Graduate Programs
Parsons School of Design
Discover a university that has been progressive since its inception. Parsons School of Design has offered students innovative approaches to education since its founding in 1896. The school was established by a group of forward-thinking artists who seceded from the Art Students League of New York in search of new forms of creative expression. Today Parsons is top ranked globally and the only American art and design school within a comprehensive university— The New School—which also houses a rigorous liberal arts college, a progressive performing arts school, a legendary graduate school, and other programs. Here you can master established art and design fields or advance emerging ones and study across all university disciplines. Guided by Parsons faculty, graduate students draw on the university’s extensive resources to challenge convention and innovate, improving people’s lives directly and preparing for an evolving world as a collective force of new creative thought and action.
Contents 4
The new school parsons
OVERVIEW
18
M.ARCH Architecture
20
Mps COMMUNICATION DESIGN
22
MS Data visualization
24
MFA DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
26
MS DESIGN AND URBAN ECOLOGIES
28
MA DESIGN STUDIES
30
MFA FASHION DESIGN AND SOCIETY
32
MA FASHION STUDIES
34
MFA FINE ARTS
36
MA HISTORY OF DESIGN AND CURATORIAL STUDIES
38
MFA INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
40
MFA INTERIOR DESIGN
42
MFA LIGHTING DESIGN
44
MFA PHOTOGRAPHY
46
MS STRATEGIC DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT
48
MFA TEXTILES
50
MA THEORIES OF URBAN PRACTICE
52
MFA TRANSDISCIPLINARY DESIGN
54
Student services
56
Tuition, Scholarships, and Financial Aid
58
Admission
3
Table of contents
ABOUT PARSONS
P
arsons gives students the tools needed to achieve professional success and prepares them to think beyond current para-
digms. They arrive here with diverse interests, perspectives, and backgrounds; they graduate prepared to creatively and critically address the complexities of life in the 21st century.
A Legacy of groundbreaking Innovation Parsons has pioneered art and design education since its beginnings, championing new movements and teaching methods that have shaped generations of artists, designers, scholars, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. Programs at Parsons are grouped into the following five schools: • School of Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT) • School of Art, Media, and Technology (AMT) • School of Constructed Environments (SCE) • School of Design Strategies (SDS) • School of Fashion (SOF) This organizational structure supports Parsons’ educational mission, and its interdisciplinary approach builds community among students and faculty in related disciplines.
A Distinguished Faculty, a Collaborative Approach Parsons’ faculty of leading design practitioners, artists, critics, historians, writers, and scholars reflects the spectrum of art and design disciplines. Instructors collaborate with students to develop technologies and refine research methodologies, creating work that is relevant to contemporary social, cultural, and economic systems. By combining art and design studio curricula with instruction in liberal arts and business, Parsons faculty members prepare students to lead in a range of fields and to excel in their creative practice. To learn more about the faculty, visit newschool.edu/parsons-faculty.
The new school parsons
5
ABOUT PARSONS
Second-year students in the MFA Fashion Design and Society program present their work publicly each year, attracting industry and press attention.
ABOUT PARSONS
A community for learning Parsons, like The New School as a whole, is a community made up of people representing a wide range of identities, backgrounds, and academic and professional practices. Parsons students come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, making the university one of the most geographically diverse in the country. At Parsons, collaboration with individuals of varied perspectives and backgrounds enriches the overall educational experience and prepares students to communicate and build relationships within an increasingly global workplace.
An urban focus Cities are models of sustainable living because of the efficient resource use and forms of community life that are possible in densely populated areas. New York City is an ideal setting in which to study the ecologies of urban environments. The city also offers opportunities to explore emerging design fields, such as the design of services. Parsons instructors are part of the city, too; most are working professionals who practice the disciplines they teach.
DIVERSITY AND PARSONS Parsons is committed to achieving greater diversity, with a community that reflects a broad range of experiences, identities, cultures, and beliefs. Cultivating a learning environment in which all can thrive requires respect and an understanding of academia’s vast spectrum of social, political, and economic contexts. Diversity enables tomorrow’s designers to devise innovative, thoughtful solutions to social inequities and injustices. This effort emphasizes contributions from historically underrepresented people within higher education.
The new school parsons
The University at a Glance (Fall 2016)
12,889 Total enrollment at The New School
3,226 Total graduate enrollment at
7
The New School
933 Total graduate enrollment at Parsons
5,978 Total enrollment at Parsons
60 Percentage of international graduate students at Parsons
Average class size
10:1 Student-to-faculty ratio at Parsons
ABOUT PARSONS
15
ACADEMICS
W
ith a renowned comprehensive curriculum, Parsons offers students opportunities to collaborate across disciplines within a diverse intellectual community. The university’s extensive libraries, archives, studios, and other resources enrich research and projects, while public symposia and events connect the university to real-world practices.
Faculty and students form a diverse body of scholars critically addressing contemporary issues in their fields, moving beyond current frameworks using advanced practical and theoretical knowledge. Because Parsons is part of a large research university, students have access to courses in a range of subjects. Visit the university course catalog to see the variety of topics available to you as part of your curriculum: courses.newschool.edu.
degrees of difference In addition to its graduate degrees, Parsons offers a variety of associate’s degrees (AAS) intended for mature students hoping to make a career change or add career-enhancing skills to their résumés. If you have a bachelor’s degree in an unrelated field and lack the formal training or professional experience needed to be competitive for entry into a graduate degree program at Parsons, explore our AAS offerings at newschool.edu/ parsons-aas. Fields of study include areas such as fashion design, graphic/communication design, interior design, and fashion marketing/communication.
Continuing studies through open campus Open Campus, The New School’s progressive approach to continuing education, offers open enrollment courses with Parsons, enabling nondegree students of all ages to build portfolios, take art and design courses for credit or on a noncredit basis, or pursue certificates. Intensive courses for undergraduate and graduate credit are offered each summer on the New York campus and in Parsons programs abroad. Some courses are offered online. newschool.edu/parsons-continuing-studies newschool.edu/parsons-summer opencampus.newschool.edu The new school parsons
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academics
Students in Parsons’ graduate urban programs recently collaborated with peers at KU Leuven, a Belgian partner university, to devise design-led responses to global urbanization, migration, and climate change as part of an internationally funded research project, which they presented publicly.
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Study Options at Parsons Paris The New School’s Parsons Paris campus offers courses, programs, and study abroad opportunities, enabling students to benefit from our pioneering approach to learning in an intimate setting in a European capital. Our exclusive partnerships with the city’s premier art and design organizations, such as Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and ENSAD (École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs), give students unique learning experiences. Parsons Paris offers the following graduate programs: • Fashion Studies (MA) • History of Design and Curatorial Studies (MA) To explore the graduate degree programs currently offered at Parsons Paris, visit newschool.edu/parsons-paris.
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ACADEMICS
Facilities Access to state-of-the-art and traditional tools at the Making Center facilitates students’ creative growth. Available are 3D printers; laser cutters; CNC routers; high-speed plotters; printmaking equipment; woodworking, metalworking, and sewing tools; and digital imaging, audio, and production gear. Art and photo studios, fabrication shops, a lighting simulation lab, a video “green room,” computer stations, and our new Innovation Lab offer additional resources. The University Center provides ample space for collaboration; meeting rooms, quiet-study areas, and practice rooms throughout campus offer work space as well. University libraries and resources available through the online Research Library Consortium of South Manhattan support student research. Students can also draw on the Kellen Design Archives, which conserves Parsons-related primary-source materials.
Courses and campus facilities help you stay current with the tools of your chosen practice—such as 3D printers like the one shown here.
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Parsons’ new Making Center—25,000 square feet of cutting-edge and traditional creative tools and workspaces—fosters collaborative work, hybrid making, and innovative manufacturing processes.
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES
P
arsons graduate students come from around the world. Over the past few years, we have received applications from every state in the United States and more than 100 countries. Once here, students participate in projects with a global focus, show work abroad, and take courses overseas, developing their critical and creative abilities and gaining valuable experience. Learn more: newschool.edu/parsons/global-learning
TOP: Lucia Cuba, MFA Fashion Design and
Society ’12, drew on her experience in design and activism for her thesis project. She designed Artículo 6, a line of garments and “actions”—installations, performances, objects, photos, and videos—intended to raise awareness of the involuntary sterilizations of Peruvian women that took place in the 1990s and their present-day legal battle. BOTTOM: Designer and alumna Donna
Karan partnered with faculty and students on an initiative in Haiti, working with local designer Paula Coles on the DOT (Design, Organization and Training) Center, a new vocational education hub for Haitian artisans. Students helped design the space, explore products to develop, research local practices, and lead making workshops. The new school parsons
TOP: Designers at Parsons’ PETLab
gaming incubator and residents of St. Louis, Senegal, created a game to develop climate-related disaster-preparedness systems for the Red Cross/Red Crescent. Versions of the game have been tested in Namibia, Kenya, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and the project was presented at the UN Climate Change Conference.
