Student Activities

In the Three-Minute Thesis Challenge, participants must present their original research in just 180 seconds in an engaging form that can be understood by an audience with no background in the research area. The challenge is open to all graduating MA students and all PhD students. Participants gain presentation, research, and academic and professional communications skills and have the chance to win up to $1,000.

Student-run conferences and workshops are organized each academic year and generally take place in the spring semester. Some receive support from the Dean's Conference Fund.

Spring 2023 conferences included:

• "After Nora Walks Out": The Struggles and the Future of Chinese Feminism
• Political Concepts Graduate Conference
• Visual Philosophy (Philosophy, Theory and the Arts: An Interdisciplinary Conference at The New School)
• Textures of Change: Social Imaginaries, Narratives, and the Possibility of Politics
• The Weaponization of Memory in Times of Political Rupture(s)
• Disability, Chronic Illness, and Inclusion in Academia
• Anthropology Graduate Conference 2023: "RETURN"
• Remembering Peace: Scholarship as a Middle Road

The New School for Social Research Dean's Advisory Council consists of the NSSR Student Senate delegates, departmental student advisors, and other department representatives. The council meets with the dean on a regular basis throughout the academic year to discuss matters related to the quality of student life and the needs of the college in general. At the university level, a similar advisory body with representatives from each of the university's colleges meets regularly with the president of The New School. The members representing The New School for Social Research are chosen by NSSR Student Senate delegates. Elected student representatives are expected to attend meetings and report to their constituents on a regular basis.

Current DAC members include:

• Víctor Evangelista (Anthropology)
• Abha Deshmukh (CPCJ)
• Leah Masci (Economics)
• Sawyer Andrew Wilson-Mifsud
• Brittney Monique Walker (Liberal Studies)
• Samar Abdou (Liberal Studies)
• Angel Melgoza (Liberal Studies)
• Siri Manasa Poluru (Philosophy)
• Luke Ford (Philosophy)
• Ece Avsar (Philosophy)
• Miguel Diaz Cervantes (Sociology)
• Sebastean Pujols (Politics)
• Connor Smith (Politics)
• Sapna Desai (Psychology)

The Graduate Faculty Student Senate is the representative body of NSSR as a whole. Student associations are the representative bodies of each department.

Graduate Faculty Student Senate (GFSS)
[email protected]

Anthropology Student Association (ASA)
Organizers: Ben Airing, Ella Richmond, Victor Evangelisa
[email protected]

Economics Student Union (ESU)
Organizers: Lark Lo, Yannis Bougiatiotis, Miriam Frauenlob, Samuel Uwusu
[email protected]

Liberal Studies Student Association (LSSA)
[email protected]

Philosophy Forum
Organizers: Kristopher Hilbert, Lisa McKeown
[email protected]

Union of Political Science Students (UPSS)
Organizers: Nikola Ksiazek, Yani Abdul Rahman, Connor Smith, Sebastean Pujols, Lenny Black
[email protected]

Psychology Student Government (PSG)
[email protected]

Sociology Student Association (SSA)
Organizers: Miguel Diaz Cervantes, Tehila Gidron, Coumbah Sidibe
[email protected]

Anthro Workshops is a series of student-led workshops that take place on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Anthropology students host an array of internal and external speakers, postdoctoral fellows, film screenings, back-from-the-field presentations, and more. Students also use the workshops as places to workshop writing for PhD applications, MA exam prep, and grant proposals. Workshops are open to students, alumni, and friends! Pizza and beer are always provided. 

Organizers: Clara Beccaro, Sean Muller, Caroline Risacher, Christopher Thompson
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 

The Feminists in Economics Student Association (FESA) offers a safe space to women to talk about any kind of problem they are facing. It provides access to tools and theory of feminist economics, emphasizes gender issues in topics broadly discussed in economics, focuses on disparities arising from underrepresentation and increasing awareness, and reduces gender disparities in the field by providing resources and a network.

Organizers: Jessica Forden, Lorraine Marsh
[email protected]

The New School Memory Group is an interdisciplinary network of scholars whose research addresses questions of remembering and forgetting. We bring together New School students, faculty, alumni, and friends. Visit the Facebook group or tweet @NewSchoolMemory.

Organizer: Malkhaz Toria
[email protected]

Theory Collective is a political theory workshop intended to provide valuable feedback and critique on both theoretical work and empirical or historical work informed by a theoretical framework. Meetings convene every other week around the work-in-progress of a presenter. Regular attendance is expected in order to ensure a thorough discussion of each paper.

Organizers: Clover Reshad, Jochen Schmon
[email protected], [email protected]

The Colombian Students Group aims to develop an interdisciplinary dialogue with students, faculty members, and others to the enlightenment of circumstances related to the armed conflict, free trade agreements, human rights issues and the peace dialogues between the Colombian Government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN), as well as general information about Colombia and its relation to the United States.

Organizers: Aura Hernandez Cardenas, Jose Castiblanco, Isabel Arciniegas, Daniela Garcia Moreno
[email protected]

Philosophy Pedagogy and Professionalization Workshops aim to prepare current graduate students to teach philosophy in an academic setting. In order to supplement the department’s strong scholarship and provide students with practical pedagogical skills, NSSR faculty, alumni, and advanced NSSR PhD students with teaching experience take turns to facilitate the workshops, which are constructed around various pedagogical topics including: discussion techniques, basic classroom management, preparing and delivering a lecture, designing a syllabus, teaching close-reading skills, and navigating issues of gender and race in the classroom.

Organizers: Jacqueline Liu, Lena Nowak-Laird
[email protected], [email protected]

The Wittgenstein Workshop is a research group that meets a few times a semester and invites scholars and NSSR faculty and students to present work-in-progress. While an interest in Wittgenstein might be helpful in attending, it is by no means necessary.

Organizer: Kyle O'Dowd
[email protected]

People in Support of Women in Philosophy is a group dedicated to the advancement of women and those who experience marginalization within the field of philosophy. Our group meets weekly to workshop papers, help members prepare for conference presentations and seminars, host guest speakers, and in general celebrate the work of our women and gender-non-conforming colleagues and mentors. Men are welcome and encouraged to take part as allies.

Organizers: Zoe Cable, Rose Pelham
[email protected]

Minorities and Philosophy (MaP) is an international organization encompassing a collection of chapters from different philosophy departments that examine and address issues of minority participation in academic philosophy. Through MaP’s network, students can exchange ideas on topics related to minorities and philosophy, meet and support peers, and learn from other philosophy departments.

Organizer: Miranda Samuels, Rosa Wesley
[email protected], [email protected]

The New York German Idealism Group is a joint undertaking of the philosophy departments of Columbia University and The New School that organizes four events per semester, inviting scholars from the New York area and beyond to share their work on Kantian and post-Kantian philosophy in a workshop format.

Organizers: Agnese Di Riccio, Mithra Len
[email protected]