2004-2005 Graduate Programs - New School Archives: Digital

Transcription

2004-2005 Graduate Programs - New School Archives: Digital
2004-2005 Graduate Programs
On the cover and right: Conceptual rendering for
Sheila C. Johnson Center for Design, slated to begin
construction in 2005 by acclaimed architectural firm
OpenOffice (www.open-office.net). The design will unify
Parsons entryway, galleries, visitors’ center, student
lounge, admissions office, and the Anna-Maria and
Stephen Kellen Archives Center.
Contents
2 Parsons School of Design
4 Architecture
16 Design and Technology
26 Fine Arts
34 History of Decorative Arts and Design
48 Lighting Design
58 Photography
66 General Information
71 Tuition and Financial Aid
73 Admissions
75 Application Form
Parsons
Parsons School of Design has been a pioneer in the field of art and design education since
1896. Founded by painter William Merritt Chase, it attracted some of the world’s most recognized artists who shaped the future of art and design, including Edward Hopper, Norman
Rockwell, and Jasper Johns.
As a faculty member and later as president of the school, Frank Alvah Parsons acted on a
revolutionary idea: create a college that could respond to the innovations of the industrial revolution. Parsons School of Design continues to reinvent education that responds to the latest
technological and artistic possibilities, as well as social responsibilities.
In 1970, Parsons became a division of New School University. This unique institution was
founded in 1919 and is widely known for its far-thinking leaders in social research, as well as
its pioneering adult education programs. Today, New School University includes seven academic divisions, many of them concerned with the arts.
Location
With rich cultural resources, international sophistication, and cutting edge attitude, New York
City is a vibrant environment that has inspired and challenged artists and designers throughout its history. The entire city is a living example of the evolving effect art and design has
upon society.
Parsons’ faculty use New York City as an urban design laboratory to teach students to look,
learn, and feel the world around them. It is home to more than 80 museums such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and the Museum of
Modern Art. Parsons’ main campus is located in Greenwich Village, near residential neighborhoods, design studios, and multimedia companies. Applicants are encouraged to visit it.
The Faculty
Students excel with the dedication of a faculty of successful New York artists and designers.
Faculty members and visiting critics are principals in their own design firms, hold key positions in the art and design communities, and their work is frequently published like that of
architect, Eric Bunge; game designer, Katie Salen; curator, Donald Albrecht; and artist, Brian
Tolle. See faculty listings for each program.
www.parsons.edu
New School University
Academic Divisions
Parsons School of Design
Eugene Lang College
Mannes College of Music
Jazz and Contemporary Music
Program
The New School
Graduate Faculty of Political and
Social Science
Milano Graduate School of
Management and Urban Policy
Actors Studio Drama School
Program Facilities
Greenwich Village and
Midtown Campuses
Furniture and Model Shops
Rapid Prototyping,
Parsons Design Lab,
1,000 Computer Workstations
Photography and Imaging
Printmaking
Art and Design Libraries
Design Archive
Exhibition Galleries
Modeling and Animation Facilities
Digital Video and Audio Suites
Industry Partnerships
Parsons’ industry partnerships provide a unique way of exposing
students to real-world design problems. Guided by faculty members, individual students or teams take on a design assignment
given by the industry partner. Students confront the limitations of
the real world: fixed budgets, deadlines, and materials. Recent
industry and community partners include: Americorps, Apple,
Curious Pictures, the International Interior Design Association,
and MTV.
Parsons Design Lab
The Parsons Design Lab collaborates with corporations and
nonprofit organizations to deliver design research, strategy,
methodology, technology and products that solve business challenges. Top graduate students participate in Lab projects supervised by Parsons faculty. Projects often require that two or more
disciplines work together; Parsons students are trained to work
seamlessly across design areas in collaborative classes.
The Design Lab has a proven track record. In the last three
years, it has collaborated on more than three dozen projects with
corporate and nonprofit partners, including Microsoft, Siemens,
Starwood Resorts, Daimler Chrysler, Merrill Lynch, and NASA.
Exhibitions
Parsons’ exhibition program supports the School’s mission by
focusing on design innovation, interdisciplinary design, global
design, design and social responsibility, and the role of technology. Two galleries are scheduled year-round with exhibitions by
outside artists and designers, Parsons faculty, and students. A
third space, the Student Gallery, is devoted to themes and work
selected, juried, and installed by students.
Libraries
The Adam & Sophie Gimbel Library of Art and Design includes
books on art and design, special collections, and several hundred
rare books. The Library also contains a collection of mounted
plates, slide collections, and periodicals, providing information on
the history and the latest developments in fine arts and design.
The Gimbel Library has begun development of a digital image collection which will enable online access to images from Parsons’
slide collection. A consortium links the libraries of Parsons, New
School University, New York University, and The Cooper Union.
The Angelo Donghia Materials Library and Study Center, funded
by the Angelo Donghia Foundation, includes a library, a gallery,
a computer lab, and a lecture hall. The Library allows students and
faculty to review and check out state-of-the-art resources, putting the latest and most exclusive materials at their fingertips.
Housing and Food Services
The University Housing Office provides listings of available apartments and a comprehensive off-campus housing guide. The
University leases several dozen apartments for matriculating students over 21 years old. Call 212-229-5459 for further information. Dining facilities on campus offer weekday service.
Health Services
Student Health Services shares the University’s commitment
to help students reach their fullest potential. Students have access
to medical care, counseling and psychological services, preventive education, and a low-cost health insurance plan. See page 72
for more details.
Exhibitions and Public Programs planned for 2004–2005 include
The Voting Booth; Creating Their Own Image: African-American
Women Artists; Conversations: Dean Goldberger Talks to Frank
Gehry; and others. In the Spring, each department exhibits the
work of graduating students.
3
Architecture
The Department of Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting at Parsons School of Design offers a
NAAB accredited professional Master of Architecture degree that emphasizes the study of architecture as a material and cultural practice. Using the urban environment of New York as a laboratory,
the school’s rigorous curriculum integrates courses in studio, history, theory, and technology that
together investigate some of the following issues:
• The capacity of architecture to shape social interaction in space
• The relationship between space, the body, and sensory perception
• The integration of material construction and speculative design
• The impact of digital technologies and new media on design
• The ecology of technological and natural systems
The M.Arch program takes pride in its focus on research and investigation into contemporary architectural ideas and practices. The program places particular emphasis on the creative role of architects, fostering the task of translating the ordinary and the everyday into extraordinary works of
architectural invention. The program’s small size and large atelier atmosphere support an intimate
community where students can work closely with the department’s faculty of distinguished professional architects, historians, and critical theorists drawn from New York’s international design community. Students can supplement their coursework with many offerings from the other programs
within the department, including Interior Design and the Master of Arts in Lighting Design program.
In addition, students may take advantage of visual arts electives offered by other Parsons departments, as well as courses given by New School University, renowned for its focus on social and
cultural studies.
The Design Workshop focuses on materiality, detail, and form/space-making in their capacity to
reflect and direct social practice. This unique “design-build” option studio is offered in the Spring
semester of the second year. Students explore the architectural design process from concept to
actual construction over a six-month period. Recent projects include a lobby/gallery renovation for a
non-profit housing and community development group, Common Ground; a prototype field house
for the New York Public School System sponsored by another non-profit group, Take the Field; studio and gallery facilities for the New York Studio Program; the Morris Avenue Community Garden
Pavilion in the Bronx; and a number of renovations at Parsons School of Design, including the
Department of Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Design Workshop, Design Studio
IV, Athletic Equipment Storage
Facility, Grand Street Campus,
Brooklyn, NY; Sponsored by Take
the Field
Students Jarrett Boor, Frank Cruz,
John David, Brina Goldfarb,
Ted Klingensmith, Jeannie Lee,
Federico Negro, Caroline Razook,
Ryan Ward
Faculty Matthew Baird, Charles
Wolfe, Terry Erickson
Faculty
Peter Wheelwright
Chair
David J. Lewis
Director
Kimberly Ackert
Esra Akcan
Donald Albrecht
Sunil Bald
Matthew Baird
Mojdeh Baratloo
Kadambari Baxi
Eric Bunge
Dilip da Cunha
Natalie Fizer
Jean Gardner
James Garrison
Richard Gluckman
Alicia Imperiale
Ed Keller
Sulan Kolatan
Silvia Kolbowski
Giuseppe Lignano
JoAnne Lindsley
Ethan Lu
Harriet Markis
Jonathan Marvel
Michael McGough
Brian McGrath
Joanna Merwood
Luc Nadal
Greg Otto
Mitch Owen
David Piscuskas
Ivan Pollak
Mark Rakatansky
Juergen Riehm
David Rifkind
Rob Rogers
Amanda Sachs
Chris Sharples
Coren Sharples
William Sharples
Henry Smith-Miller
M. Ali Tayar
Ada Tolla
Billie Tsien
Marc Tsurumaki
Victoria Benetar Urban
Beth Weinstein
Tod Williams
Perry Winston
Charles Wolf
Hae Young Yoon
5
Jennifer Bailey, Design Studio V
Administration
Peter Wheelwright, Chair
David J. Lewis, Director,
M.Arch Program
Joanna Merwood, Director,
Public Programs
Silvia Kolbowski, Faculty Advisor,
Editor, Scapes
Advisory Board
Walter Chatham, Principal
Walter Chatham Architects
Rachel Eberts Gray, Work NYC
Alumni Representative
Ray Gastil, Executive Director
Van Alen Institute
Rosalie Genevro, Executive
Director, Architectural League
Paul Goldberger, Dean
Parsons School of Design
New Yorker Magazine
Robert Gutman, Professor
Princeton University and
Rutgers University
Joy Fedden Habian, Principal
Architecture Marketing
and Media
Reed Kroloff, Architect
Terence Riley, Curator of
Architecture Museum of
Modern Art
Billie Tsien, Principal
Williams & Tsien Architects
Bartholomew Voorsanger, FAIA,
President, AIA/New York City
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Chris Dameron, Design Studio V
M.ARCH I CURRICULUM
First Professional Degree
First Year Fall
Design Studio I
Issues & Practices of Modern Arch I
or
Modern and Postmodern Architecture
Rep & Spatial Reasoning I
Construction Technology I
First Year Spring
Design Studio II (Domesticity)
Issues & Practices of Modern Arch I
or
Imagining New York
Rep & Spatial Reasoning II
Nature in Environment
Second Year Fall
Design Studio III (Natural Systems)
Structural Technology I
Environmental Technologies
Theory of Architectural Form
Second Year Spring
Design Studio IV
(The Design Workshop option)
Structural Technology II
Construction Technology II
Elective
Third Year Fall
Design Studio V (Urban Architecture)
Research Seminar: Cities & Details
Theory of Urban Form
Elective
Third Year Spring
Design Studio VI (Thesis)
Professional Practice
Electives
Total
6
3
4
3
16
9
3
3
3
18
9
3
3
3
18
9
3
3
3
18
9
3
3
3
18
9
3
6
18
106
M.ARCH II CURRICULUM
Post-Professional Degree
First Year Spring
Design Studio IV
(The Design Workshop option)
Construction Technology II
Electives
Second Year Fall
Design Studio V (Urban Architecture)
Research Seminar: Cities & Details
Theory of Urban Form
Elective
Second Year Spring
Design Studio VI (Thesis)
Electives
Total
9
3
6
18
9
3
3
3
18
9
9
18
54
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Curriculum
The Master of Architecture curriculum is committed to the integration of design, theory, technology, and practice. The design
studio, the core of the curriculum, uses New York City and its
environs as a context for the exploration of the natural and social
ecologies which inform contemporary urban issues. The studio
sequence challenges students to respond to the diverse formal
and cultural demands imposed by a range of architectural issues
including site, context, structure, construction, and program.
