The New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. Since then, the school has grown to house five divisions within the university. These include the Parsons School of Design, the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, which includes the Mannes School of Music, The New School for Social Research, and the Schools of Public Engagement.
This article is about the university in New York. For other uses, see New School (disambiguation).
Former names
- The New School for Social Research (1919–1997)
- New School University (1997–2005)
To the Living Spirit
1919
$393.5 million (2020)[2]
Donna Shalala (interim)[3]
Renée T. White[4]
2,230[5]
10,186[5]
6,836
3,138
212[5]
2,857[5] (continuing education)
Urban
White, Black, Parsons Red[6]
Unaffiliated, competes against NCAA Division III schools
Gnarls the Narwhal
In addition, the university maintains the Parsons Paris campus and has also launched or housed a range of institutions, such as the international research institute World Policy Institute, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, the India China Institute, the Observatory on Latin America, and the Center for New York City Affairs. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".[7] Approximately 10,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programs.[8] The vast majority, over 70 percent of all students enrolled in university are in the creative areas of design, performing, and fine arts.
History[edit]
Name[edit]
From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York educators, largely former Columbia University faculty that objected to a mandatory loyalty oath, and for most of its history, the university was known as The New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University. The university and each of its colleges were renamed in 2005.
The New School established the University in Exile and the École libre des hautes études in 1933 as a graduate division to serve as an academic haven for largely Jewish scholars escaping from Nazi Germany among other adversarial regimes in Europe.[9] In 1934, the University in Exile was chartered by New York State and its name was changed to the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science. In 2005, it adopted what had initially been the name of the whole institution, the New School for Social Research, while the larger institution was renamed The New School.[10]
Founding[edit]
The New School for Social Research was founded by a group of university professors and intellectuals in 1919 as a modern, progressive, free school where adult students could "seek an unbiased understanding of the existing order, its genesis, growth and present working".[11] Founders included economist and literary scholar Alvin Johnson, historians Charles A. Beard and James Harvey Robinson, economist Thorstein Veblen, and philosophers Horace M. Kallen and John Dewey. Several founders were former professors at Columbia University.
In October 1917, after Columbia University suppressed criticism of the United States by the faculty, related to World War I, it fired two professors who were outspoken pacifists. Charles A. Beard, Professor of Political Science, resigned his professorship at Columbia in protest even though he supported the war. His colleague James Harvey Robinson also resigned in 1919 and both Beard and Robinson became founders of The New School.
The New School plan was to offer the rigorousness of college education without degree matriculation or degree prerequisites. It was theoretically open to anyone, as the adult division today called Schools of Public Engagement remains.[11] The first classes at the New School took the form of lectures followed by discussions, for larger groups, or as smaller conferences, for "those equipped for specific research". In the first semester, 100 courses, mostly in economics and politics, were offered by an ad hoc faculty that included Thomas Sewall Adams, Charles A. Beard, Horace M. Kallen, Harold Laski, Wesley Clair Mitchell, Thorstein Veblen, James Harvey Robinson, Graham Wallas, Charles B. Davenport, Elsie Clews Parsons, and Roscoe Pound.[12] Years later, The New School begin to offer degrees in line with the traditional university model. John Cage, who came to study at The New School in 1933 with the experimental composer Henry Cowell, later taught the subject of Experimental Composition at the school as well as inspired the founding of Fluxus, through his students, including Yoko Ono. [13]
Academic rankings
261
133
298
310
561–570
801–1000
Student life[edit]
Student organizations[edit]
The New School houses over 50 recognized student organizations, most of which are geared towards artistic endeavors or civic engagement.[64] Notable among these are The Theatre Collective, which stages numerous dramatic productions throughout the year, Narwhals on Broadway, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the New School Debate Team (intercollegiate competition in Policy/Cross Examination style debate), ReNew School (sustainability and environmental advocacy group) Moxie (feminist alliance), the New Urban Grilling Society (NUGS), and The Radical Student Union (RSU).
Athletics and recreation[edit]
Former Athletics and Recreation Director Diane Yee joined The New School in August 2012. On October 25, 2012, a school-wide election was held to select a mascot, where The New School Narwhals were born. On January 25, 2013, the athletics logo was launched, designed by Parsons’ student Matthew Wolff (Graphic Design '14).[65]
The department began in December 2008 under its original name Recreation and Intramural sports. The initial director, Michael McQuarrie, held the position for four years. He built a relationship with the McBurney YMCA where intramurals continue to be held on Wednesday nights and created the ongoing New School Olympics and charitable 5K Turkey Trot.
The Narwhals feature several intercollegiate teams: basketball (2009), cross country (2010), cycling (2013), soccer (2013), tennis (2014), ultimate Frisbee (2014). The New School Narwhals are an independent school, unaffiliated with the NCAA, but regularly compete against NCAA Division III schools.
Basketball – competes regularly against Cooper Union, Culinary Institute of America, Pratt Institute, and Vaughn College
Cross Country – competes in CUNYAC and HVIAC conference invitationals as an unaffiliated school
Cycling – a member of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference
Soccer – competes against Cooper Union, Culinary Institute of America, St. Joseph's College, and Vaughn College
In addition to sports, the recreation department offers a myriad of free fitness classes to its community including boxing, dance, HIIT, Pilates, tai chi, yoga, and Zumba. Personal training is also offered at an affordable rate ranging from $16.50 to $40 per session.
Outdoor Adventure trips are offered several times/week and what started to be wilderness in nature (camping, hiking, rafting) has expanded to include excursions such as archery, biking, horseback riding, skiing/snowboarding, surfing, rock climbing and trapeze.
Yee has increased programming to include a second charitable race that takes place annually in April called the 5K Rabbit Run. She has also started the Urban Hunt (a scavenger hunt around campus and the Village) and Club New (a dance party for first-year students the weekend before first day of classes).