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MIDDLE: Parsons and Eugene Lang College
of Liberal Arts students explored the relationship between the arts and urbanism in Phnom Penh and New York at the Season of Cambodia Festival. Students curated a related multimedia exhibition documenting the role of the arts in civic life. BOTTOM: Students from Parsons’ School
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES
of Constructed Environments and graduate students in the university’s International Affairs program traveled to Jinga, Uganda, to collaborate with Slum Women’s Initiative for Development (SWID) on a project to develop housing.
MFA Lighting Design students created Resonance, an interactive installation featured in “Questioning Light,� a public program exploring the critical role humans play in designed experience.
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programs
ARCHITECTURE (M.ARCH) School of Constructed environments
T
he Master of Architecture (MArch) program is a three-year NAAB-accredited professional degree for students holding a pre-professional undergraduate degree in architecture or a fouryear non-architecture degree. New York City provides students with a comprehensive context in which to develop design-build experience and explore architecture’s formal and sociopolitical dimensions. Students work with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, the NYC Housing Authority, and studios addressing environmental challenges presented by sea level rise and storm surge. The studio course sequence
The MArch curriculum focuses
challenges students to address
on contemporary issues directly
demands imposed by use, site,
affecting the field, ranging from new
context, structure, and construction.
representational techniques to
Interdisciplinary electives in history,
sustainable built and natural
theory, and technology highlight
systems. It prepares students to
architecture’s pivotal role in shap-
enter the professional architecture
ing culture. Students can choose
community and shape the built
electives offered in other programs
environment and the field.
throughout The New School. Courses draw on Parsons’ network of municipal and institutional partners, local practitioners, and commercial clients, providing students with internship, design competition, and research funding opportunities. Students in the Design Workshop design and construct— from schematics to punch list—a project for a nonprofit client. Established in 1996, the workshop embodies the progressive values of Parsons and The New School. It unites theoretical and hands-on learning and trains students to develop practices to improve the social and physical environment. Past projects include a sustainable laundromat and information center for Hurricane Katrina survivors, a rooftop garden with educational and recreational facilities for Bronx youth, and a pool pavilion for an NYC community. The new school parsons
The MArch is a program within
Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments (SCE), alongside related degrees in interior, lighting, and product/industrial design. In the SCE studio, members of the diverse student body collaborate on complex design problems, from interiors to comprehensive architectural volumes, public spaces, and urban design. Graduates have gone on to open their own practices and work in prominent firms, including Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Rogers Marvel Architects, LevenBetts, Bernheimer Architecture, Gensler, Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis, Matter
M.Arch/MFA Lighting Design Dual Degree Those who wish to pursue studies in lighting design and architecture can apply to the dual-degree program, a combines the NAAB-accredited Master of Architecture and the MFA in Lighting Design. Interested students should apply directly to the dual-degree program; they will automatically be considered for admission to the individual Master of Architecture and MFA Lighting Design programs as well.
Hawkinson, and Young Projects.
Engineering; Urban Planning; Landscape Design; Interior Design
TOP: Students in the Design
Workshop created new lockers and changing room pavilions for the Sunset Park Recreation Center and Pool in Brooklyn. BOTTOM: Jordana Maisie Goot
For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-march.
and Mochi Liu. Project for spring 2013 Housing Studio.
Architecture (M.ARCH)
Architecture Practice, Smith-Miller
Career paths include—Architecture;
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four-year, 120-credit-hour curriculum that
COMMUNICATION DESIGN (MPS) School of art, media, and technology
I
n an increasingly digital world, designers are often challenged to create technology-driven products and services for a variety of platforms and human needs. Parsons’ Master of Professional Studies in Communication Design (MPS CD), with a concentration in digital product design, offers you the cutting-edge conceptual design methods and technical skills you need to meet this growing marketplace demand. This program is tailored to practicing designers seeking to enhance their digital skills and leadership potential as well as professionals with relevant design experience who want to enter the field. It encompasses the full product development cycle in communication design—from idea conception to prototyping to feedback-based refinements—and familiarizes you with business strategy.
In this one-year, 30-credit program,
advantage of the city’s diverse
you develop creative problem-solving
technology and design resources
strategies to relay and translate
while learning alongside like-
messages, information, and ideas.
minded designers in the Parsons
Your full-time course of study is
community.
built on four components: instruction
You graduate from the program
in advanced core design compe-
with your own unique, forward-looking
tencies, practices and methods
aesthetic anchored in professional
courses, external partnerships, and
skills acquired throughout the program,
the core studio sequence. Parsons
which include entrepreneurship,
faculty—skilled at bringing together
strategic working methodologies, and
design thinking, aesthetics, and
contemporary prototyping. You are
technology—guide you in explor-
prepared for digital design work
ing innovative composition and
settings, with competence in various
visualization methods, interaction
industry-standard technologies,
design, typography, and industry
including contemporary front-end
best practices.
development skills (HTML, CSS,
The specialized course of
and JavaScript), and experience
study provides coding experience
navigating professional partnerships
and engages the iterative process
with teams and clients.
and a range of collaboration and
The MPS CD program is
teamwork strategies. You work
housed within Parsons’ School of
from design conception and pitch-
Art, Media, and Technology, along
ing through post-launch critical
with programs in fine arts, design
analyses of user experience (UX)
and technology, photography,
and interaction (UI). The New York
and data visualization. You can
City location enables you to take
supplement core courses with
The new school parsons
related university-sponsored public programs and an elective offered at Parsons or another school or college of The New School, such as a class in psychology, marketing, data science, or another field.
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Career paths include—Interaction Design; User Experience (UX) Design; Digital Product Design; Product Management For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit
TOP: Jenn Martins, Wespy.
Wespy is a mobile app that employs social media data provided by users’ friends to find places to socialize in Manhattan. BOTTOM: Alex Lardaro, Well
Spent. This online tool promotes personal reflection on the value of time—and resulting behavior change— through sharing of user responses to time-related questions.
Communication Design (MPS)
newschool.edu/parsons-mpscd.
DATA VISUALIZATION (MS) School of art, media, and technology
P
arsons’ Master of Science in Data Visualization is a multidisciplinary program in which students develop skills bringing together visual design, computer science, and statistical analysis.
The presentation of data is integral
guest lecturers and critics to share
in the shaping of opinion, policy,
their insights and expose students
and decision making in today’s
to new possibilities in data visuali-
increasingly global society. Giving
zation and related career paths.
students a competitive edge as they enter the field, the MS program
Career paths include—Data
responds to the increased demand
Analysis; Digital Design; Advertising
for experts to turn data into insight.
and Branding; Journalism; Business
Housed within Parsons’ School
Consulting and Analytics Strategy;
of Art, Media, and Technology,
Management; Strategic Planning;
MS Data Visualization’s 30-credit
Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise;
curriculum can be completed
Public Policy; Trend Forecasting;
in one or two years. The program
Business Intelligence
integrates theory and studio practice, so students acquire
For more about faculty, courses,
the creative, quantitative,
and requirements, visit
and coding tools needed to
newschool.edu/parsons-msdv.
analyze and depict data, gaining a holistic understanding of context, audience, and objectives. With the MS in Data Visualization, students obtain the diverse skill set needed to succeed in a range of data interpretation– related careers. Students graduate with portfolios demonstrating their ability to create databases and Web-based software tools that reflect an understanding of data analysis and information visualization for varied applications. The program’s setting in New York City, a technological hub and pioneer of open-source culture, offers invaluable industry access. Students collaborate with industry
ABOVE: Jacob Romer. Romer’s
leaders and external partners from
interactive digital tool enables users to see gender-related statistics for various nations.
the government, nonprofit, and commercial sectors. Faculty invite The new school parsons
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TOP: Jonathan Thirkield, Visu-
BOTTOM: A student presents
her digital tool, created in a class partnership with the United Nations.
data visualization (ms)
alizing Poetic Space: Mapping Dante’s Comedy. Thirkield’s 3D interactive tool is designed to help readers engage deeply with Dante’s Divine Comedy. The interface reimagines the poetic space of the literary classic using Javascript, the Three.js 3D library, and a MongoDB database.
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY (MFA) School of Art, Media, and technology
D
esigners today face two fundamental challenges: the increasing influence of design within society and the expanding role of technology within design. The Master of Fine Arts in Design and Technology program provides a lively environment in which to address these challenges.