Studio work, as well as a diverse range of interdisciplinary electives in history, theory, and technology, highlight architecture’s
pivotal role in shaping culture.
Facilities and Resources
The heart of the Architecture program is the large, open studio loft
where students develop design projects in interaction with faculty
and peers. The 5,000 square foot space is supported by wireless
digital technology allowing for direct access for printing and plotting from students’ desks to the adjacent 25-station computer laboratories. A curated material library and staffed model shop are
also located adjacent to the studio. Use of the fabrication shops in
the Fine Arts Department located above the studio is encouraged
and promotes important exchanges with MFA graduate students
as well. The department’s facilities are augmented by an extensive collection of books, periodicals, and slides, housed at the
Adam and Sophie Gimbel Library of Art and Design. In addition, a
consortium membership gives Parsons students access to the
libraries of The Cooper Union and New York University. Among the
department’s greatest resources is New York City itself. Located
in the heart of downtown Greenwich Village, Parsons School of
Design is fortunate to be situated at the very crossroads of New
York’s vibrant architecture and design communities where students frequent museums, galleries, and lectures.
Preparation for Admission
Accredited by the New York State Board of Regents in 1990
and by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) in
1994, Parsons’ Architecture Program offers two professional
degree options.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Students with a four-year undergraduate degree in a non-architecture major pursue a three-year (106-credit) course of study
leading to a First Professional Degree. Prior to entry in the threeyear program, these students are required to take one collegelevel course in calculus and one in physics, and at least one
course in the history of architecture. It is also required that students without a design background prepare by taking the
Parsons Summer Intensive Studio in Architectural Drawing and
Modeling or an equivalent course elsewhere.
Students that already hold a B.Arch First Professional degree, or
a foreign equivalent, typically enroll in the one and a half-year
Post Professional degree program (54 credits), a flexible course
of study that allows each student to custom design his/her
coursework to suit academic interests. This course of study
begins in the spring semester and continues for three semesters, allowing students to take advantage of the Design
Workshop studio and the chance to spend a summer working
in New York City between years of study.
To fully engage the design studio, students are required to have
a laptop upon entering the program. Contact the department for
specifications.
Pre-Architecture Studies for Visiting Students
This one- or two-semester course of study is an introduction to
architectural design intended for Liberal Arts graduates wishing
to focus on design, drawing, and portfolio preparation. Students
may enter in the fall.
Design Studio I & II
Representation and Analysis I & II
History of Architecture I & II
Elements of Architecture
Technological Studies
Portfolio Preparation
Architecture Elective
F
5
3
3
3
1
3
18
S
5
3
3
3
3
17
Visiting the Department
Applicants to the Master of Architecture or Pre-Architecture programs are encouraged to visit the department and to attend final
reviews in mid-December and early May. Call 212-229-8955 to
make arrangements.
NAAB Statement
In the U.S., most state registration boards require a degree from
an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for
licensure. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB),
which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional
degree programs in architecture, recognizes two types of
degrees: the Bachelor of Architecture and the Master of
Architecture. A program may be granted a five-year, three-year,
or two-year term of accreditation, depending on its degree of
conformance with established educational standards.
Master’s degree programs may consist of a pre-professional
undergraduate degree and a professional graduate degree,
which, when earned sequentially, comprise an accredited professional education. The pre-professional degree is not, by itself,
recognized as an accredited degree.
Lectures, Symposia and Exhibitions
Each semester the department sponsors a rich and diverse
series of public events. The annual Interface series is comprised
of student invited and moderated conversations with leading
practitioners and theorists.
Lectures 1998–2004
Paola Antonelli, curator, Department of Architecture and
Design, Museum of Modern Art
Kimberly Ackert, Ackert Architecture
Sunil Bald, studioSUMO
Diana Balmori, Balmori Associates
Julie Bargmann, D.I.R.T. Studio
Heather Carson, Penn State
Lise Anne Couture, Columbia University, Studio Asymptote
Dilip Da Cunha, Mathur/Da Cunha
Peggy Deamer, Deamer + Phillips
Elizabeth Diller and Ric Scofidio, D+S
Winka Dubbledam, Architectonics
Keller Easterling, Yale University
Peter Eisenman, Eisenman Architects
Natalie Fizer and Glenn Forley, Fizer/Forley Design
Ken Frampton, Columbia University
Hal Foster, Princeton University
James Garrison, Garrison Architects
Richard Gluckman, Gluckman Mayner Architects
Charles Gwathmey, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates
Paul Haigh, Haigh Architects + Designers Studio
Steven Holl, Columbia University
Thomas Herzog, Herzog + Partner
Sulan Kolatan, Kolatan/MacDonald Studio
Laura Kurgan, Princeton University
Sal Larosa, B5 Studio
Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
William McDonough
Richard Meier
Michael Morris and Yoshiko Sato, Morris Sato Studio
Herbert Muschamp, architecture critic, The New York Times
Enrique Norten, TEN Arquitectos
Joan Ockman, Columbia University
David Piscuskas and Juergen Riehm, 1100 Architects
Terence Riley, curator of architecture and design,
Museum of Modern Art
Lyn Rice, OpenOffice
Rob Rogers ad Jonathan Marvel, Rogers Marvel Architects
Julia Scher, artist
William Sharples, SHoP
Henry Smith-Miller and Laurie Hawkinson
Galia Solomonoff, OpenOffice
Michael Sorkin, architect and author
Suzanne Stephens, editor, Architectural Record
Susan S. Szenasy, editor, Metropolis
Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano, LOT/EKarchitecture
Bernard Tschumi, Columbia University
Billie Tsien, Williams Tsien & Associates
Judith Turner, architectural photographer
Rafael Viñoly, Architects
Tod Williams, Williams Tsien & Associates
9
Marica McKeel, Design Studio I
First Year
The Design Studio sequence constitutes the core of the architecture program. Design Studio I introduces students to fundamental architectural issues—form, program, site, and structure—
through a series of design and analytical projects that emphasize
the inventive and conceptual dimension of architectural design
and research. Design Studio II addresses architecture’s role in
constructing contemporary social relationships by asking students to reconsider one of the most familiar architectural
spaces—the home. Students also enroll in Representation and
Spatial Reasoning I and II. This year-long course explores techniques of architectural representation in order to develop a student’s critical ability to think, draw, and analyze architecture,
pursuing both analogue and digital technologies simultaneously.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Students complement their studies with Issues and Practices of
Modern Architecture I which introduces a systematic way of
examining and interpreting the built environment, and Issues and
Practices of Modern Architecture II (Modern and Postmodern
Architecture) which looks at the history of 20th century architecture using New York City as a constant reference. To address the
differing backgrounds of students, those that do not have an
undergraduate degree in architecture begin with the more historically based Issues and Practices II in the fall semester. In the fall
semester, students take Construction Technology I which
immerses them in the material, structural, and constructional
aspect of architecture at the start of their studies. In the spring
semester, students have the opportunity to take the theory
course, Nature in Environment, which foregrounds the cultural
understandings of nature and environment as an essential prelude to future studies in ecology and sustainable design.
John Chung, Design Studio III
Cynthia Grieshofer, Design Studio VI
Second Year
Third Year
In Design Studio III students execute designs for modestly
scaled buildings in relationship to landscape conditions. Calling
into question traditional oppositions between nature and culture,
this problem invites students to explore the complex conjunction
between design, technology, and sustainability. Design Studio III
is taught in close collaboration with the Environmental
Technology and Structural Technology courses, in order to help
facilitate students’ understandings of the environmental and
structural questions that the design and siting of buildings
entails. In the fall semester, students take Theory of Architectural
Form which introduces them to contemporary theories of architecture with an emphasis on post-1968 developments in architectural thought and criticism, including structuralism,
deconstruction, post-colonialism, and digital theory.
During Design Studio V, a visiting critic presents a thematic urban
and architectural problem related to his/her specific field of interest. At the same time, students enroll in Research Seminar:
Cities and Details, a course designed to pre-stage the final thesis
semester. The topic of discussion ranges from urban issues to
specific details, and the intensity and high level of engagement
sets a precedent for establishing methods of individualized work
to be completed during the final studio. Students complete the
last of the required theory courses in the fall semester with
Theory of Urban Form, designed to give a critical overview of
modern urban development and to complement Design Studio V.
