Student Activities

Our students pride themselves on their ability to disrupt “business as usual” in the academy. They organize academic conferences and workshops and debate, collaborate on projects, and challenge one another. They also join, lead, or establish their own organizations and reading groups around common interests, many of which are open to students across disciplines.  

Learn more about New School for Social Research opportunities below, and make sure to check out the full list of New School student organizations. If you are interested in receiving funding for a conference or starting an organization, please contact P.J. Gorre, Coordinator of Academic Affairs.

• Three-Minute Thesis Challenge

  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

  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.

  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most spring 2020 NSSR student conferences were canceled. Student conferences in spring 2019 included:

  • A Possible Philosophy of the Digital
  • Great Transformation(s): Between Past and Future in a Contested World
  • What Is to Be Done in Brazil? A Question for the Radical Left
  • Political Economy of the Global South: A Tribute to Samir Amin
  • Paranoid Encounters
  • Theft
  • People in Support of Women in Philosophy
  • Seeing Inequality, Living Inequality: The Psychological Effects of Economic Inequality, Economic Mobility, and Social Class
  • Søren Kierkegaard and the Negative
• Dean's Advisory Council

  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.

• Departmental Student Associations

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

  Graduate Faculty Student Senate (GFSS)
  Organizers: Weiouqing Chen and Reese Fond
  gfss@newschool.edu

  Anthropology Student Association (ASA)
  Organizers: Ramon de Haan (fall 2020); Isabel Arciniegas Guaneme (spring 2021)
  asa@newschool.edu

  Economics Student Union (ESU)
  Organizers: Owen Davis, Clara Zanon Brenck, and Cesar Castillo Garcia
  esu@newschool.edu

  Philosophy Forum
  Organizers: Tara Mastrelli and Bryan Doniger 
  philosophyforum@newschool.edu

  Union of Political Science Students (UPSS)
  Organizer: Cecili Chadwick
  upss@newschool.edu

  Psychology Student Government (PSG)
  Organizers: Gen Tsudaka and Starlett Hartley 
  psychstudentgov@newschool.edu

  Sociology Student Association (SSA)
  Organizers: Julian Gomez Delgado and Olivia Steiert
  ssa@newschool.edu

• Departmental Student Groups

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

  Organizers: Erin Simmons, Angelica Calabrese, and Elena Gleed
  simme076@newschool.edu, calaa058@newschool.edu, elena.gleed@newschool.edu

  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.

  Organizer: Clara Zenon Brenck
  fesa@newschool.edu

• Interdisciplinary Groups

  NSSR Teach Support is a collaborative support system for the at-large graduate student teaching community at NSSR. Group members work on developing strong teaching skills, including course planning and structuring, course proposal writing, running class discussions, planning effective assignments, and teaching remotely. Join the Facebook group to share resources, ask questions, and announce workshops. Email P.J. Gorre to be added to the announcement listserv.

  Organizer: P.J. Gorre
  nssradvising@newschool.edu 

  The Sanctuary Working Group is a collective of students, staff, and faculty creating a campus that is inclusive, protective, and just for all affected by racist, anti-immigrant practices. We work in coalition with La XENTE, the Latinx student organization. We center undocumented, international, immigrant, and mixed-status family community members and all people of color in our meetings and in our efforts. We are student-led and have a student caucus which meets separately, in addition to holding larger meetings that include faculty and staff. We welcome new members. Extensive knowledge about immigrant justice is not necessary. We welcome opportunities to collaborate with other organizations, departments, and programs across The New School. 
  
  sanctuary@newschool.edu

  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
  memorystudies@newschool.edu

  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: Anastasiia Kalk and Sarah Lenfest
  kalka364@newschool.edu, sarah.lenfest@gmail.com

  Global Historical Sociology is a working group formed by students interested in exploring historical and cross-national dimensions of social life. Group members meet twice a month to present and discuss one another's work, critically explore current theoretical and methodological approaches in the field, and invite speakers working on historical topics. Students from all departments are welcome.

  Organizers: Karolina Koziura and Nuri Can Akin
  kozik889@newschool.edu, akinn904@newschool.edu

  New School Policy and Design for Outer Space (NS-PDOS) is focused on exploring the dynamics and distribution of egalitarian models of governance and design in all aspects of space exploration. As a chapter of SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space), an international student organization, we will draft and develop projects for further research into near- and distant-future design problems off earth. Questions of space settlement governance, economy, existential risk, communications and information theory, and bioastronautics are possible topics we will explore as a collective.

  Organizer: Jaimie Boyd
  nspdos@newschool.edu

  The Psychoanalytic Society is focused on psychoanalytic theory in conversation with philosophy, psychology, and social thought. Activities include running a reading group and workshops, and attending on-campus events and conferences at institutes in Manhattan.

  Organizer: Abby Concha
  aconcha@newschool.edu

  The Psychoanalytic Reading Group regularly gathers students with various levels of experience and interest in psychoanalysis and its connections with philosophical concerns to discuss readings that center around a chosen theme.

  Organizer: Charles Torry
  charles@newschool.edu

  The Colombian Students Group aims to develop an interdisciplinary dialogue with students, faculty members, and others to shed light on 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 relations with the United States.
  
  Organizers: Aura Hernandez Cardenas, Julian Gomez Delgado, and Francisco Gonzales
  colombiansg@newschool.edu

• Philosophy Groups and Workshops

  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.

  Organizers: Miranda Young, Mariam Matar, and Weiouqing Chen
  nycwittgensteinworkshop@gmail.com

  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: K. Eskins and Weiouqing Chen
  pswip@newschool.edu

  The New York Phenomenology Research Group continues the long and storied tradition of phenomenological investigation at NSSR, introducing the next generation of students to the panoply of thinkers and topics for which phenomenology is known. No previous knowledge is required — all one needs is a willingness to return to the things themselves!

  Organizer: Daniel Wagnon
  phenomenology@newschool.edu

  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: K. Eskins

  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 and Mithra Len
  nygermanidealism@gmail.com