The full-residency, two-year,
of American Art. Students collabo-
60-credit MFA in Design and
rate with peers from other schools
Technology (MFA DT) curriculum is
and colleges of The New School, a
studio based, but critical thinking
progressive urban university empha-
and study of the design process are
sizing civic engagement.
central to the program. Areas of
MFA DT resides in the School
practice include interaction design,
of Art, Media, and Technology at
physical computing, game design,
Parsons, alongside programs in
new media art, digital fabrication,
communication design, fine arts,
data visualization, and critical
photography, and illustration. Students supplement core courses with electives offered throughout Parsons and other schools and colleges of The New School. Career paths include—Mobile and Application Design; Web, UI, and UX Design; New Media Art; Game Design; Motion Graphics; 2D and 3D Animation; Digital Filmmaking For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mfadt.
design. Candidates build ideas through prototyping, synthesizing research and practice. Graduates embark on careers in creative, academic, commercial, and educational fields that engage with the growing influence of technology. In Collaboration Studio courses, students work with industry firms and nonprofits on real-world projects. Past partners include Apple, Eyebeam, gameLab, Human Rights Watch, Mozilla, NASA, the Red Cross, Samsung, and the Whitney Museum The new school parsons
program alumni Recent graduates include Open Standards Developer R/GA Founder Fridge network, Google+ Design Analyst Frog Design Inc.
TOP: Data Cafe, a multidisciplinary project installed at
a recent Parsons Festival, invited visitors to consider alternatives to the present–day data-driven economy. OPPOSITE LEFT: Manuel Rueda Iragorri, SCALE System.
Creative Technologist Google Creative Lab
SCALE (Self Constructing Auxiliary Living Environment), an automated disaster response system, consists of flat-pack housing modules and a robot to assemble them.
Interaction Designer IBM Design
OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Ramsey Nasser, Zajal. Zajal is a
Creative Technologist New York Times R&D Lab
BELOW: Dong Yoon Park, Typography Insight. This app
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programming language for artists and hackers.
brings traditional typography teaching methods to tablets.
Senior UX Design Lead Microsoft Bing
Mobile Interaction Designer Nokia Research Center Beijing Creative Manager Interbrand Interaction Designer HUGE Game Designer Institute of Play Founder and Game Designer Large Animal Games Installation Category Finalist Adobe Design Achievement Awards
design & technology (mfa)
Interaction Designer Disney Interactive
DESIGN & URBAN ECOLOGIES (MS) School of design strategies
T
he Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies program at Parsons radically reframes the study of and design approaches to cities. Through fieldwork, research, policy analysis, and activism, students gain a broad understanding of the complex forces that influence urban growth and development. Inspired by The New School’s long-standing commitment to social justice, students develop and implement innovative strategic projects that transform community organizing, food systems, housing, public transportation, and nonprofit management.
The first graduate program of its
address issues of contemporary
kind in the United States, the two-
urbanization.
year, 60-credit Master of Science
Students share a core curric-
in Design and Urban Ecologies
ulum with the MA in Theories of
explores the urban complex and
Urban Practice program and collab-
its interconnections with political,
orate with colleagues throughout
social, economic, and environmental
Parsons’ School of Design Strategies.
systems. Using world cities like
Students can also work with peers
New York as a laboratory and
in Parsons’ School of Constructed
working in transdisciplinary teams,
Environments and School of Art,
students design processes for urban
Media, and Technology; in The
transformation.
New School for Social Research; in
Bringing together the aca-
the Milano School of International
demic strengths of Parsons and
Affairs, Management, and Urban
other schools and colleges of The
Policy; and in other schools and
New School, this studio-based pro-
colleges of The New School.
gram trains graduates to become agents of change, working with the
Career paths include—Urban
communities and institutions that
Design; Urban and Regional
shape urban ecosystems.
Planning; Public and Urban Policy;
Guided by internationally
Leadership of Nonprofit and Civic
recognized urbanists, designers, and
Organizations; Community
activists, students confront urgent
Planning and Organizing;
problems facing cities and develop
Government Administration;
new research methodologies, design
Municipal/Regional Development;
frameworks, and critical urban
Social, Civic, and Environmental
practices.
Enterprises; Urban Research and
The program is aimed at urban
Consulting; Urban Curatorship;
planners, design professionals,
Academia; Doctoral Studies in
social scientists, community
Urbanism and related fields
leaders, and managers of nonprofit and government organizations
For more about faculty, courses,
motivated to critically
and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-msdue.
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TOP: Students participate in a studio project
as part of their study abroad research in Brazil. They draw on studio design skills to develop their collaborative urban initiatives.
studio workshop organized by faculty and students in collaboration with community partners and local experts in The Rockaways, Queens. MIDDLE RIGHT: An on-site visit sparks discussion
of the impact of the country’s first housing cooperatives. Planning and design schemes that lead to sustainable equitable cities are central to the program’s course of study. BOTTOM: The Sunset Park Gazette, a
community publication collaboratively developed by students and local residents. Design skills enable students to communicate about complex urban phenomena to audiences ranging from community members to academics to public officials.
DESIGN & URBAN Ecologies (MS)
MIDDLE LEFT: Design and Urban Ecologies’
DESIGN STUDIES (MA) School of Art and design history and theory
T
he MA in Design Studies program draws on the unique range of graduate disciplines available throughout Parsons and the rest of The New School, creating an academic laboratory offering an innovative approach to scholarship and practice. In the program, students examine design’s complex interactions with society, technology, and contemporary culture, exploring its capacity to transform sociopolitical relations and investigating how design processes can be used to effect social change.
The 42-credit research-driven program critically addresses historical, philosophical, theoretical, and social issues—politics, gender,
• Design through the integration of ecological, economic, technological, and social systems • Design as a phenomenon whose
power relations—related to
analysis, insights, and his-
design practices and products.
tory offer guidance for dealing
Students work with pioneering
humanely with one another and
design thinkers, emerging with the concepts and skills they need to be informed activists, writers, researchers, scholars, and consultants. MA Design Studies investigates how design affects human
the world we have made • Design enabling practitioners to project and critically assess scenarios of the future • Design writing and criticism for academic and general audiences
experience and considers design as a fundamentally cross-disciplinary
Career paths—Graduates can
endeavor. Students are encouraged
work in design-led entrepreneurial
to take courses in the full range of
creative industries, applying their
graduate programs at Parsons (on
knowledge of design and social
subjects including design history,
innovation to assist in research to
curatorial studies, fashion studies,
support new product development,
urban studies, and media studies)
lead new approaches to curating
and at The New School for Social
and criticism, and help guide the
Research (on subjects including
work of media and consulting
anthropology, history, economics,
firms, think tanks, technology
philosophy, politics, psychology,
start-ups, and nonprofits such
and sociology).
as NGOs and foundations.
Aimed at both designers and
The program also provides a
non-designers, MA Design Studies
foundation for those who want
(which can be completed full-time
to pursue doctoral studies in
or part-time) offers four overlap-
related disciplines.
ping, flexible project-based research pathways:
For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mads.
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TOP: Students publicly share their
perspectives and research on design’s multifaceted role in contemporary society, preparing for careers in fields ranging from academia to media to social innovation entrepreneurship. BOTTOM: Plot(s), the MA Design Studies
design studies (MA)
program’s student-run journal, presents the community’s research and gives students opportunities to develop their design criticism writing abilities.
FASHION DESIGN & SOCIETY (MFA) School of Fashion
T
he MFA in Fashion Design and Society at Parsons School of Design is the first graduate program of its kind in the United States, with a unique interdisciplinary and international approach to fashion. Each year, a small group of students join this academy for advanced studies in fashion design and train to become world-class innovative and progressive designers. Initiated by Parsons alumna Donna Karan, the program has received support from major names in fashion such as LVMH, Kering, Diane von Furstenberg, Swarovski, and Uniqlo.
The two-year, 60-credit program
Part of Parsons’ renowned
combines intensive studio-based
School of Fashion, the MFA program
projects with research and, in the
offers students opportunities to
tradition of social inquiry at The
connect with the international com-
New School, helps students develop
munity and industry partners and
an understanding of the global
take part in high-profile collabora-
critical, ecological, and business
tions. Students have won or placed
contexts of their
as finalists at fashion events
work. Supplemental
such as the International Fashion
classes in filmmaking,
Showcase in London, International
presentation, and
Talent Support (sponsored by
photography broaden
Diesel), H&M Awards, and the
students’ visual
LVMH Prize. Graduates have gone
design vocabulary
on to design for firms including
and communication
Alexander Wang, NIKE, Kanye
skills, preparing them
West for Adidas, St. John, Ralph
for collaborative pro-
Lauren, Everlane, Burberry, Donna
fessional workplaces.
Karan, Calvin Klein, Coach, Gap,
At the end of
Reed Krakoff, Narciso Rodriguez,
their second year,
and Opening Ceremony. Some
students present their
have launched businesses,
graduation collections during New
selling to stores such as Dover
York Fashion Week in September.
Street Market.
This prestigious show attracts press, buyers, and other industry insiders
Career paths include—Fashion
and is sponsored by individuals and
Design; Research; Teaching
major fashion companies. Student work is regularly fea-
For more about faculty, courses,
tured in media outlets including the
and requirements, visit
New York Times, WWD, Vogue (U.S.,
newschool.edu/parsons-mfafds.
UK), Vogue.com, 1 Granary, Business of Fashion, Elle, V Magazine, Marie Claire (U.S.), Fashionista.com, Wallpaper,* and many others.