Design Studio IV (Design Workshop) offers students the rare studio opportunity to collectively follow a project from schematic
design through construction. Taken in conjunction with
Construction Technology II, this studio focuses on how materials
and construction shape our cultural and tactile understanding of
space. Students who do not take the Design Workshop have a
studio co-taught by an architect and an engineer, which focuses
on the increasingly sophisticated and creative synergy between
these two fields. This project mirrors the Design Workshop in its
emphasis on technical and material invention and is also paired
with Construction Technology II. The second year is where students also undertake a year-long course in structural statics and
materials: Structures I and Structures II.
Design Studio VI offers students the opportunity to execute an
independent thesis within the structure of a supervised studio
devoted to the investigation of a specific program and a New
York City site. The flexibility of this studio allows each student to
pursue their individual interests while requiring them to resolve
formal, programmatic, and technical requirements posed by a
complex multi-functional urban building. In this final semester,
students take Professional Practice, which allows them to graduate and enter the professional world with this material fresh in
their minds.
11
Electives
Students are entitled to take four elective courses. They are
encouraged to take at least two electives within the Architecture
Department and two outside the department. These may be
selected from other Parsons graduate course offerings or from
other divisions of the New School, including the Graduate School
of Management and Urban Policy as well as the Graduate Faculty.
Faculty
Peter Wheelwright, Department Chair. Principal,
PMWArchitects. Published: Progressive Architecture,
Architecture, Metropolitan Home, Metropolis, New York Times,
Ottagono, Architectural Record, Journal of Architectural
Education, ACSA Journal. Lectures & Exhibitions: Seaside
Institute, Municipal Arts Society of NY, Van Alen Institute,
Architectural League of NY, MIT, Lawrence Tech University.
BA, Trinity College; M.Arch, Princeton University.
David J. Lewis, Director, M.Arch Program. Principal,
Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis. Published: Architecture, Architectural
Record, Architectural Review, Frame, ID magazine, Interiors,
Metropolis, New York Times. Lectures & exhibitions: SFMoma,
Van Alen Institute, Architectural League of NY, UVA, Sci-Arc, UC
Berkeley, Ohio State University, Cornell, Syracuse, University of
Pennsylvania. BA, Carleton College; MA, Cornell University;
M.Arch, Princeton University.
Joanna Merwood, Director, Public Programs. Published:
“Western Architecture: The Inland Architect, Race, Class and
Architectural Identity,” “Chicago is History,” “The Mechanization
of Cladding: The Reliance Building and Narratives of Modern
Architecture,” Grey Room, vol. 4. Awards: Temple Hoyne Buell
Center for the Study of American Architecture, Dissertation
Colloquium Speaker, May 2001; Howard Crosby Butler Summer
Traveling Fellowship, Princeton University. B.Arch, Victoria
University of Wellington; M.Arch, McGill University; MA,
Princeton University; Ph.D, Princeton University.
Esra Ackan, architect. Awards: Mellon Foundation Scholarship,
DAAD Fellowship, KRESS/Arit Fellowship, Columbia University
GSAPP Scholarship for Ph.D, “Cem Culkture House for Alevis”
Competition, Special Mention “Memorial for Artists Burned in
Sivas” Competition. BA, M.Arch, Middle East Technical
University, Ankara; M.Phil, Ph.D candidate, Columbia University.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Kimberly Ackert, architect. Principle, Ackert Architects.
Awards: Mercedes T. Bass Rome Prize in Architecture.
Published: 40 Under 40, New York Times Magazine, Green
Architecture USA, Interiors, Architectural Review, Architecture
Australia, House & Garden. Projects: Monier Design
Commission, Villa Almonte Sea Ranch, Faith Assembly Church.
Sunil Bald, architect. Partner, studioSUMO. Awards: Young
Architects, ACSA, Fulbright, AIA. Published: Architecture,
Architectural Record, Frame, GA Houses, Wallpaper, Domus,
Oculus. Lectures and exhibits: Project Row Houses, Houston;
GA Gallery, Tokyo; Young Architects Forum at the National
Building Museum, Washington, DC and the Urban Center, New
York; University of Texas in Austin; Parsons School of Design;
Cornell University. Education: BA, University of California Santa
Cruz; M.Arch, Columbia University.
Matthew Baird, architect. Principal, Matthew Baird Design.
Projects: Museum of American Folk Art (with Williams Tsien &
Associates). BA, Princeton University; M.Arch, Columbia
University.
Modjeh Baratloo, architect. Author, ANGST Cartography.
Published: Violated Perfection, New York Nomadic Design,
AU. Awards: New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, NY
Chapter/AIA. Projects: “Monumental Propaganda,” exhibition
design; “Material World,” installation; “Rooftop Urban Park,”
Dia Foundation with Dan Graham. BSA, University of Michigan;
M.Arch, University of Michigan.
Kadambari Baxi, architect. Principal, Martin/Baxi Architects. Young
Architects Award. Exhibits: American Academy in Rome; Paul
Morris Gallery. Published: Propositions: Interim 2-3-4, Documents
Interim Projects. B.Arch, Center for Environmental Planning and
Technology, India; MS, Pratt; MPS, Tisch School of Arts.
Eric Bunge, AIA. Principal, nARCHITECTS. Exhibitions: MoMA/P.S. 1
Young Architects, 2004; Economy of the Earth, ArchiLab 2002,
Orleans, France; New Hotels for Global Nomads, Cooper-Hewitt
Museum; Process in Contemporary Canadian Architecture, Ottawa
Gallery. Awards: Young Architects Forum Prize, NYFA Grant.
Published: Earth Buildings, City Limits: Young Architects 3,
Metropolis, Architectural Record, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui.
B.Arch, McGill University; M.Arch II, Harvard University.
Dilip da Cunha, architect and city planner. Principal, Mathur/da
Cunha. Lecturer, University of Pennsylvania. Published:
“Mississippi Floods: Designing a Shifting Landscape.” B.Arch,
Bangalore University; M.Housing, SPA, New Delhi; MCP, MIT;
Ph.D, University of California Berkeley.
Silvia Kolbowski, multimedia artist and editor, Scapes.
Exhibitions: Whitney Museum, American Fine Arts Gallery,
California College of Arts and Crafts, Hamburg Kunstverein.
Awards: NEA, NYFA. Published: Art In America, ARTFORUM,
New York Times, Domus, Assemblage. BS, Hunter College.
Jean Gardner, architecture and landscape historian. Founding
member: Environment ’90, Earth Environmental Group. Author:
“Urban Wilderness: Nature in New York City.” Teaching experience: Columbia University, Pratt, Cornell. BA, Smith College; MA,
Columbia University.
Giuseppe Lignano, architect. Partner, LOT/EKarchitecture.
Award: Emerging Voices. Exhibits: Gramercy Art Fair, Henry
Urbach Architecture, Deitch Projects. Published: Urban Scan,
Architecture, Oculus, Domus, Interior Design, New York Times.
Graduates, School of Architecture Universita’ di Napoli, Italy.
Postgraduate studies, Columbia University.
James Garrison, architect. Principal, Garrison Siegel Architects.
Projects: Syracuse University School of Architecture; Bard
College Alumni House, awarded by AIA National Concrete
Masonry Association; U.S. Embassy, Oman. Taught at Columbia
University. B.Arch, Syracuse University.
Richard Gluckman, principal, Gluckman Mayner Architects.
Projects: The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; The Picasso
Museum, Malaga, Spain; The Mori Art Center, Tokyo; the
Philadelphia Museum of Art. Published: Space Framed: Richard
Gluckman Architect, 2000. FAIA, B.Arch, M.Arch, Syracuse
University.
Alicia Imperiale, architect and artist. Published: “New Flatness:
Surface Tension” in Digital Architecture, “digital skins: architecture of surface” in SKIN: Surface, Substance and Design, and
“Fluid Alliances,” in LOG. Lectures: ARCHILAB, 2002, the New
Museum, the ETH of Zurich, the Heinz Architectural Center of
the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, the Polytechnic of
Milan. B.Arch, MFA in Combined Media.
Ed Keller, designer, writer, architect, musician/multimedia artist.
Lectures: 1993–2001 on architecture, film and digital media at
Harvard, Pratt, Princeton, Univ. Ramon Llull, BCN, Columbia Univ.
GSAP, Parsons, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Rensselaer Polytechnic,
Iowa State, Ohio State, and Rice. Published: ANY, AD, Arquine,
Guggenheim Museum Publications, Leonardo Electronic
Almanac, Architecture, Parpaings, Precis, Wired, Metropolis,
Assemblage, and Progressive Architecture.
Sulan Kolatan, principal, Kolatan/MacDonald Studio. Awards:
International Festival for Media & Architecture, Graz; William
Kinne Fellow, AIA Projects Citation. Published worldwide. Diplom
Ingenieur Rheinisch-West-faelische Technische Hochschule
Aachen; MS, Columbia University.
Ethan Lu, architect and urban designer, Awards: Burton
Kampner Award from University of Michigan; the Lucille Smyser
Lowenfish Prize Honor Award; Excellence in Design from
Columbia University. Projects: Long Island City’s Midtown East
Queens development, sustainable design guidelines for Hudson
River Park Trust and Battery Park City Authority, Design for
Environment Committee of the New York City Transit’s 2nd
Avenue Subway proposal. BS, University of Michigan; M.Arch,
Harvard University; MS, Columbia University.
Harriet Markis P. E., Structural Engineer; Partner at Dunne &
Markis Consulting Structural Engineers. Professional Affiliations:
A.S.C.E., SeoNY. BSCE, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; M.Eng,
Cornell University.
Michael McGough, vice president, Laszlo Bodak Engineer, PC.
Managing Director of LBE International, Ltd. Registered
Professional Engineer in the State of New York; Certified Expert
Witness in Forensic Engineering. Affiliations: American Society
of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers, National Fire
Protection Association. BSME, Columbia University.
Brian McGrath, architect. The Transparent City: Mapping Urban
Change and Conflict in Rome and New York. B.Arch, Syracuse
University; M.Arch, Princeton University. Attended the Institute
for Architecture and Urban Studies, New York.
