The New School’s program in The Arts, the Arts in Context concentration opens up new creative possibilities by letting you pair one of the Arts disciplines (Contemporary Music, Dance, Theater, or Visual Studies) with a liberal arts discipline (such as Writing, Culture and Media Studies, History, Philosophy, or Gender Studies).

As you design your path of study, you’ll be asked to consider what you hope to learn through your selected combination of fields and how your investigation of that pairing reflects your career goals or your plans for further studies after graduation.

Lang is deeply connected to the artistic and cultural life of New York City. Students in Lang’s program in The Arts benefit from:

  • Working associations with the city’s theater world, including a long-standing partnership with La Mama Experimental Theater
  • A dance, music, and theater faculty of active, artistically adventurous professionals
  • Institutional partnerships with major museums and cultural institutions
  • Internship opportunities in theater, dance, radio, television, music, museums, and more

In addition to taking Lang courses for their electives, Arts in Context students can broaden their studies with courses in other parts of The New School, such as Parsons School of Design and the College of Performing Arts.

Students are encouraged to apply for the International Arts: Arts in Context program at the American University of Paris to study abroad for a semester during their junior year.

Career Paths

Education at Lang is designed to develop engaged citizens who are thoughtful, articulate, and creative. The flexibility of the self-designed Arts in Context concentration opens the door to many career possibilities including performance, visual arts, theater, dance, music, journalism, criticism, arts administration, and professional graduate study in these areas.