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31
ABOVE: Andrea Jiapei Li, I AM WHAT (I AM),
from a runway show presented during New York Fashion Week at MADE Fashion, Milk Studios, in New York City BOTTOM: Pengji Cai, Garment Crash collection OPPOSITE: Katherine Mavridis, Rather, it
seeks a kind of suggestiveness; in holes, in emptiness
FASHION design & society (MFA)
TOP: Jia Hua, A Lot
FASHION STUDIES (MA) School of art and design history and theory
I
n the groundbreaking interdisciplinary Master of Arts in Fashion Studies program, students develop a critical understanding of fashion and its complex intersections with identities, histories, and cultures in the contemporary world.
MA Fashion Studies investigates the
opportunities to publish work and
material and visual dimensions of
collaborate with MA Fashion Studies
fashion as dress, image, and bodily
peers. Students complete internships
practice and as a major cultural
at fashion companies, magazines,
industry that positions the individ-
and museums, including Elle, V
ual within society and the world.
Magazine, the Fashion Institute
Students in the 42-credit
of Technology, The Metropolitan
program are challenged to
Museum of Art, Diane von
explore the interdisciplin-
Furstenberg, Comme des Garçons,
ary theories and method-
Ralph Lauren, Halston, and Hermès.
ologies that have shaped
Students have the opportunity
fashion studies and to
to spend a second-year
contribute to its advance-
semester at Parsons Paris,
ment. Core and elective
where they have unprece-
courses open up broad per-
dented access to some
spectives on fashion and its
of the most prominent
connections with design,
fashion and textiles collec-
production, consumption,
tions in France through the
imagination, representa-
Musée des Arts Décoratifs
tion, embodiment, and
and the Palais Galliera (see
identity. Informed by
page 11 for more informa-
perspectives from a variety
tion). Depending on their
of disciplines, courses
research interests, MA
examine material from art history,
Fashion Studies students
museum studies, gender studies,
may wish to supplement
visual studies, film and media studies,
their studies with the
anthropology, sociology, and
Graduate Certificate in
material culture studies.
Gender and Sexuality
The program draws on New
Studies (GSS), designed
York City’s museums, exhibitions,
to promote intellectual
and public events and also calls for
collaboration on issues
students to observe streets, neigh-
of gender and sexuality
borhoods, and retail environments
in a variety of disciplines.
critical to the fashion system. The
The program also offers
program sponsors public events,
two pathways, in fashion
panels, and symposia such as
curation and fashion
“Fashion Criticism” and “Fashion
journalism, enabling students to
Curation.” Student-led projects,
gain deeper knowledge of fashion
like the journal BIAS, offer students
curatorial and archival practice or
The new school parsons
fashion journalism through a series of electives offered by the program and throughout the university. MA Fashion Studies graduates have gone on to pursue PhDs at top universities around the world and to work at top fashion media companies and publishing houses, including Rizzoli Publishing, Vogue, W, Nylon, I-D, and InStyle. Other graduates work as archivists, consultants, researchers, merchan-
TOP: Students in the Materiality of
Fashion class examine a 1960s Yves St. Laurent colorblock dress from Parsons’ growing collection of garments available for hands-on study. BOTTOM: Students document fashions
ranging from couture to streetwear for cultural analyses that they present on a variety of platforms.
33
OPPOSITE: BIAS is the annual
student-run publication of the program. Other issue themes have included Fashion + Surveillance and Fashion + Healing.
disers, buyers, and public relations professionals in fashion houses, institutions, and corporations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, Alexander Wang,
Career paths include—Fashion Archiving; Curation and Collections Management; Museum Administration; Gallery Management; Media and Consulting; Criticism; Journalism; Academia
For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mafs.
Fashion studies (MA)
Gucci, J.Crew, and Louis Vuitton.
FINE ARTS (MFA) School of art, media, and technology
G
uided by the knowledge that artists perform an essential role in society, the MFA in Fine Arts program provides a dynamic, challenging environment in which students develop diverse studio-based practices and pursue interdisciplinary scholarship. Students come from many backgrounds and cultures and work in media including painting, drawing, sculpture, video, performance, digital media, installation, and photography.
MFA Fine Arts encompasses modes
distinguished faculty whose work has
of study and practice ranging from
been included in exhibitions and insti-
rigorous formal and aesthetic
tutions such as the Whitney Biennial,
investigations to social and political
documenta, the Sydney Biennale,
engagement. The two-year full-time
and the Museum of Modern Art. MFA
curriculum includes 27 studio, 12
Fine Arts students also benefit from
academic, and 6 professional practice
visits by artists and critics who are
credits and a minimum of 15 elective
redefining 21st-century art. Recent
credits. Students work
guests include Glenn Ligon and Carl
independently in their
Hancock Rux, Kate Gilmore, Guido van
own studios and
der Werve, Simone Leigh, and Tony
participate in weekly
Albert. The visiting artist series
critiques with an interna-
is complemented by a Visiting
tionally acclaimed faculty
Curators/Critics series and Public
of art professionals. The
Art Fund talks sponsored by the
program curriculum
Vera List Center for Art and Politics
centers on one-on-one
at The New School, which recently
studio visits, group
hosted Frank Willis Thomas, Fiona
critiques, critical theory
Banner, Heather and Ivan Morison,
seminars, personalized
and David Shrigley.
classes, and writing and
MFA Fine Arts is housed in
research for studio practice,
Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and
as well as professional prac-
Technology (AMT), alongside the
tices seminars. The MFA
Communication Design, Design
Fine Arts Advanced Practice
and Technology, Illustration, and
Electives are proposed
Photography programs. Shared fac-
by the program’s student
ulty and collaborative projects allow
body. The Transdisciplinary Seminar
students to explore the intersections
reaches into the larger New School
between art, technology, design,
community and focuses on a range
and social critique. Students can also
of topics such as art and feminism,
draw on the extensive resources of
art and science, and art and poetry.
The New School, a progressive urban
Academic classes expose students to
university with a tradition of civic
global contemporary discourse on art
engagement and renowned graduate
and develop their critical abilities.
programs in the social sciences,
Students work alongside The new school parsons
media studies, and urban studies.
35
TOP: Bing Han, Void #2. Oil on canvas,
44 x 60 in. MIDDLE: John Furer, Sequence of Tenses
III and IV. Spray paint on acrylic sheet, poplar, plywood, MDF, veneer BOTTOM: Thesis exhibition installation,
The Kitchen, 2015
Arts Administration; Curation;
OPPOSITE: Paloma Jimenez, Sparkle Aplenty.
Museum Management; Art Criticism; Teaching For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mfafa.
Sponges, metal chain. The piece was recently recognized with the Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center.
fine Arts (MFA)
Career paths include—Fine Art;
HISTORY OF DESIGN & CURATORIAL STUDIES (MA) School of Art and design history and theory
T
his prestigious two-year master’s degree program, offered by Parsons in conjunction with Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, brings an object-focused and practice-based approach to the study of European and American decorative arts and design from the Renaissance to the present. Housed for more than 30 years at Cooper Hewitt—the only U.S. museum devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design—the program enables students to work directly with the museum’s collections and its curators, conservators, educators, and designers.
The MA History of Design and
In addition, MA students can apply
Curatorial Studies curriculum offers
for paid teaching assistantships.
practical and theoretical instruc-
Parsons’ School of Art and
tion in researching and displaying
Design History and Theory (ADHT)
interiors and design objects such
programs reflect the faculty’s
as furniture, ceramics, metalwork,
expertise in areas including art
textiles, and works in other media.
and design methodology
New courses in curatorial studies
and philosophy, design
and courses exploring the history of
criticism, cultural anthro-
design in social and cultural context
pology, sustainability, and
reflect the program’s broadened
material culture and are
scope and relevance. Students com-
designed to provide stu-
plete the 42 required credits in two
dents with opportunities to
years of full-time study or three to
take related courses within
four years of part-time study.
ADHT. Students can access
In the renovated Cooper
courses and collabora-
Hewitt, graduate students have
tive projects taking place
opportunities to curate exhibitions,
throughout Parsons and
create programming for the public,
The New School, which
and produce interpretive materials,
open up new topics and
which provide essential hands-on
areas of investigation in
experience in museum and
curatorial practice and
curatorial practices. Access to the
historical research. Students
Smithsonian’s Design Library, New
graduate prepared to join
School library holdings, and the
alumni who work in some
library consortium enriches object-
of the world’s most presti-
based research. For-credit intern-
gious nonprofit, commer-
ships enable students to explore
cial, cultural, and academic
professions in museums, auction
institutions.
houses, and galleries and on new online platforms. A limited number
Career paths include—
of master’s curatorial fellowships at
Curatorial and leadership
Cooper Hewitt, which provide par-
positions in museums and
tial tuition remission, are available.
historic houses; specialist
The new school parsons
Alumni Career Paths and management positions in auction houses; academia; con-
Graduates hold curatorial posts in museums and collections worldwide and specialist positions in auction houses and galleries. They serve in a range of capacities related to interpreting, promoting, and educating the public about art and design.
sulting for private and corporate collections; e-commerce; criticism and journalism; media For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mahistory.