Luc Nadal, architect and scholar. Awards: Buell Writing Prize,
Barclay Bibbs Jones nomination, Lavoisier and Monbusho
Scholarships. Published: Les Lumieres de la Ville, L’Architecture
d’Aujourd’hui, Arch + Zeitschrift. Education: Diploma, Architecte
DPLG, La Villette School of Architecture, France; M.Phil, Ph.D,
Columbia University.
13
Mitchell B. Owen, partner, Consolidated Design Studios, LTD,
specializing in residential and retail design. BS, Georgia Institute
of Technology; M.Arch, Princeton University; MA in Architectural
History, Theory, and Criticism, Princeton University; Ph.D candidate, Princeton University.
Greg Otto, structural engineer. Senior Engineer, Buro Happold
Consulting Engineers. Projects: Los Angeles Natural History
Museum, Los Angeles, CA (Steven Holl Architects); Genzyme
Headquarters, Cambridge, MA (Behnisch, Behnisch Partners);
Trettin Residence, Aspen, CO (ShoP – Sharples Holden
Pasquarelli); San Jose State University Art Museum, San Jose,
CA (WW – Witte Whiting); Avery Fischer Hall Renovation, New
York, NY (Norman Foster and Partners); Northpoint, Parcel N,
Cambridge, MA (Behnisch, Behnisch Partners). Education:
Kansas State University, Cooper Union and Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
David Piscuskas, architect. Partner, 1100 Architect. Awards:
New York City and State chapters of the AIA design awards for
the renovation of the Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin
High School; MoMA Design stores; Irish Hunger Memorial in
Battery Park City. BA, Brown University, Rhode Island School of
Design; M. Arch, UCLA.
Ivan Pollak, licensed mechanical engineer and principal, I.P.
Group. Previously with Flack + Kurtz and Jansen & Rogan.
Has consulted in Germany and Croatia. BS, MS, University of
Zagreb, Croatia.
Mark Rakatansky, Principal, Mark Rakatansky Studio. Awards:
Emerging Voices, I.D., National Competition for Street Trees, 100
Annual, PRINT Digital Design, Progressive Architecture.
Published: ANY, A+U, Assemblage, Camerawork, Columbia
Document, Competitions, Harvard Architecture Review, Journal
of Philosophy and Visual Arts, Louisiana Revy, Sharawadgi,
Space Design, Strategies in Architectural Thinking. BA, UC Santa
Cruz; M.Arch, UC Berkeley.
Juergen Riehm, architect. Partner, 1100 Architect. Awards: New
York City and State chapters of the AIA design awards for the
renovation of the Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin
High School; MoMA Design stores; Irish Hunger Memorial in
Battery Park City. Education: Diploma in Architecture from
Fachhochschule Rheinland-Pfalz in Trier, Germany (1977), the
Stadelschule, Academy of Fine Arts, Frankfurt A.M.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
David Rifkind, Partner, Holly Zickler David Rifkind Architecture.
B.Arch, Boston Architectural Center; M.Arch, McGill University;
Ph.D candidate, Columbia University.
Chris Sharples, Principal, ShoP (Sharples Holden Pasquarelli).
Awards: Wired Magazine Rave Award; Finalist, National Design
Award, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Emerging
Voices, The Architecture League of New York; Progressive
Architecture Citation; MoMA/P.S. 1 Summer Installation.
Published: Versioning, Architecture, Architectural Record, New
York Times, Oculus, Interior Design. BFA, Dickenson College;
M.Arch, Columbia University.
Coren Sharples, Principal, ShoP (Sharples Holden Pasquarelli).
BS, University of Maryland; M.Arch, Columbia University.
William Sharples, Principal, SHoP (Sharples Holden Pasquarelli).
BAE, Pennsylvania State University; M.Arch, Columbia
University.
M. Ali Tayar, principal, Parallel Design Partnership Ltd.
Exhibitions: Wexner Center for the Arts, Gansevoort Gallery;
MoMA; Gallery Neotu, Paris. Published: Interior Design, I.D.,
New York Times, Elle Décor, Metropolitan Home, New York
Magazine. Diplom Ingenieur, Universitaet Stuttgart, Germany;
MS, MIT.
Ada Tolla, architect. Partner, LOT/EKarchitecture. Award:
Emerging Voices. Exhibits: Gramercy Art Fair, Henry Urbach
Architecture, Deitch Projects. Published: Urban Scan,
Architecture, Oculus, Domus, Interior Design, New York Times.
Graduates, School of Architecture Universita’ di Napoli, Italy.
Postgraduate studies, Columbia University.
Marc Tsurumaki, architect. Awards: I.D. Magazine–Environments,
Young Architects. Exhibition: Storefront for Art and Architecture.
Published: L’Arca, Architecture, Architectural Record,
Architectural Review, AI: Architecture and Ideas, ArtForum,
Assemblage, Frame, I.D., Interiors, Metropolis, Progressive
Architecture. Lectures & exhibitions: SFMoma, Van Alen
Institute, Architectural League of NY, UVA, Sci-Arc, UC Berkeley,
Ohio State University, Cornell University, Syracuse, University of
Pennsylvania. Education: BS, University of Virginia; M.Arch,
Princeton University.
Caroline Razook, Design Studio VI
Victoria Benetar Urban, architect. Member, Colegio de
Ingenieros de Venezuela. Arch. Diploma, Universidad Central
de Venezuela.
Beth Weinstein, architect. Principal, Architecture Agency.
Published: Journal of Architectural Education Exhibitions: Beyond
the Gowanus Expressway, Van Alen Institute, NYC; Silent
Amplification Competition Exhibition, Young Architects Forum,
AIA National Convention, Dallas; Bathroom, Group Exhibition
curated by Wayne Koestembaum, Thomas Healy Gallery, NYC;
Henry Urbach Architecture Gallery, Gramercy Int’l Contemporary
Arts Fair, Miami; “Conduits + Communication”, Competitions,
“Anticipating the Big Dig”, Kira Gould. BFA, Syracuse University;
M.Arch, Columbia University
Charles Wolf, architect. Partner, Dean/Wolf Architects.
Published: Architectural Record, Oculus, Progressive
Architecture, Architecture. Awards include: Forty under Forty,
Record Houses, Architectural Record, Young Architects,
Progressive Architecture. Education: BAS, Washington
University; M.Arch, University of Oregon.
Hae Young Yoon, architect. Partner, MRY, architectural design
and 3-D CAD consulting office. Clients: Vignelli Design; Saks
Fifth Avenue; Radio City Music Hall; Peter Eisenman Architects;
Alice Aycock; HTI International; Chemical Bank; Art & Life Retail,
Seoul, Korea; Deamer + Phillips Architects. Education: BFA,
Parsons School of Design.
Perry Winston, architect. Senior Architect: Pratt Planning
and Architectural Collaborative, where he works on affordable
housing and community development. Documentary film
“Bordersville” aired on PBS. Frequent contributor, Design
Book Review. Education: BA, Harvard; M.Arch, Rice University.
15
Design & Technology
Technology in a Global Society
The Design and Technology program offers students an opportunity to respond to the social and
cultural dimensions of technological change. Students experience first-hand what to expect in
a wired 21st century world, exploring connections between networks, interactions, products, and
stories. Drawing from the past and looking to the future, these concerns form the foundation for
a program of study in Design and Technology.
One of the great contemporary challenges of any design program is balancing the diversity of perspective with the sharpness of a personal point of view. The program teaches students to engage
broadly with the social and ethical considerations arising from technology’s proliferation in today’s
society while working to define their own work and practice within one or more specific domains.
The Program as a Whole. Introduction.
The MFA program in Design and Technology explores the design implications of emerging
technology on both the practice and process of design. Here the ideas of design and technology are
explored in tandem, within a curriculum pairing visual, interactive, and narrative concerns with the
practice of programming and computation. The impact and significance of design and technology as
a context for innovation is studied from a range of perspectives, including social, economic, political,
cultural, environmental, historical, ergonomic, and psychological. The thinking that results from this
structure allows students to conceptualize and create dynamic systems. This approach has become
a hallmark of the program and uniquely prepares students for research and work within a range of
design contexts upon graduation.
Alumni
Design and Technology graduates can be found working in an extensive array of art and design
practices. A recent graduate in time-based media was the technical director on Shrek 2 for
PDI/Dreamworks. Several students hold directing, producing and design positions in broadcast
design and animation at MTV, Nickelodeon, Curious Pictures and R/GA. In game design, alums hold
lead design positions at companies like Electronic Arts, studios like gameLab, and have started their
own indie game development firms like Large Animal Games. Design and Technology interaction
designers can be found at AOL, Frog Design, Pentagram and Apple. In the arts, students have won
awards at Ars Electronica and worked with the sponsorship of arts organizations like Eyebeam and
Creative Time. Other graduates hold professorships at University of Wisconsin, University of
Massachusetts, Texas A&M, and teach at design schools locally and abroad.
http://dt.parsons.edu
http://a.parsons.edu/~juliaset
Munish Dabas, Kuku!
