• Fine Arts (Minor)

  • Overview

    The Fine Arts minor is offered through Parsons School of Design.

    This minor engages students in a diverse array of studio practices, ideas, communities, and global relationships. Students learn to translate their concepts into individual expression by experimenting with composition, color, materials, form, space, or performance, developing a solid set of making skills and contemporary artistic strategies. Formal techniques and critical thinking skills are explored in 2D (painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, collage), 3D (sculpture, installation), and 4D (video, performance) Core Labs. Topics and Core Studio courses combine these technical and conceptual skills with more involved investigations of concepts in contemporary art, while xStudios and Collabs give students the opportunity to do interdisciplinary work with contemporary artists on specific current themes. After completing a sampling of studio and lab coursework, students have the opportunity to develop their own fine arts practice through an Advanced Practice course, delving into a distinct area of fine arts and creating self-designed projects with specific faculty members.

    The Fine Arts minor requires successful completion of 18 credits across five subject areas, as outlined in the chart below.

    Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.

    Curriculum

    Subject AreaSample CoursesCredits
    Introduction of Main ConceptsPUFA 2200 Core Seminar 1: Sign and System3
    Concepts and Movements Any course beginning with the code PLAH
    PLDS 4013 Curating Public Narrative
    PLVS 3699 Visual Culture and the Radical '60s
    3
    Framing Conceptual Ideas Through Visual Media*PUFY 1005 Critical Studio
    PUFY 1020 Space/Materiality
    PUFY 1030 Drawing/Imaging
    PUFY 1040 Time
    PSAM 1050 Intro to Photography
    PSAM 1800 Exploration in Drawing
    PUFY 1221 Games 101
    PSAM 2301 Animation 1
    PUFY 1225 Digital Craft
    PAGS 1001 Drawing
    0–3
    2D/3D/4D Techniques and ProcessesPSAM 2320 From Copy to Image
    PUFA 2220 Core Lab Studio 1: 2D
    PUFA 2230 Core Lab Studio 1: 3D
    PUFA 2240 Core Lab Studio 1: 4D
    PSAM 1073 Sculpture
    PUFY 1211 Painting
    PSAM 2204 Sound Design
    PSDS 2703 Sound Matters
    PSAM 2201 Digital Asset Creation 2D
    PSAM 2605 CG1
    PSAM 2542 Image and Text
    PSAM 2501 Intro to Print Making
    PSAM 2520 Screen Print
    PSAM 2521 Screenprint: Digital
    PUPD 3322 Fundamental Ceramics
    PSAM 1075 Painting
    PSAM 2550 Artist's Books: Introductions
    3–9
    Advanced 2D/3D/4D Topics, Histories, and PracticePSAM 3320 Drawing NYC
    PUFA 3220 Topics in 2D
    PUFA 3230 Topics in 3D
    PUFA 3240 Topics in 4D
    PUFA 3520 Advanced Projects 2D
    PUFA 3530 Advanced Projects 3D
    PUFA 3540 Advanced Projects 4D
    PSAM 3701 xStudio
    PSAM 3702 xStudio
    PSAM 3703 xStudio
    PSAM 3550 Artist's Books
    3–9

    Students who have already completed one of these courses, or will do so for their major, should instead select another course in the subject area 2D/3D/4D Techniques and Processes.

    Learning Outcomes

    A student who has completed this minor should be able to demonstrate:

    • Strength in at least two techniques and processes in 2D, 3D, or 4D media and the ability to reflect on how these help to shape the content of the work
    • Competence in framing conceptual ideas through visual media
    • An understanding of what fine art is through a working knowledge of the concepts and movements that inform contemporary art
    • An understanding of the interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary possibilities of the Fine Arts minor as it relates to a student's disciplinary major
    • Competence in discussing and critiquing artwork, including an ability to analyze work using a range of approaches. These may include (and are not limited to) knowledge of formal/visual categories and semiotic/psychoanalytic approaches, as well as the articulation of more subjective, embodied responses
    • Competence in identifying and generating one's own questions as the basis for visual inquiry, which may be sourced in particular historical, cultural, or societal concerns

    Eligibility

    The Fine Arts minor is available to undergraduate students across The New School, with the exception of students enrolled in the BFA in Fine Arts. 

    For questions regarding this minor's curriculum, including requests for course substitutions, please contact Adam Brent, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, at [email protected].

    How to Declare or Change a Minor

    General guidelines for declaring a minor are available here. 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.

  • Take the Next Step

    Contact your Student Success advisor to discuss how a minor will fit with your degree requirements.

    Declare or change a minor on my.newschool.edu in the Academics tab. 

  • Take The Next Step

Submit your application

Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

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