Specialist positions in auction houses, galleries, and online platforms • Sotheby’s • Paddle.com • Christie’s • Doyle • Phillips • One Kings Lane Fellowships • Cranbrook Art Museum
• Winterthur Museum • Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum • Metropolitan Museum of Art Editorial positions (print and online) • Metropolis • New York Times • Martha Stewart Living • The Magazine Antiques Positions in interior design industries • Peter Marino Architects • HOK Associates • Archive Edition Textiles Academic positions • New York School of Interior Design • Parsons • National Institute of Design (India) • Fashion Institute of Technology • School of the Art Institute of Chicago
TOP: The program is housed in the newly renovated
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Shown here are students researching in the National Design Library, North Reading Room. BOTTOM: Cooper Hewitt’s collection of more than
250,000 objects and its world-class library offer Parsons students unique opportunities for curating and interpreting design objects—and reaching new audiences.
37 history of design & curatorial studies (MA)
Curatorial positions in museums • Museum of Modern Art • Victoria & Albert Museum • Indianapolis Art Museum • Museum of Arts and Design • Metropolitan Museum of Art • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston • Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum • Wolfsonian Museum • M+ Museum (Hong Kong)
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN (MFA) School of constructed environments
P
arsons’ Master of Fine Arts in Industrial Design program offers an innovative two-year, 60-credit, full-time graduate curriculum that prepares students to negotiate the seemingly contradictory forces at play in the growing product design industry. Students explore the way goods can be produced in both localized contexts (a “making in place” approach, which relies on regionalized needs and constraints) and globalized contexts (employing design principles focusing on universal needs).
In the MFA Industrial Design pro-
environment, and promoting the
gram, students combine advanced
quality of life.
making skills and critical inquiry to
Students develop their
design for production at all scales,
knowledge and skills at the univer-
from low volume to high volume,
sity’s state-of-the-art product
employing methods ranging from
prototyping and testing facilities.
desktop manufacturing to systems
In their second semester, MFA
involving global supply chains.
students explore limited-run making in New York City, and in the third semester, they can investigate large-scale global production through virtual collaborations or study abroad. An innovation-focused university with programs in the social sciences, business and management, media studies, and the performing arts, The New School offers complementary courses that enrich design practice. Local industry events and collaborations with commercial and nonprofit partners deepen
MFA Industrial Design’s curric-
connections to the field. A
ulum balances competing interests
specialized thesis project offers
such as economical production and
opportunities to develop designs
sustainability, consumerism, social
that advance—or challenge—
and environmental improvement,
industrial design theory and practice.
and global and local production,
New York City boasts
investigating ways to integrate and
the country’s largest number of
reconcile these forces as a whole.
creative-sector jobs and attracts
The faculty of design practitioners
top design talent. The MFA
aims to develop a community of
Industrial Design program
designers committed to improv-
attracts motivated, reflective
ing industry, protecting the
students with experience in
The new school parsons
TOP: Miriam Josi and Stella Lee Prowse, Nomad. Nomad is a locally manufactured planter made from recycled sailcloth and designed with New Yorkers’ small apartments in mind. The designers hope their product will encourage people to grow their own herbs and become aware of food sources. LEFT: Parsons students and an in-house strategist at Poltrona Frau—a luxury furniture producer and frequent collaboration partner—explore the materials proposed for a competition project.
39
OPPOSITE: The design of
prepared to design innovative
candidates from other design
products and lead the industries
professions and disciplines such
that produce them as well.
as engineering, management, anthropology, and fine arts.
Career paths include—Industrial
Students graduate equipped with
Design; Product Development;
the ability to integrate the many
Manufacturing; Furniture Design;
considerations involved in product
Humanitarian and Service Design;
For more about faculty, courses,
design and to lead as socially aware
Toy Design; Design Management;
and requirements, visit
makers, strategists, and industry
Interaction Design; Architectural
newschool.edu/
specialists. Graduates emerge
Building Systems
parsons-mfaindustrial.
industrial design (mfa)
product design but also accepts
Spiraloop, a vegetable masher created by program director Rama Chorpash, engages the production processes of a local Brooklyn spring manufacturer. The product embodies the kinds of decisions contemporary designers can make to influence systems involving employment, production and sustainability, and distribution, thereby advancing the field along responsible paths.
INTERIOR DESIGN (MFA) School of constructed environments
T
he Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design program is uniquely positioned to lead 21st-century interior design discourse and practice. Inaugurated in 2009 at Parsons, the school where formal interior design education began, this graduate program builds on 100 years of leadership in the field. Design as a social practice is the program’s guiding philosophy. Students explore design as a force for change, a means of environmental stewardship, and a tool for shaping experiences.
Integrating sustainable design
supplement core classes with
strategies with new developments in
electives offered throughout Parsons
technology and materials, the two-
and in other New School colleges in
year, full-time professional MFA in
fields such as design and technol-
Interior Design program prepares
ogy, anthropology, psychology, and
a new generation of designers to
environmental and urban studies.
address social changes and demo-
Using New York City as an
graphic shifts shaping
urban laboratory, the curriculum
clients’ needs today. A
draws on Parsons’ long-standing
faculty of distinguished
connections to interior design and
practicing professionals
architecture firms, manufacturers,
work with students to
galleries, and museums. During the
imagine new possi-
second year, students develop a
bilities for the design
research project that culminates in
of habitable space.
an independent design proposition,
Conceptual connections
written thesis book, and exhibi-
between interior design
tion. Graduates are positioned to
and related fields
transform the field as practitioners
including art, archi-
and educators by working in interior
tecture, film, science,
design and architecture studios,
psychology, philosophy, medicine,
developing new practices, and
and music shape students’ work.
collaborating with nonprofit, govern-
A 60-credit, studio-centered, research-oriented curriculum
ment, and educational institutions. The program is offered by
challenges students to analyze the
Parsons’ School of Constructed
relationship between human
Environments (SCE), which also
behavior, comfort, and perception
houses related programs in archi-
and the built interior. Courses
tecture, lighting design, and product
investigate materials and their envi-
design. SCE students share research
ronmental impact, fabrication and
and fabrication facilities and work
manufacturing processes, building
together in an open design studio
systems and operational energy
collaborating on projects, uniting
consumption, drawing and digital
historically separate design
representation, and the history and
disciplines to support cross-
theory of interior design. Students
disciplinary innovation.
The new school parsons
MFA interior Design and lighting Design Double Major The School of Constructed Environments offers students wishing to combine studies in interior design and lighting design a unique double major. Career paths include—Interior Design; Industrial Design; Sustainable Design; Consulting; Teaching For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/ parsons-mfainterior.
In the MFA Lighting Design and Interior Design double major, a three-year, 90-credit-hour curriculum, students develop an in-depth technical and aesthetic understanding of the relationship between light and interior design. Interested students should apply directly to the double major program; they will automatically be considered for admission to the individual MFA Interior Design and
41
MFA Lighting Design programs as well.
TOP: MFA Interior Design students designed and built this booth for a fundraiser held by DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) called Dining by Design. Provided with $2,500 to create this booth, the students instead used found objects and donated the unused funds to DIFFA. Photograph: Marion Curtis/Starpix
OPPOSITE: Joel Rice, Portal. A stripped interior
corridor from the Neponsit Health Care Center melds with the landscape 120 years from now, when it is re-inhabited. Model photography, graphite, digital and physical collage
interior design (mfa)
BOTTOM: Somasree Chandra, Decolonising Space. Cell blocks in an abandoned police station are repurposed into rooms that play video projections by community residents to tell their own stories. 3D model on Rhino, rendering on Photoshop and Illustrator, physical collaging by hand and scanning
LIGHTING DESIGN (MFA) School of constructed environments
T
he Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design program at Parsons, the first of its kind in the world, has trained leaders in this rapidly evolving field for more than 45 years. With a solid foundation in the intellectual, aesthetic, and technical dimensions of light, Parsons’ interdisciplinary curriculum focuses on human experience, sustainability, and the social impact of lighting design.