The Emotional Robot,
3D animated short
Faculty
Colleen Macklin
Chair
Katie Salen
Director
Mary Donovan
Assistant Chair
Joao Amorim
J.Z. Barrell
John Blackford
Mitchell Butler
Louisa Campbell
David Carroll
Mauro Cavelletti
Adam Chapman
Jim Costanzo
Anthony Deen
Andrea Dezso
Doug Diaz
Mollie Doyle
Nicholas Fortugno
Ze Frank
Morry Galonoy
Yuri Gitman
Joshua Goldberg
Rachel Johnson
Christopher Kirwan
Frank Lantz
Peter Lee
Zachary Lieberman
Colleen Macklin
Jonathon Marcus
Barbara Morris
Karen Nourse
Nancy Nowacek
Steve Oakes
Stephanie Owens
Nina Paley
Scott Paterson
Gregory Petroff
Igor Pusenjak
Melissa Rachleff
Eric Redlinger
Chris Romero
Katie Salen
Jun Sassa
Anezka Sebek
Sabine Seymour
John Sharp
Karen Sideman
Mark Stafford
Marko Tandefelt
Sven Travis
Michael Waldron
Loretta Wolozin
Eric Zimmerman
Marina Zurkow
17
The Student Experience
Industry Partnerships
From the day a student enters the program, the process of responding to the implications of
emerging technology through design is at the core of his or her investigation. Design is seen as
serving more than a visual function: it is a mechanism for producing culture, for developing
communities, shaping knowledge organization, creating entrepreneurial structures, and triggering
social consciousness. Situated in the midst of New York City’s vibrant art and design scene, the
program encourages students to take their work to the streets, to engage real people, audiences,
and communities in their explorations. From bicycles that create Wi-Fi hotspots for locals at a
neighborhood park, to walking tours mediated through pdas and cell phones, to animations projected on the side of buildings, the work becomes a living and breathing part of the city. Whether
interested in the commercial realm, academe or fine arts, graduates take into the world more than
an expanded technology skill-set. They bring the creative, intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual
abilities to shape the future in meaningful ways.
Aid to Artisans
AIGA
Apple
Bertlesmann
Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian
Creative Time
Curious Pictures
Deep Dish Television
Ericsson Cyberlab
Estée Lauder
Eyebeam
Franklin Furnace
Gamelab
Human Rights Watch
Microsoft
MTV
NASA
New Museum
R/GA
Samsung
Siemens
Sensable Technologies
UNESCO
UNICEF
Univision
Vespa
Whitney Museum
The curriculum relies on a diverse population of students and faculty, as well as an open, flexible
structure. No student who comes into the program has the same curricular experience as any other;
the program is currently designed to allow maximum choice for students in determining which
classes—and areas of research—to pursue. Students produce a Master’s thesis in the second year
of study, which culminates in an exhibition at the Parsons galleries. For examples of work from the
Spring 2004 exhibition visit: http://mfadt2004.parsons.edu.
Admissions and Preparation
Backgrounds of students in the program
Students that come into our program rarely have a background in design and technology—such
an approach is simply too new. Instead students enter with a range of professional and educational
experiences behind them. They come from interactive design, architecture, film and media studies,
graphic design, new media art, computer science, and the social sciences, for example. Their
geographical roots are equally diverse: students come from countries such as Japan, Malaysia,
Brazil, Switzerland, Canada, Iceland, as well as the U.S. This rich diversity is one of the true
strengths of the program, as personal and professional contexts mix and merge to create dynamic
systems of their own.
Parsons Digital Boot Camp
The Digital Boot Camp is a month-long summer program designed to enable students to enter
the fall semester with technical confidence, so they can focus on the conceptual and pragmatic
concerns of the design process. Visit: http://bootcamp.parsons.edu for more information.
http://dt.parsons.edu
http://mfadt2004.parsons.edu
http://bootcamp.parsons.edu
Federico Urdaneta,
The Submoves, web design
MFA CURRICULUM
First Year Summer (pre-entry)
Boot Camp (required for some)
(3)
First Year Fall
Major Studio I: Interface
Collaboration Studio I
Creativity and Computation
Support Electives (1–2)
6
3
3
6
15 –18
First Year Spring
Major Studio II: Core Topic (Narrative,
Computation, Interactivity)
Collaboration Studio II
Academic Elective
Support Electives (1–2)
Second Year Fall
Thesis Studio I
Collaboration Studio III
Thesis Writing Laboratory
Support Electives (1–2)
Second Year Spring
Thesis Studio II
Academic Elective
Support Electives (1–2)
6
3
3
6
15 –18
6
3
3
3
15 –18
7
3
6
13 –15
Total
http://a.parsons.edu/~fu/submoves/
64
19
Becky Ha, Spoiled Rotten
3D animated short
A University Curriculum
Students are encouraged to seek a university-wide experience
by taking advantage of offerings in other departments. Students
might work on a digital film by enlisting directors or actors from
the Actor’s Studio, for example, or by collaborating with students
in the Creative Writing Program. They might take courses in
usability, international affairs, or sustainability and urban ecology.
The Science, Technology, and Society group at Lang or the
Experimental Psychology program at the Graduate Faculty offers
other alternatives.
The Program of Study
Advancing the Field: Symposia
Students complete individual and collaborative studio projects that
demonstrate aesthetic and intellectual refinement as well as technical mastery, and which prepare them in a variety of ways for the
work they will do in the real world upon graduation. Ongoing relationships with an array of corporate, government, educational, and
non-profit organizations ensure a working environment that is
both technically current and socially relevant. Parsons’ Design Lab
is also a key link to these entrepreneurial projects. Industry
Partnerships include: Aid to Artisans, AIGA, Apple, Bertlesmann,
Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian, Creative Time, Curious Pictures,
Ericsson Cyberlab, Estee Lauder, Eyebeam, Franklin Furnace,
GameLab, Human Rights Watch, Microsoft, MTV, NASA, New
Museum, R/GA, Samsung, Siemens, Sensable Technologies,
UNESCO, Unicef, Univision, Whitney Museum of Art.
As part of its work in advancing the field, the program has
organized a number of key symposia.
Storming the Playground (2003), attended by more than 600
students, game developers, and new media producers, was an
evening symposium marking the launch of Rules of Play: Game
Design Fundamentals, authored by program director Katie Salen
and faculty member Eric Zimmerman. The event brought together a panel of game industry luminaries, including game designer
Warren Spector (Ion Storm), game journalist Jane Pinckard
(GameGirl Advance), and game theorist McKenzie Wark (The
New School) in dialogue around the themes raised by the book.
This event followed the success of two previous symposia,
Excavating the Archive: New Technologies of Memory (2000),
and Re:Play: Game Design + Game Culture (2000).
http://dt.parsons.edu
The graduate program in Design and Technology brings together
the academic and creative expertise of the Department of
Design and Technology with the wider art and design community
at Parsons School of Design and the depth of academic
resources of the New School University as a whole. While the
curriculum is studio-based, critical thinking is at the heart of the
program as is an emphasis on design process and methods. It is
this combination of making, thinking, and writing that forms the
triad of the Design and Technology experience.
Pathways
Four Course Types
Within the broad scope of the MFA program students can direct
their course of study along a range of suggested pathways,
which include:
Major Studio
Central to the program is the core studio known as the “Major
Studio.” The studio is devoted to the conceptual and creative
process in design, and students develop their own body of work.
Animation From 2D to 3D, from flash, cel, or stop motion, the
Animation pathway focuses on the concepts and practices of
storytelling within animated media.
Interface and Interaction Design Students work toward producing effective and meaningful interactivity within products, screenbased experiences, and physical spaces.
Game Design Students can focus their attention on the design
of games, levels and characters, or work with game technologies, including game engines, motion capture systems, and
game programming languages.
Digital Filmmaking This pathway allows students to explore the
concept of digital cinema and time-based media, including short
and long-form film/video, documentary, motion graphics, special
effects and new media installation.
Physical Interfaces Connecting real world space and interaction
with virtual objects and activities is the focus of the Physical
Interfaces pathway.
Design and Computation The pathway in computation gives
students the opportunity to dig deeply into the realm of programming and the possibilities of code as an expressive medium.
Information Design (offered jointly with Communication Design)
This pathway offers a concentration in information design, which
focuses on an understanding of the informational, communicative, and experiential qualities of representational data.
Degree Requirements
The curriculum is a two-year, full-time 64-credit program. Students
can elect to undertake a general degree or, by selection of electives, to focus on a particular pathway. Every student undertakes
a two-semester Master’s Thesis in their second year.
Major Studio: Interface This course is the primary introduction
to the creation of work within a design and technology context
and should be seen as the interface for MFADT core topics —
Narrative, Computation, and Interactivity— as well as the tripartite of the program—design, technology, and society.
Major Studio: Narrative The Major Studio in Narrative focuses
on the exploration of new narrative possibilities within timebased media, including animation, cinematic space, documentary
film and video, broadcast graphics, movie titles, information
broadcast, and video on the Internet.
Major Studio: Interaction Students in this major studio may
focus in the design of “screen-based” experiences, or on
discovering new ways of allowing people to interact with the
physical world.
Major Studio: Computation The Major Studio in Computation
has the art of code at its heart, and serves to teach students the
ins and outs of creating code-driven systems to create new
forms of design.
Collaboration Studios
The Collab studio pairs teams of students with industry partners
to undertake real-world projects. Past projects and partners
include Human Rights Watch, Microsoft, New Museum, Unicef,
Port Authority of NY/NJ, NASA, SIGGRAPH, and Eyebeam.
Media range from wireless applications, websites, CD-ROMs
and kiosks, to experimental installations. Some examples of
recent collaborations include:
Games Get Real: Siemens Interface Collaborative
In this Collab studio students worked with members of a
research team in human factors from Siemens Corporation interested in studying game interfaces as a way to redesign software
for use in industry.
Wireless Bikes and Urbanites
This hands-on class superimposes pervasive computing and contemporary art, and is structured around the meta concept of
“transitory hotspots” and in particular “wireless bicycle hotspots.”
21
Motion Studio
The Motion Studio’s goals are to research and create a new
motion tracking and capture system. Working in research teams
students explore low cost, state-of-the-art motion capture technologies based on motion from video image technologies for
animation, games and performance.
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum:
Interactivity Guides
In this collaboration with the Cooper Hewitt National Design
Museum students work to create “Interactivity Guides” that
support Activity Guides—printed booklets used by museum
teachers with the groups of children who visit the exhibitions.
Academic Electives
Academic Electives expose students to the theories, methodologies, and development processes that contemporary design and
technology projects require. Because of the diversity of the
MFADT student population, these courses tend to look at design
and technology from a variety of cultural perspectives. The location of the school within NYC encourages additional cultural
cross-pollination. The following is a sampling of Academic
Elective offerings:
Playspaces: Public Space as Play(full) Environment
This course explores play as a policy of design in configuring
public spaces and the social realm as a whole.
