planning, policy, urban design, activism, and community practice, students gain the skills and expertise needed to address contemporary urban challenges. In line with The New School’s historic commitment to environmental and social justice, students design and implement strategic projects to bring about transformative change in urban environments on a global scale.

Program highlights

• 60-credit, two-year, studio-driven program
• Combine research, fieldwork, studio work, and participatory action to gain a broad understanding of the urban complex and its interactions with political, social, economic, and environmental systems
• Design processes for urban transformation alongside – not for – the communities most affected by these processes
• Shares 12 credits with the Theories of Urban Practice program

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.