Students explore the relationships
The Lighting Design program
between theory, technical applica-
is part of Parsons’ School of
tion, energy conservation, and social
Constructed Environments (SCE),
and environmental aspects of
along with closely related programs
electric and natural light. The two-
in architecture, interior design, and
year, full-time course of study is
product design. In the open envi-
composed of 24 studio credits, 30
ronment of the SCE design studio,
credits of seminars (on cultural,
students work collaboratively on
historical, and perceptual aspects
complex problems ranging from
of light), and 6 electives. The
single interior
unique curriculum is anchored in
environments to
an integrated studio experience in
comprehensive
which students interact with peers
architectural
in architecture, interior design, and
volumes, outdoor
product design disciplines. Projects
public space, and
integrate research, conceptual
urban planning.
design development, innovative
The School
representational techniques, techni-
of Constructed
cal analysis, and full-scale study to
Environments
uncover the experiential and social
also offers
implications of illumination.
two multidisciplinary programs,
The birthplace of architectural
described on page 43, that enable
lighting design, New York City offers
students to develop an in-depth
students abundant opportunities for
technical and aesthetic understanding
learning and career advancement.
of the relationship between light,
The MFA Lighting Design program’s
architecture, and interior design.
strong connections with the international architectural lighting design
Career paths include—
community help students enter a
Architectural and Interior Lighting
robust and growing workforce ready
Design; Theatrical Lighting;
to succeed. With professional job
Exhibition Lighting; Equipment
placement rates of nearly 95 per-
Design and Manufacturing
cent, graduates of the MFA Lighting Design and multidisciplinary
For more about faculty, courses,
lighting design programs (see boxes
and requirements, visit
on page 43) are poised to become
newschool.edu/parsons-mfald.
leaders in this exciting field. The new school parsons
M.arch/MFA Lighting Design Dual Degree Those who wish to pursue TOP: James Clotfelter,
Silvia Mazzarri, and Jordana Maisie, Atrium electric lighting visualization OPPOSITE: Access to the
Lighting Lab—a resource unique to this Parsons program—lets students take varying lighting conditions into account in their designs. BOTTOM: Sirada
Kuevibulvanich and Junkyeong Park, Light, Vision, and Representation
studies in lighting design and
Master of Architecture and
MFA Lighting Design and Interior Design Double Major
MFA Lighting Design. Interested
The School of Constructed
students should apply directly to
Environments offers students
this dual-degree program; they
wishing to combine studies
will automatically be considered
in lighting design and interior
for admission to the individual
design a unique double major.
Master of Architecture and MFA
In the MFA Lighting Design and
Lighting Design programs as well.
Interior Design double major,
architecture can apply to the dual-degree program, a four-year, 120-credit-hour curriculum that combines the NAAB-accredited
43
a three-year, 90-credit-hour curriculum, students develop an in-depth technical and aesthetic understanding of the relationship between light and interior design. Interested students should apply directly to the double major program; they will automatically to the individual MFA Interior Design and MFA Lighting Design programs as well.
lighting design (mfa)
be considered for admission
PHOTOGRAPHY (MFA) School of art, media, and technology
T
he MFA Photography program prepares students to become practicing artists and scholars who redefine the creative role of photography within contemporary culture. The program challenges students to move beyond current paradigms, anticipating and setting trends rather than following them.
The flexible 26-month, 60-credit
issues in the field. Annual graduate
MFA Photography curriculum
thesis exhibitions and publications
enables students to undertake local
extend students’ reach into art
internships and apprenticeships
communities. Graduates go on to
and participate in international
publish, exhibit internationally, and
projects. The program begins with
work in related positions.
an eight-week summer session
The MFA in Photography
in residence at Parsons, the first
program is part of Parsons’ School
of three, in which students attend
of Art, Media, and Technology
lectures by and meet with visiting
(AMT), which is also home to the
artists, curators, and critics. Recent
Communication Design,
visitors include Elinor Carucci, Lisa
Fine Arts, Design and
Oppenheim, Eva Respini, Anna
Technology, and Illustration
Ostoya, Charlotte Cotton, Tehching
programs. Photography
Hsieh, Matthew Buckingham, Louise
students work together
Lawler, Jason Fulford, Penelope
and access the many
Umbrico, Jill Magid, Dread Scott,
academic resources of The
Artie Vierkant, and James Welling.
New School, including all
In the fall and spring semesters,
of Parsons’ programs, to
students engage in faculty-
support their research.
supervised independent study and conduct focused research in courses
Career paths include—
on campus or online.
Fine Art; Teaching;
The school’s long-standing ties
Commercial Photography;
to the photography and art commu-
Curation; Editorial
nities offer students access to New
Photography; Fashion
York City and international partners
Photography; Documentary
for internships, exhibitions, research,
Production; Photo Editing
and representation. Rigorous critiques and regular meetings with
For more about faculty,
faculty and professional artists help
courses, and requirements,
students situate their work within
visit newschool.edu/
broader historical, theoretical, and
parsons-mfaphoto.
visual culture contexts. Programsponsored conferences, such as the recent “Photographic Universe,” bring together practitioners and critics to explore contemporary The new school parsons
45
2014, Pigment Print ABOVE: Charlie Rubin, Red Rock
Painted Truck Purple Tree BOTTOM: Lara Atallah, The
Abandoned Dinner Party (Coffee Time)
photography (mfa)
TOP: Craig Callison, Desktop_003,
STRATEGIC DESIGN & MANAGEMENT (MS) School of design strategies
T
he Master of Science in Strategic Design and Management program brings together a diverse group aspiring to initiate and lead change in emerging fields: business professionals wishing to complement their business skills with design capabilities, design practitioners seeking to acquire expertise in business and leadership, and entrepreneurs looking to develop transformative business propositions for an evolving global economy. Led by a world-class faculty, the program is academically rigorous and industry focused. Students can complete the MS entirely on campus or online, or study both on campus and online.
The MS in Strategic Design and
in projects structured like real-
Management responds to the major
world industry consulting jobs.
restructuring of economies world-
Students can also take part in
wide. The program incorporates
multi-month programs offered by
design thinking, service design, and
Parsons’ ELab business incubator,
sustainability frameworks. Strategic
which are designed to develop
Design and Management graduate
entrepreneurship.
students focus on the evolving
With evening classes and
global economy and are exposed to
online instruction, this flexible
sophisticated real-world perspec-
graduate program is well suited
tives on operations, sustainability,
to early- to mid-career profes-
management, leadership, intrapre-
sionals seeking to complement
neurship, entrepreneurship, and
their design and business expertise
design innovation and research.
with professional application. The
A 36-credit program, Strategic
program connects students to the
Design and Management divides
broader intellectual community
into two sections, each with its
of Parsons and other schools and
own distinct pedagogy: academic
colleges of The New School. Housed
courses and integrative studios,
in the School of Design Strategies
both offered on campus and online.
at Parsons, the program is part of
Coursework incorporates cutting-
a leading urban university known
edge analyses of the new economy,
for its courses on design thinking,
which help students develop new
organization management,
business models and organization
nonprofit management, sustain-
designs for the creative industries.
ability management, leadership,
These classes provide hands-on
and entrepreneurship.
experience in designing, managing, and improving design-intensive
Career paths include—Business;
firms—and help students develop
Sustainability Management;
their capacity to inspire and lead
Innovation; Social Innovation;
creative teams. In the studios,
Entrepreneurship; Strategic and
students apply their course learning
Service Design
The new school parsons
Alumni Career Paths Graduates hold positions in a range of global firms, open their own consultancies, and launch start-ups in which design-led and entrepreneurial capacities provide competitive advantages. Start-ups and consultancies • Founder/co-creator of Nazariya, a design business platform supporting young Indian artisans • Founder, Kalsada Coffee Company, a socially conscious, communityfocused business based in the Philippines • Founder/CEO of LOVESAC Designed for Life Furniture Co., a global home furnishings company • Co-founder, Blue Water Workshop, a design strategy and innovation lab • Founder/creative strategist, Art Tap, a fine art–based e-commerce start-up • Innovation, strategy, and entrepreneurial advisor based in Dubai • Communications and experience design strategist
In-house design strategy • Vice president/senior insights and design strategist, Innovation Lab at Citibank • Director of design/ consumer experience strategy team leader, UnitedHealth Group • Design strategist, Deloitte Digital • Director of product strategy, eSapiens, a Brazilbased tech company • Senior strategist, Wolff Olins, a global design and strategy agency • Innovation associate, Fahrenheit 212 • Senior product designer, McKinsey & Company
Global executive Option The Global Executive Master’s in Strategic Design and Manage-
47
ment—an 18-month program conducted primarily online and with week- and weekend-long and China—is administered by Parsons in New York City. Students can complete study while working full-time. To learn more, contact us at global@newschool.edu.
For more about faculty, courses,
TOP: Students in the recent Designing
and requirements, visit
Thoughts workshop, led by trend analyst and program visiting fellow Zuzanna Skalska, learned about new economies, their effects on society and commerce, and the value of global awareness. They were then asked to imagine future business challenges and develop creative responses to them.
newschool.edu/parsons-mssdm.
BOTTOM: Students at Parsons’ ELab-
sponsored Design Jam + Hackathon develop design solutions for alumni start-ups.
strategic design & management (ms)
intensives in Paris, New York City,
TEXTILES (MFA) SCHOOL OF FASHION
T
oday makers, designers, and scholars are reimagining textiles— from locally crafted materials to 3D knitted and biofabricated matter to hand-embellished fabrics—and pioneering textilebased industries and theory. Launching in fall 2018, Parsons’ Master of Fine Arts in Textiles offers you a curriculum that engages your passion and the university’s extensive resources, preparing you for the growing array of opportunities related to textiles in fashion, product, interior, and scenic design; research; fine arts; architecture; and hybrid fields.