Sound Thinking: Experiments in Sound and Syntax
This course explores sound as a key to critical thinking about
technology and technological change.
Narrative and Dynamic Systems
This course takes a close look at the mechanics of storytelling
within dynamic media, exploring connections between new
media, technology, and narrative experience.
http://dt.parsons.edu
Support Electives
Each semester, students choose two to three electives from a
set of Design and Technology elective offerings, as well as from
a selection of hundreds of courses at Parsons and New School
University. Following is a sample list of offerings:
Design Process: Visual Communication for Narrative,
Interactive, and Computational Media
The course focuses on the principles of visual communication
and the ways they can be applied within digital media, whether
the work is narrative, interactive, or computation-based.
Vision and Sound with Max/MSP/Jitter
This class will touch on such topics as: MIDI communication,
interface design, performance strategies, installation considerations, the basics of digital sound synthesis, structure and programming of Quicktime, openGL and more.
Designing Small Scale Web Games
The goal of this class is to explore how design systems (in this
case, games) support interactivity through meaningful play.
Resources and Facilities
Look beyond computer labs and classrooms to the greatest
resource available to students in the Design and Technology program: New York City. In addition to using the neighborhoods, city
streets, and wireless networks as laboratories for experimentation, students take trips to Times Square, Ground Zero, and
Central Park to find inspiration and to observe the nuances of
designed living. Students also have the chance to collaborate
on projects with any number of NYC arts organizations, like
Eyebeam, Creative Time, The Kitchen, and The New Museum.
NYC is more than a city; it is a dynamic system affecting the way
our students play, learn, innovate, and explore.
MFA Design and Technology students have access to any lab on
campus. Computing facilities at Parsons are comprehensive and
cutting-edge. The Knowledge Union consists of over 40,000
square feet of state-of-the-art technology spread over four floors.
Six hundred networked workstations include all relevant platforms. More than 30 servers support work ranging from traditional print output to online projects using webcasting and secure
transaction technology. Specialty work, whether audio/video production, MIDI, recording or physical computing installation, takes
place in the Design and Technology Lab. Portable production
equipment including digital still, video, and audio equipment is
readily available. Digital projectors, surround sound, and active
white boards feed into equipment racks that enable presentation
of all media types.
Emily Gobeille, Motion Graphics
23
Faculty
Adjunct Faculty
Katie Salen, Director. Katie’s research focuses on the myriad
connections between design, interactivity, games, and play. She
recently co-wrote Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals (MIT
Press), as well as the forthcoming book The Rules of Player
Reader (MIT Press), and has worked as a game, interactive
designer, and consultant for Microsoft, Mememe Productions,
gameLab, the Center for Advanced Technology, and XMedia Lab.
She writes for Res Magazine, was an animator on the film
Waking Life, and has curated game-related shows with
SoundLab, the ZKM, the Walker Art Center, the Lincoln Center,
Exploding Cinema, and Cinematexas.
For complete faculty lists and biographies, visit our website:
http://dt.parsons.edu.
Colleen Macklin, Chair. Colleen’s work is primarily in interaction
design, emphasizing social interaction and collaboration. She has
worked with creative groups LabDNA, SoundLab and Unity Gain
in NYC and Southeast Asia generating multi-sensory environments ranging from DJ parties to minimalist visual installations.
Colleen has also designed applications and websites with clients
such as Citibank, Credit Suisse First Boston, France Telecom,
Moët, The New Museum and Thompson/PDR.
Full-Time Faculty
David Carroll is a full-time faculty member of the Design and
Technology Department and currently serves as Multimedia
Director at Second Thought (www.secondthought.com), a small
interactive boutique supplying creativity and interactive products
to media clients including CNN, PBS, ESPN, AETN, AOL,
Nintendo and others.
Andrea Dezso is an artist, award winning graphic designer and
typographer, illustrator, teacher and writer with extensive experience working with non profits, cultural institutions and businesses. She is a full-time faculty member of the Design and
Technology Department, and teaches courses in visual and interactive design.
Anezka Sebek is a full-time faculty member of the Design and
Technology Department, and teaches and oversees all aspects of
time-based work in the program. She has had the honor to have
mentors like Jonathan Demme, Diane Keaton, Elaine May and
Marlo Thomas in the early part of her career as a film editor.
Among her work with R/Greenberg Associates, she helped create the first Digital Post facility in New York. She is presently
writing, directing, shooting and editing the music video “Tango in
Angola” by The Repeatos.
http://dt.parsons.edu
Mitchell Butler began working in 3D animation in 1992 and
since then has birthed such short films as “The Smell of Horror.”
He now he works mostly on 2D Flash animated projects, but his
biggest thrill is helping to craft compelling stories with strong
characters.
Anthony Deen is vice president of design for the retail design
firm, CDI Group. With 17 years experience in several disciplines
of design, Anthony’s professional work ranges from architectural
interiors to interactive kiosk interfaces. Prior to joining CDI,
Anthony was Vice President of Retail Design and Brand
Development for the Virgin Megastores in North America.
Nicholas Fortugno was inducted into role-playing life at the age
of five, and has been an avid consumer and producer of role-playing, live-action, and game culture ever since. Nick currently
works for gameLab as a game designer on a number of digital
and non-digital projects.
Joshua Goldberg is an artist and programmer with an interest in
multimedia sampling and live video performance. He is continually working against the impulse of coherent narrative, to improvisationally create dynamic, abstract collages of the flotsam and
jetsam of the media sphere.
Christopher Kirwan is principle of Urban Technologies, and has
an interest in information architecture and data visualization. He
received his Bachelor of Architecture and Fine Arts degrees from
Rhode Island School of Design with additional study at the MIT
Center for Advanced Visual Studies.
Zachary Lieberman is an artist, engineer, and educator whose
work is focused on exploring the creative and human uses of
technology. He produces installations, on-line works and concerts concerned with the themes of kinetic and gestural performance, interactive imaging and sound synthesis.
Karen Nourse is a filmmaker for Averill Films. She has had work
exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and
London and on network/cable television.
Nancy Nowacek is a multimodal designer and the Associate Art
Director of Metropolis Magazine. Prior to her stint at Metropolis
she worked at Plumb Design, Ralph Applebaum Associates,
Urban Outfitters, and Bruce Mau Design. She is a member of the
Starlings, a pop-culture design and commentary collective, Local
Projects, a community-based design partnership, and RAMP, an
internet consultancy for non-profit and cultural institutions.
Stephanie Owens is an artist and freelance designer as well as
the Co-Founder and CCO of Oddcast. Prior to Oddcast, Owens
was Lead Designer and Associate Creative Director for Reset
where she completed works for HBO, New Line Cinema, Fine
Line Cinema, October Films (USA Films), Time Warner, Bad Boy
Records, Interscope Records, Nine Inch Nails, Elias Associates,
Kenneth Cole Reaction, Buffalo Jeans and Witness.
Scott Paterson is an architect and net.artist currently in practice
as a freelance Information Architect and Interaction Designer. An
active member of the net.art community including Rhizome.org
and Mindspace.net, his work has been exhibited in Mexico City,
Florence, New York and the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Gregory Petroff is an innovator in the use of real-time graphics
for design and visual communication. He currently serves as the
Creative Director for the graphics software company vizrt, managing the design of real-time information systems for the New
York Stock Exchange and the Securities Industry Automation
Corporation.
Eric Redlinger, has been researching inter-media collaboration
since the 1980s as a programmer and realtime media performer.
He is part of the development team for KeyWorx, worked at the
Society of Old and New Media in Amsterdam, and is a contributor to the Radical project sponsored in part by the EU.
Chris Romero is an artist, an architect, and a Design Partner at
Oscillation Digital Design Studio, an interdisciplinary design and
technology company with offices in New York and San Francisco.
With his long-time partners Brian Kralyevich and Brian O’Driscoll,
he has worked extensively towards a new visualization of the
interfaces between humans and computers.
John Sharp is a creative director, information architect, and
graphic designer for entertainment, arts and educational projects.
He has been involved in design and art for seventeen years in a
variety of media: interactive media, print design, motion graphics,
writing, and radio and club DJing. Through all these run several
threads—a love of graphic design, and a fascination with the creation and presentation of media experiences.
Marko Tandefelt is a New York-based interface and concept
designer with a Music Technology and 3D/VR background. His
main interests are in music, audiovisual interactive instrument
design and physical computing art for public spaces. Among his
projects, Marko has visualized the new R142 subway cars in 3D
for New York City MTA and Antennadesign and has been the
Curator and Technology Advisor in “F2F: New Media Art from
Finland”.
Michael Waldron started his career designing environmental
graphics and corporate identities. He joined NewsChannel6, a
CBS affiliate, as a graphic designer in 1995. He was quickly promoted and became the youngest art director in the history of the
news company. He is currently the Creative Director of The
Diecks Group.
Eric Zimmerman After a childhood of roping friends and family
into playtesting his game experiments, Eric has spent the last
ten years in the game industry. He is the CEO and co-founder of
gameLab and co-author of Rules of Play: Game Design
Fundamentals (MIT Press). Before founding gameLab with Peter
Lee, Eric collaborated with Word.com on the underground online
hit, SiSSYFiGHT 2000 (www.sissyfight.com).
Marina Zurkow is one of today’s leading innovators of animation
and new media using Flash computer animation and interaction
design. Her films include Braingirl (1999-2003), Body of
Correspondence (1994), and Funeral (1990). She received a
Jerome Foundation grant in 2002 and was a 2003 Rockefeller
New Media Fellow.
Sabine Seymour is the founder of Moondial Inc., a network of
designers, architects, and researchers that extends to metropolis
including Stockholm, Paris, London, and Vienna. Moondial’s
research focuses on the creation of a pervasive user experience.
The work is based on the convergence of fashion, wearable &
wireless technologies, product design, and architecture in particular in the areas of extreme sports and fashion/style.
