Minors

Explore the Benefits of Cross-disciplinary Study

The New School is the only university that houses a world-renowned design school, a liberal arts college, and a performing arts college under one roof. Access to interdisciplinary scholarship and study is available to undergraduates through our minors program, which offers you the opportunity to immerse yourself in a new discipline inside or outside of your college.

These highly creative and enriching series of courses will broaden your skills, knowledge, and career options: Artists can gain a global perspective, historians can learn music composition, and designers can study sociology. Every time you cross into a new discipline, you increase your relevance to a world that benefits from multiple perspectives and that equates creativity with multidisciplinary talents.

You can work with your academic advisors to select and declare a minor and to chart a curriculum to satisfy your major and minor requirements.

Below, explore our list of minors and learn more about the process for declaring a minor. If you have a question, contact an admission officer or your academic advisor.

• All Available Minors

  Anthropology	Interdisciplinary Science
  Art and Design History	Japanese Studies
  Capitalism Studies	Jewish Culture
  Chinese Studies	Journalism + Design
  Comics and Graphic Narrative	Literary Translation
  Communication Design*	Literature
  Contemporary Dance	Moving Image Arts
  Contemporary Music	Museum and Curatorial Studies
  Creative Coding	Music Composition*
  Creative Entrepreneurship*	Philosophy
  Culture and Media	Photography*
  Data Visualization	Politics
  Design Studies	Post-Genre Music: Performance and Creation*
  Dramatic Arts*	Printmaking*
  Economics	Psychology
  Environmental Studies	Race and Ethnicity
  Fashion Communication*	Religious Studies
  Fashion Studies	Screenwriting
  Film Production	Social Practice
  Fine Arts*	Sociology
  Food Studies	Sustainable Cities
  French Studies	Techniques of Music (Theory, Ear Training, Dictation)
  Gender Studies	Temporary Environments
  Global Studies	Theater
  Hispanic Studies	Urban Studies
  History	Visual Studies
  Immersive Storytelling	Writing

  *Application required

• Minor Guidelines

  Minors are available to all undergraduate students at The New School, though some minors are closed to students in certain majors. Students may declare minors outside of their own colleges.

  Guidelines for Declaring a Minor
  

  • Students must first declare a major before declaring a minor.
  • Students can declare up to two minors.
  • Students are encouraged to complete two courses in the minor before formally declaring.
  • Students must earn the required minimum grades to apply courses toward a minor grade requirements and other policies are set by the college in which the minor is housed).
  • Students can retroactively apply successfully completed courses toward a minor up until the time their degree is conferred.
  • Transfer credits may be used to satisfy some minor requirements. But students must successfully complete a minimum of 14 credits of coursework in the minor at The New School. These credits must be distinct and may not also be applied to other program requirements, including the major, a second minor, and ULEC requirements. Exceptions may be made for foreign languages. All decisions regarding the transfer of credit are made by the department or college sponsoring the minor.
  • Students are not permitted to take majors and minors that are too similar.
• How to Declare, Change or Apply to a Minor

  Current students can declare or change a minor by logging in to my.newschool.edu, clicking on the Academics tab, and then clicking on the link to Major/Minor Declarations.

  Applying for a Minor

  Applications are required for admission to the following minors due to constraints on facilities or the need for a specific level of skill in a particular field:

  • Communication Design
  • Creative Entrepreneurship
  • Fashion Communication
  • Fine Arts
  • Music Composition
  • Photography
  • Post-Genre Music: Performance and Creation
  • Printmaking

  For these minors, complete the application form by logging in to my.newschool.edu, clicking on the Academics tab, and then clicking on the link to Major/Minor Declarations.

  To start a minor in the fall, submit an application by March 1. Notification of decision on minor applications happens by April 1.

  To start a minor in the spring, submit an application by October 1. Notification of decision on minor applications happens by November 1 (December 15 for Post-Genre Music).