In the two-year, 60-credit full-time
MFA Textiles community is diverse
program, you develop a critical
and committed to expanding the
understanding of textiles’ sociocul-
field’s broad boundaries and creat-
tural, environmental, and emotional
ing hybrid practices that integrate
dimensions and consider their
Silicon Valley’s high-tech innova-
potential to unite craft and com-
tions with the Hudson Valley’s craft
putational technology. In studios,
techniques. Your studies prepare
you acquire skills in essential fiber
you for a future in which smart
techniques—yarn making, weaving,
textiles play many roles, collecting
knitting—and are introduced to
and transmitting data in a variety of
new creative methods and mate-
products, including domestic goods
rials, including smart fibers, digital
and woven technology.
pattern making, 3D knitting, and
New York Textile Month, a
wearable technology. You develop
citywide event initiated by MFA
and apply color forecasting abilities
Textiles founder Lidewij Edelkoort,
and explore high-tech and bio-
dean of Hybrid Design Studies at
tech production. You refine your
Parsons, reflects the program’s
aesthetic sensibilities and sustain-
community-based approach to pro-
able practice on-site in NYC textile
moting textile industries. The event’s
ateliers, deepening your collabora-
local partners become your men-
tive and studio abilities. Instruction
tors, inviting you into studios and
in small business best practices
businesses to build your skills and
rounds out your learning.
networks. The program also draws
This program is housed in
on Parsons’ institutional partners,
Parsons’ School of Fashion (SOF).
such as Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian
The school’s interdisciplinary
Design Museum. Lectures by global
approaches connect a spectrum
designers and producers add dimen-
of design disciplines and concerns
sion to your learning.
ranging from human factors to envi-
Textiles are integral to an array
ronmental sustainability to social
of industries—from ubiquitous com-
justice. Accordingly, the program
puting, automotive design, aerospace,
welcomes applicants from a variety
and health care to fashion, set, and
of fields, including textile research,
interior design—and represent a
studio design, and liberal arts (philo-
major growth field. In the program,
sophy, anthropology, history). The
you are guided to take an active
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Career paths include—Textile Design; Research; Entrepreneurship; Sustainability Consulting; Criticism; PR and Communications; Teaching For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-textiles. role in textile industries, preparing to re-shore businesses, lend studio to biotech, launch a business as an independent designer or high-tech researcher, or pursue advanced studies. In the process, you cultivate the utopian aspects of creativity and foster textiles’ continuing role as a major cultural expression.
ABOVE: 3D printed textiles offer designers a new way to shape fabrics and produce in limited runs for a range of industries. LEFT: The program prepares
students to work with textiles in industries ranging from aerospace to interior design to fashion.
TEXTILES (mfa)
skills to firms ranging from fashion
TOP: Students explore textile working methods including traditional weaving in courses and learning experiences onsite at NYC studios.
THEORIES OF URBAN PRACTICE (MA) School of design strategies
T
he Master of Arts in Theories of Urban Practice program offers an innovative path for students interested in acquiring a critical understanding of design practices in the context of cities and urban ecosystems and the transdisciplinary knowledge required to bring about urban change. This 36-credit research-driven program reframes the study of urbanism and urban design as transformative practices that draw on an expanding body of knowledge, research, and action. This MA degree program is for students who wish to pursue advanced studies in urbanism and urban practices supporting social, spatial, and environmental justice or careers as urban researchers, designers, academics, design critics, policy advisors, and leaders of nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and private design and development firms. Students conduct research and develop design strategies through critical engagement with contemporary urban issues. They study design as a vehicle and a catalyst for bringing together government agencies, community-based groups, civic associations, and many other types of organizations. In their research, students often consider international questions or problems or address issues relevant to New York City. Students can take part in project-based studios in related programs, including Parsons’ MS in Design and Urban Ecologies, as
with the design of cities, services, and ecosystems. Parsons is part of The New School, a pioneering university located in the heart of New York City that offers some of the nation’s most respected programs in design, social sciences, liberal arts, performing arts, and management and policy. Career paths include—Urban Design; City Planning; Government Administration; Nonprofit Management; Collaborative Urbanism; Teaching; Research; Social Enterprise
well as other New School graduate programs. The program is housed in Parsons’ School of Design Strategies, an educational environment that fosters innovative thinking about and experimentation The new school parsons
For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-matup.
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Complex, designed by student Fernando Canteli de Castro. Students learn about the complexities and challenges of bringing about urban transformation in collaboration with local stakeholders and the nonprofit sector. BOTTOM: MA Theories of Urban Practice
program students Renae Diggs (left) and Joy Alise Davis (center) interview residents near Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queens, for their research. OPPOSITE: Urban spaces with intertwined social, economic, and environmental problems are often the focus of student investigations and projects. Here students are guided on a visit to the South Bronx by local community members and experts.
theories of urban practice (ma)
TOP: Diagram of the Non-Profit Industrial
TRANSDISCIPLINARY DESIGN (MFA) School of design strategies
E
mphasizing collaborative design-led research, Parsons’ Master of Fine Arts in Transdisciplinary Design program serves as an academic laboratory in New York City for graduate students seeking to define the next phase of design globally and effect positive social change.
The MFA in Transdisciplinary
design and business education in
Design program was created for
the context of cities, services, and
designers interested in developing
ecosystems.
and applying ideas, tools, and
This two-year, 60-credit
collaborative and experimental
program focuses on project-based
working methods to address the
work connected to four informal
complex challenges of a global
research pathways:
culture. Students work in crossdisciplinary teams and learn from renowned researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders. Students emerge from the MFA program with a portfolio that reflects the use of design processes to transform social practices and complex systems, engaging with larger issues throughout design. Graduates go on to work in cutting-edge design consultancies as designers and researchers; with in-house design teams within private and public organizations, where they can apply their skills in new ways (such as restructuring health care services); developing projects for nonprofit organizations; and establishing their own design consultancies and microbusinesses. The MFA in Transdisciplinary Design program is housed in Parsons’ School of Design Strategies (SDS), alongside graduate programs in Design and Urban Ecologies, Strategic Design and Management, and Theories of Urban Practice. In its programs and projects, SDS employs innovative approaches to
The new school parsons
• Systems explores ways to integrate ecological, economic, technological, and social systems to achieve common ends. • Sustainability considers how to build public infrastructure for sustainable practices. • Social investigates the use of design to envision new modalities of social interaction and community engagement. • Urban seeks ways to reshape everyday practices within highly networked urban environments. Career paths include—Service Design; Design Consulting; Academia; Business Development; International Development; Entrepreneurship; In-House Design Leads Within Government Organizations and Industries For more about faculty, courses, and requirements, visit newschool.edu/parsons-mfatrans.
TOP: Howard Chambers
and Bland Hoke, Softwalks. Softwalks is a set of easy-toinstall components that uses construction scaffolding to support seating, plantings, and lighting, fostering social interaction in a greener urban landscape. Softwalks won Fast Company magazine’s Innovation by Design Award (Student Category). MIDDLE: Doremy Diatta,
BOTTOM: Amplify The Bronx,
the latest in a series of social innovation projects led by Parsons students and faculty, engaged local residents and staff of Soundview Park in a community engagement co-designing activity. Students learned about challenges facing park users and administrators, heard about residents’ perceptions of the park, and tested concepts aimed at increasing local stewardship and use of the park.
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transdisciplinary design (mfa)
Material Communications. For her thesis, Diatta developed objects for parents of children with disruptive behavioral disorders to use at home to practice techniques learned in therapy. With support from Parsons, Diatta presented her thesis at the 2015 Design Indaba conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
STUDENT SERVICES
Housing The university offers graduate housing in the 20th Street and 92Y residences, but most graduate students choose to live off campus. To learn more about both on- and off-campus housing options, visit newschool.edu/housing.
Career Services Internships and collaborations with external partners connect students with New York City’s professional communities and institutions and enrich their educational experience. Through these projects students develop valuable skills in collaboration. The New School’s Student Success office and career advisors assist students by developing industry contacts and professional opportunities. Services offered include: • One-on-one counseling • Résumé, portfolio, job search, and interview preparation • On-campus job and internship fairs • Access to an online job database with more than 30,000 registered employers • Alumni career panels, workshops, and special events • A resource blog To learn more, visit newschool.edu/career-services. To read alumni profiles, visit newschool.edu/ parsons-alumni.
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student services
TUITION, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND FINANCIAL AID
A
graduate education is an investment in your future. Students need to take action to be as well prepared as possible for the financial commitment. The New School’s Student Financial Services can help students budget and find support resources, including aid. For information on the cost of attendance and financial services, visit newschool.edu/sfs.
Financial Aid and Scholarships All graduate students who apply by the priority scholarship deadline of January 1* are considered for New School merit-based scholarships; no additional application is required. In addition, U.S. citizens or legal residents should file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) between October 1 and March 1 if they are applying for either the summer or the fall term. The FAFSA can be found online at fafsa.ed.gov (the New School/Parsons code is 002780). Some graduate programs offer paying research assistant and teaching assistant positions that support research and develop students’ skills while defraying the costs of attendance. Students should also research non–New School scholarships and grants that can be applied to graduate study. For a list of additional scholarship opportunities, visit newschool.edu/scholarships-and-grants.