25
Fine Arts
The definition of an artist has evolved over the years. Some of the factors contributing to this change
are the role of popular culture in today’s artistic vocabulary, the shift in emphasis from aesthetic and
formal concerns to conceptual ideology, and the development and use of new technologies. The
MFA program is committed to exploring these changes and the ongoing evolution of the artist in
today’s artworld. The program places an emphasis on its students more fully participating in the
development of their work from conception to realization, and to the successful launching of their
careers as emerging professional artists.
Students who are committed to traditional studio practices in painting and sculpture can develop their
work in an atmosphere of rigorous formal and intellectual involvement while also being exposed
to relevant theories and histories. For those students interested in pursuing more ground-breaking
territories in new media, our curriculum, our faculty, and our facilities provide opportunities for
such exploration.
To address some of the issues in the evolution of diversity in art making today, the graduate program is developing a new concentration entitled Art and the Public Sphere. This is an exciting
combination of studio practices, the study of art outside of traditional contexts, and relevant courses
in critical studies.
The Master of Fine Arts is a two-year, 64 credit program for advanced students, offering a comprehensive experience in studio practice, critical studies, and the ever-expanding role of the artist in the contemporary art world. Students benefit uniquely from contact with members of the unparalleled artistic
community of New York City and the ability to interface with the larger University environment.
www.parsons.edu/mfa
Erik Patterson
Faculty
Donald Porcaro
Chair
Mary Coburn
Assistant Chair
Nayland Blake
Jackie Brookner
Tom Butter
Peter Drake
Regina Granne
Glenn Goldberg
David Humphrey
Lenore Malen
Alix Pearlstein
Mira Schor
James Siena
Brian Tolle
27
Angela Ringo
Curriculum
The Master of Fine Arts curriculum requires 64 credits of fulltime study: 52 credits of studio, which are broken down into two
components: Graduate Fine Arts and Graduate Seminar; and 12
credits of critical studies. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA to
continue in the program.
Graduate Fine Arts
This studio class offers students the experience of working within a community of peers and faculty who inspire, challenge and
support each other. It is structured around group and individual
meetings with five core faculty. The faculty provides leadership
by setting rigorous standards of achievement and by helping students develop coherence, expression and skills. Student work is
analyzed to understand how it positions itself in a cultural and
historical context. In both individual and group critiques, and studio meetings and discussions, students and faculty strive to identify the values and philosophical underpinnings implied and
expressed by the art. Using the extensive resources available for
the visual arts in New York City, art work is examined in relation
to the challenges within contemporary society. Students are
encouraged to develop their thoughts and are given opportunities
to articulate and test their thinking constructively. Making and
thinking are viewed as inseparable, mutually-informing aspects of
the discipline. Students are responsible for determining their
work process. The goal is to establish a process enabling and
sustaining lifelong work and growth as an artist.
All second year graduate students are required to take Theory,
Practice and Career, which provides practical tools for entering
the art world as both a refined artist and self-manager. This
course, developed by the New York Foundation for the Arts with
a grant from the Emily Tremaine Foundation, focuses on developing skills which will enable artists to make confident and
informed career choices while continuing to make their art.
www.parsons.edu/mfa
Loren Myhre
Natalie Pham
MFA CURRICULUM
First Year Fall
Graduate Fine Arts 1
Graduate Seminar 1
Critical Studies
First Year Spring
Graduate Fine Arts 2
Graduate Seminar 2
Critical Studies
Second Year Fall
Graduate Fine Arts 3*
Graduate Seminar 3
Critical Studies
Second Year Spring
Graduate Fine Arts 4*
Graduate Seminar 4
Critical Studies
Total
10
3
3
16
10
3
3
16
10
3
3
16
10
3
3
16
64
*inclusive of “Theory, Practice and Career”
29
Visiting Critics and Lecturers
Structure
Janine Antoni
Alice Aycock
Jake Berthot
Douglas Blau
Melissa Chaney
R. Michael Cockrill
Petah Coyne
Langdon Crawford
John Currin
Lesley Dill
Elizabeth Duffy
Tom Eccles
Nina Felshin
Jackie Ferrara
Zachary Feuer
Lea Gangitano
Judy Glantzman
Eleanor Heartney
James Hyde
Alfredo Jaar
Ronald Jones
Sharon Louden
Medrie MacPhee
Fabian Marcaccio
Sean Mellyn
Dennis Oppenheim
Bruce Pearson
Janet Phelps
Patricia Phillips
Carter Ratcliff
Walter Robinson
Jerry Saltz
Peter Saul
Kenny Schachter
Sean Scully
Beverly Semmes
Andres Serrano
Valerie Smith
Joan Snyder
Sara Vanderbeek
Christian Viveros-Faune
Terry Winters
Alexander Worth
Students will work with each of the five core faculty in a series
of rotations--four weeks at a time. First year students will cycle
through all five faculty, second year students will choose two
faculty members and will return to each of them for two four
week periods. Open sign up periods and group crits will occur
between the rotations. Each week within the rotations, approximately 1–1 1/2 hours will be group discussion. The rest of the
time will be working in studios while faculty make one-to-one
studio rounds.
www.parsons.edu/mfa
Graduate Seminar
The first year Graduate seminar is meant to expose students to a
variety of significant discourses in twentieth century and twentyfirst century art: these include the discourses of modernism,
postmodernism, feminism, colonialism and issues of racial representation; commodity culture, including ideas about collecting;
technology and digital revolution. This is done through selected
readings, video and film viewing, and art exhibitions, all of these
discussed in writing assignments and class discussion. The seminar work is interspersed with studio visits.
In addition to small writing assignments that accompany each set
of readings, each student is responsible for one major research
paper, shaped in individual discussion with the instructor.
Second year Graduate Seminar is thesis driven. Weekly and
bimonthly writing assignments break down the subjects required
to be covered in the thesis into smaller elements. Drawing
assignments, individual studio visits, and slide lectures on the
student’s work augment the writing assignments and promote
class discussion.
At the end of the second year, students present a body of work
completed in the program and a written thesis for a Final
Masters Review. The degree is conferred after two years of
coursework in residence and a successful Final Review.
Graduates of the program are represented in the annual MFA
Thesis Exhibition during the spring semester.
John Hong
31
Faculty
Donald Porcaro, Chair, artist. Solo exhibitions: Kouros Gallery,
NYC; Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Lowe Gallery, LA, CA. Grounds
for Sculpture, Trenton, NJ; Nancy Solomon Gallery, Atlanta, GA;
Byron Cohen Gallery, Kansas City, MO. Collections: Radford
University of Art Museum, Virginia; University of NY-Staten
Island; South Bay Center, California; Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Inc.,
Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Large-scale, outdoor installations:
Socrates Sculpture Park, LI City; Wards Island, NY; South Beach
Sculpture Garden, Staten Island, NY. Awards: Distinguished
Teaching Award, Parsons. MFA, Columbia University.
Nayland Blake, artist, writer, and curator. Exhibited: Whitney
Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art; Seattle Museum of Art; throughout the US,
Europe, South America, Australia. Co-curator of In A Different
Light, the first major museum examination of the impact of gay
and lesbian sensibilities on 20th-century art. Recent work:
Constellation, a sculpture for the San Francisco Library.
Represented by: Matthew Marks Gallery, NY. BA, Bard College;
MFA, California Institute of the Arts.
Jackie Brookner, environmental artist and writer, collaborates
with ecologists and earth scientists on bioremediation/public art
projects. Current projects: Dresden, Germany; St. Louis, MO;
and Krakow, Poland. Solo exhibition: Of Earth and Cotton.
Exhibited: Miro Foundation, Barcelona, Spain; Pamela
Auchincloss Gallery, NYC. Awards: NYFA, NEA, Nancy Gray
Foundation for Art in the Environment, Trust for Mutual
Understanding. Guest Editor of the Art Journal issue, “Art and
Ecology.” MA, Ph.D candidate, Harvard University.
Tom Butter, Coordinator and artist. Teaching experience: Yale
University, RISD, Tyler School of Art, Brandeis University.
Exhibited in New York since 1981. Published: Art Forum, Art in
America, ArtNews, New York Times. Awards: two NYFA, three
NEA. Curator: Delving and Tinkering, E.S. Vandam Gallery, NYC.
Collections: Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; Walker Art Center,
Minneapolis; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York;
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. MFA, Washington University.
Peter Drake, artist. Solo exhibitions: Lisa Sette Gallery,
Scottsdale, AZ; Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR; Lowe
Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Group exhibitions: “Surface” Terrence
Rogers Gallery, Los Angeles. “3M” Fish Tank Gallery, NYC.
Teaching experience: New York Academy of Art, NYC, Maryland
Institute, Baltimore, Maryland. BFA, Pratt Institute.
www.parsons.edu/mfa
Louise Fishman, artist. Awards: Guggenheim, several NEA and
NYFA grants, Gottlieb Foundation. Teaching Experience: The
Cooper Union, Columbia University, School of Visual Arts, Pratt
Institute, Art Institute of Chicago. Exhibited: US and Europe.
Represented by: Robert Miller Gallery. BFA, Tyler School of Art,
Philadelphia; MFA, University of Illinois.
Glenn Goldberg, painter. Recently shown at Hill Gallery and
Charles Cowles Gallery. Exhibited: US and Europe. Awards:
Edward Albee Foundation, NEA, Guggenheim. Collections
include: Brooklyn Museum; MOCA, LA; Metropolitan Museum of
Art; National Gallery, Washington, DC. New York Studio School;
MFA, Queens College.
Regina Granne, artist. Exhibited: Internationale Biennale de
Cuenca, Ecuador; Addison Gallery of Fine Arts, Andover, MA;
National Academy of Arts & Letters, NY; A.I.R. Gallery, NYC;
Genovese Gallery, Boston. Teaching experience: Queens
College, Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. Attended
Cooper Union; BFA, MFA, Yale University.
David Humphrey, artist. Exhibited: David McKee Gallery, NY;
and internationally. Collections include: Metropolitan Museum of
Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Boston Museum of Fine
Arts; Denver Art Museum. Published: Flash Art, Lusitania, Arts
Magazine; regular contributor to Art Issues. Seven-year survey
currently at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center. NY Studio
School; BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art; MA, NYU.