Tuition and cost of attendance For up-to-date information on tuition and fees, visit newschool.edu/tuition-and-fees. * Applications received after January 1 may be considered if space is available in the program. Late applications may be less competitive for scholarship consideration.
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Student Financial Services 72 Fifth Avenue, 2nd floor New York, NY 10003 212.229.8930 sfs@newschool.edu
tuition, scholarships, and Financial aid
Contact Student Financial Services
ADMISSION
M
ost students who are considering graduate study begin the application process in the fall before their intended term of entry. The following timetable outlines a schedule of the necessary steps.
Fall
Spring
SUMMER
SEPTEMBER–DECEMBER
JANUARY–MAY
JUNE–AUGUST
• Review application
• Apply for the fall/
• Explore housing options.
requirements. • Attend an admission event or portfolio review.¹ • Research non–New School scholarships. • Register for the TOEFL or GRE if needed. • Contact those who are writing recommendations. • Request college transcripts.²
summer term by January 1 (priority scholarship deadline). • Check your application status online at newschool.edu/ admissionhub. • Submit FAFSA online by March 1.³ • Check for correspondence from Admission and faculty.
• MFA Photography students begin class in early June. • Register for classes. • MFA Design and Technology students attend Bootcamp in late July. • Attend orientation. • Classes begin in late August.
• Check for admission decision letter, sent out in mid-March or later. • Meet faculty and alumni at events for admitted students. • Submit tuition deposit. • Apply for international student visa if necessary.
The new school parsons
¹See website for locations. ² International transcripts require additional time for English language translation. ³Applies only to students who meet federal eligibility requirements.
Contact the Admission office Parsons School of Design Office of Graduate Admission
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72 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011 212.229.5150 thinkparsonsgrad@newschool.edu To apply, visit newschool.edu/parsons/apply. ACCREDITATION The New School is accredited by the Middle States Commission
institutions with U.S. regional accreditation, recognizes three
on Higher Education. All degree programs at the New York City
types of degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of
campus of The New School are registered by the New York
Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. A program may
State Department of Education. Parsons School of Design is
be granted an eight-year, three-year, or two-year term of
also accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art
accreditation, depending on the extent of its conformance with
and Design and is a member of the Association of Independent
established educational standards.
Colleges of Art and Design. For full information on the university’s
Doctor of Architecture and Master of Architecture degree programs may require a pre-professional undergraduate degree
The New School is a nonprofit university.
in architecture for admission. However, the pre-professional
In the United States, most registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a
degree is not, by itself, recognized as an accredited degree. Parsons School of Design offers the following NAAB-accredited
prerequisite for licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting
degree program: Master of Architecture (pre-professional degree +
Board (NAAB), which is the sole agency authorized to accredit
90 credits). Next accreditation visit for this program: 2024.
professional degree programs in architecture offered by
Admission
accreditation, visit newschool.edu/provost/accreditation.
ADMISSION
Learn More About Parsons and Visit the Campus There are a number of ways to connect with us: campus visits, open houses, portfolio days, and other admission events in New York City and around the world. If you are unable to travel, email an admission counselor. GRADUATE STUDENT TOURS Tours are recommended for prospective, applied, and admitted students; they are intended not to provide answers to questions about academics or admission but rather to offer an overview of The New School’s facilities. Schedule a tour: newschool.edu/ parsons/grad-events. (Tours are not held on national holidays or when the university is closed.) A highlight of the tour is the University Center (shown at right)—our campus hub, designed to facilitate collaboration within the New School community. To learn more, visit newschool.edu/university-center. SPEAK WITH A PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND OBSERVE A CLASS Speak to a program director to learn more about programs. Visit the program webpage to find the name of the director, and select the name to obtain an email address. Or find contact information using the New School online directory, at newschool.edu/directory. Some program directors welcome class visits. INFORMATION SESSIONS, WEBINARS, AND GRADUATE PORTFOLIO DAYS Prospective students should attend an information session to learn about Parsons, The New School, and Parsons’ graduate programs. Admission counselors explain the admission and financial aid process and answer questions. Webinars are also offered throughout the year. On Graduate Portfolio Days, faculty members give portfolio feedback before students apply. For more information, including upcoming session dates, visit newschool.edu/parsons/grad-events. SPEAK WITH AN ADMISSION COUNSELOR If you have not yet submitted an application to Parsons or were recently admitted and have questions, request an appointment with an admission counselor by emailing thinkparsonsgrad@newschool.edu.
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A few facts that set us apart
The new school at A GLANCE
#1 FOR SMALL CLASSES: Among national
• Founded in 1919.
universities, The New School has the highest proportion of classes with fewer than 20 students.
• Located in the heart of NYC in Greenwich Village, with a branch campus in Paris.
2017, U.S. News & World Report
• Houses five schools and colleges.
#3 ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL: Parsons
• Offers 134 degree and diploma programs
School of Design is ranked among the top art and design schools in the world. 2017, Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
#1 MOST INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY: We have a higher percentage of international students than any other U.S. university with more than 10,000 students.
and majors and more than 50 minors. • Has more than 10,000 degree-seeking students. • Students come from all 50 states and 116 foreign countries. • T he New School offers a range of graduate programs. See details at newschool.edu/academics.
2017, U.S. News & World Report
#1 FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING: The American Institute of Architects named the New School University Center one of the greenest buildings in the United States—and it’s the largest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified urban university building.
Membership and Accreditation The New School is a member of the Association of American Colleges and Universities and is accredited by the New York State Board of Regents and by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
For full information on the university’s accreditation, visit newschool.edu/provost/accreditation. The information published here represents the plans of the university at the time of publication and does not constitute an irrevocable contract between the student and The New School. The university reserves the right to change without notice any matter contained in this publication, including but not limited to tuition, fees, policies, degrees, programs, names of programs, course offerings, academic activities, academic requirements, facilities, faculty, and administrators. Payment of tuition or attendance at any classes shall constitute a student’s acceptance of the administration’s rights as set forth above. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution. For important information including student rights, campus safety statistics, and tuition and fees, visit newschool.edu/your-right-to-know. Published 2017 by The New School. Produced by Marketing and Communication, The New School. Photo credits: Daniel Costa, Livia Dos Santos, James Ewing, Andrew Gam, Conway Liao, Matthew Mathews, Jessica Miller, courtesy of Daniel Sauter, Adam Schwartz, Martin Seck, Matthew Septimus, Albert Vecerka, Phillip Van Nostrand The new school parsons
Graduate Programs Parsons School of Design
MANNES SCHOOL
Architecture MArch
Collaborative Piano MM, PSD
Architecture/Lighting Design
Composition MM, PSD
Dual Degree MArch/MFA
OF MUSIC
Guitar MM, PSD
Communication Design MPS
Harpsichord MM, PSD
Data Visualization MS
Orchestral Conducting MM, PSD
Design and Technology MFA
Orchestral Instruments
Design and Urban Ecologies MS
MM, PSD
MILANO SCHooL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, MANAGEMENT, AND URBAN POLICY Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management MS International Affairs MA, MS Leadership and Change
Design Studies MA
Piano MM, PSD
Fashion Design and Society MFA
Theory MM, PSD
Nonprofit Management MS
Fashion Studies MA
Voice MM, PSD
Organizational Change
Fine Arts MFA
SCHOOL OF DRAMA
History of Design and Curatorial Studies MA Industrial Design MFA Interior Design MFA
Acting MFA Directing MFA Playwriting MFA
graduate certificate
Management MS Organization Development graduate certificate Public and Urban Policy MS, PhD Sustainability Strategies
Lighting Design MFA
THE NEW SCHooL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
Photography MFA
Anthropology MA, PhD
CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM
Strategic Design and
Creative Publishing and
Creative Writing MFA
Interior Design and Lighting Design Double Major MFA
Management MS* Textiles MFA Launching in fall 2018 Theories of Urban Practice MA Transdisciplinary Design MFA
Critical Journalism MA Economics MA, MS, PhD Global Political Economy and Finance MA Gender and Sexuality Studies graduate certificate
Parsons Paris
Historical Studies MA
Fashion Studies MA
Liberal Studies MA
History of Design and
Philosophy MA, PhD
Curatorial Studies MA
College of Performing arts Arts Management and Entrepreneurship MA
graduate certificate
Politics MA, PhD Psychology MA, PhD
TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) MA
SCHooL OF MEDIA STUDIES Media Studies MA Media Management MS, graduate certificate Documentary Media Studies graduate certificate
Clinical Psychology PhD Cognitive, Social, and Developmental Psychology PhD General Psychology MA Sociology MA, PhD
* Global Executive option available.
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PARsons school of design Graduate Programs