Lenore Malen, artist and writer. Solo exhibitions: Art in General,
Rutgers University, University of Vermont, RISD. Group exhibitions: Fischer-Landau Center, O’Hara Gallery, Bard College.
Member: Art Critics Association. Formerly: executive editor, Art
Journal; senior fellow, Terra Foundation. Featured: Sculpture,
Village Voice, Art in America, New York Times. Collections:
Princeton, MOMA, Brown, Yale, New York Public Library. MA,
University of Pennsylvania.
Alix Pearlstein, artist. Exhibited: Artemis Greenberg Van Doren
Gallery, NY; Lugar Commum, Lisbon; The Grossman Gallery,
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of
Contemporary Art, Chicago; Postmasters Gallery, NY. Group
Exhibitions: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY; SMAK,
Ghent; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Hirshhorn
Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Haus der
Kunst, Munich; Museum of Modern Art, NY. MFA, SUNY
Purchase, NY; BS Cornell University, Ithaca NY.
Annie Kennedy
Mira Schor, painter and writer. Participant in the Womanhouse
Project of the Feminist Art Program at CalArts in 1972. Teaching
experience: Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, SUNYPurchase, University of California-Berkeley, RISD, Sarah Lawrence
College, Skowhegan School. Previously: co-publisher/co-editor,
M/E/A/N/I/N/G, a journal of contemporary art issues. Published:
M/E/A/N/I/N/G: An Anthology of Artists’ Writings, Theory, and
Criticism; Wet: On Painting, Feminism, and Art Culture, a collection
of essays; Art Issues; and Art Journal. Solo exhibition: Horodner
Romley Gallery, NYC. Group exhibitions: Marianne Boesky Gallery,
P.S. 1 Museum, Santa Monica Museum, Neuberger Museum,
Aldrich Museum. Awards: NEA, Guggenheim, Pollock Krasner,
Rockefeller Foundation, College Art Association’s Frank Jewett
Mather Award in Art Criticism. MFA, CalArts.
Roger Shepherd, artist. Exhibited: Pace Editions, NY; Jersey City
Museum, Trenton NJ; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Collections: the garden of the American UNESCO Ambassador’s
residence in Paris; the lobby of 588 Broadway, NYC. Web
designs: BOMB Magazine with NEA grant, website for
Architectural Record. Awards: NEA, NJ Council on the Arts.
Published: Structures of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed
Modern Life, Skyscraper, The Search for an American Style
1891–1941. BFA, The Cooper Union.
James Siena, artist. Solo exhibitions: Gorney, Bravin & Lee
Gallery, NYC; Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles. Teaching
experience: San Francisco College of Art, Virginia
Commonwealth University. Awards: American Academy of Arts
and Letters, Tiffany Foundation, Whitney Biennial 2003, and
NYFA. BFA, Cornell University.
Brian Tolle, artist. Solo exhibitions: Shoshana Wayne Gallery,
Santa Monica, CA; Schmidt Contemporary Art, St. Louis, MO;
Basilico Fine Arts, NYC. Commissioned piece: Irish Hunger
Memorial, Battery Park City, NYC. Group exhibitions: 2002
Whitney Biennial, and others in the US, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Korea. BA,
SUNY-Albany; BFA, Parsons School of Design; MFA, Yale.
33
History of Decorative
Arts and Design
The next generation of decorative arts and design historians, curators, educators, and administrators will receive their education from this prestigious two-year program, which confers a Master of
Arts in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. Offered by Parsons School of Design jointly with
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the degree leads graduates to careers at museums, historic houses, galleries, appraisal firms, magazines and publishing, and auction houses. The curriculum offers courses in the media of ceramics, costume, furniture, glass, graphic design, metalwork,
textiles, and works on paper. These courses go beyond connoisseurship to address a wide range of
issues in the decorative arts and design including social, economic, and cultural history, critical theory, style, and techniques.
The program focuses on the history of European and American decorative arts and design from
the Renaissance to the present. The unique character of the program is defined by its location
within the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the only museum in the United States devoted
exclusively to historical and contemporary design. Located in the landmark Andrew Carnegie
Mansion on Museum Mile, it has encyclopedic collections of European and American furniture,
glass, ceramics, metalwork, architectural and ornamental drawings and prints, textiles, wallcoverings, and graphic and industrial design. In addition, the Museum boasts the premier design library
in the United States, with a collection of 55,000+ books and periodicals related to the history of
design, as well as extensive holdings of trade catalogs and archives of African-American, LatinoHispanic, and American designers. The courses emphasize object-based teaching, utilizing museum
collections. Students have the opportunity to work in the Cooper-Hewitt’s four curatorial departments: Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design; Product Design and Decorative Arts; Textiles; and
Wallcoverings. The experience of graduate school in a professional setting facilitates the transition
from academic training to career.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts ndm.si.edu/masters
Bracelets, 1988. Produced by
Migeon et Migeon, France. Plastic.
Gift of Migeon et Migeon, 1989.
Photo: John Parnell
Selected Faculty
Sarah E. Lawrence, Ph.D
Director
Laura Auricchio, Ph.D
Associate Director
Donald Albrecht
Catherine Bindman
Elizabeth De Rosa, Ph.D
Isabelle Frank, Ph.D.
Peter Fuhring, Ph.D
Jennifer F. Goldsborough
Barry R. Harwood, Ph.D
Joanne Dolan Ingersoll
Caroline Knight
Ulrich Leben, Ph.D
Mary Cheek Mills
Christopher Mount
Jeffrey Munger
Tessa Murdoch, Ph.D
Anne-Marie Quette
Maria Ruvoldt, Ph.D
Denny Stone
Deborah Dependahl Waters, Ph.D
John Wilton-Ely, Ph.D
35
Contemporary Design Studies
A special concentration in Contemporary Design Studies is now offered as part of the curriculum.
The concentration explores themes in design, and in visual and material culture broadly interpreted,
with emphasis on the period after World War II. Courses include topics in environmental, industrial,
graphic, fashion, and product design, as well as studies on the culture of consumption, design criticism, object theory, and problems of visuality. Students in the concentration are introduced to
critical models of analysis that integrate art, design and decorative arts history with design theory,
as well as to other scholarly disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, cultural history, film
studies, philosophy, and sociology. Emerging issues in design, such as sustainability or the impact
of digital technologies, and their implications for re-writing the history of design, are particular
areas of inquiry. The curriculum is enriched by its connection to the contemporary design exhibitions of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
For further information call 212-849-8344 or write to: MA Program in the History of Decorative Arts
and Design, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128; by
fax: 212-849-8347; email: historyofdecarts@si.edu.
Curriculum
The MA in the History of Decorative Arts and Design is awarded upon completion of 48 credits with
a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and the successful completion of the MA Examination or
Thesis. Required courses are: Proseminar, Survey of Decorative Arts I and II, and Museology or
Theory of Decorative Arts.
The student declares a major and minor area of concentration at the completion of 24 credits; or,
with a 3.5 minimum grade point average, may petition to write an MA Thesis. An MA Examination is
taken in the student’s final semester; or, if writing a Thesis, the student is not required to take an
exam, but registers for Maintaining Status in the semester following completion of course work.
The program is two to three years of full-time study or four years of part-time study. After a leave of
absence of two or more years, the student must apply for readmission and agree to take 12 credits
(four courses) above the 48 credit requirement.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Dressing Table and Bench,
c.1929, U.S. After a design by
Léon Jallot. Retailed by Lord &
Taylor, New York, New York.
Lacquered wood, glass, metal.
Gift of James M. Osborn, 1969.
MA CURRICULUM
First Year Fall
Survey of Decorative Arts I
Proseminar
Electives
First Year Spring
Survey of Decorative Arts II
Museology/Theory
Electives
3
3
6
12
3
3
6
12
Second Year Fall
Electives
12
Second Year Spring
Electives
12
Total
48
37
Language requirement
Summer Programs in Europe
By the completion of course work, each student is required to
pass a proficiency exam in a foreign language. The exam will
require the student to produce a literal translation of a brief text
into English, and then a summary of another text. The student’s
selection of a language must receive prior approval from the program director. Exams will be given and graded by the program
every term.
The program offers two-week intensive summer courses in
Berlin, London, Paris and Rome. The Berlin course visits select
examples of German architecture, furnishings and gardens from
1650–1933. Courses on the visual arts of eighteenth-century
England draw upon the incomparable collections of London
museums and historic properties, and visit a number of country
houses. Courses in French furnishings emphasize stylistic characteristics through onsite lectures in Paris and its environs. A
course based in Rome studies sixteenth- and seventeenth-century architecture and interiors through architectural walks and visits
to important museums, churches, and villas.
Independent Study
Students may independently pursue a specific interest beyond
what is available in any existing course, while supervised by a
faculty member or museum curator. Students can take up to two
independent studies during their course work.
Internships
Those who want more professional and practical experience in
the field may intern at an institution or business. Students must
work a minimum of 120 hours per semester and keep a log of
their activities. The internship supervisor assigns projects that
give the student training and hands-on experience in the area of
the supervisor’s expertise.
Consortium Courses
With the permission of the program director and pending availability, students may elect to take graduate-level courses at the Bard
Graduate Center, City University of New York, Columbia University,
Fashion Institute of Technology, and New York University.
New School University Courses
Students may register for graduate-level courses in other programs at Parsons School of Design, the Robert J. Milano Graduate
School of Management and Urban Policy, and other divisions of
New School University. Students may also take non-credit Adult
Division foreign language courses at New School University.
Library Consortium
Students have stack access and borrowing privileges at the
libraries of New York University, New York School of Interior
Design, The Cooper Union, New School University and Parsons
School of Design Undergraduate Library, which collectively
comprise nearly three million volumes. In addition, students
have privileged weekend and evening access to the CooperHewitt Library.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Extra–curricular Activities
Graduate Assembly is the program’s formal student organization
through which students can organize symposia, field trips, and
other special events. Graduate Assembly also acts as a liaison
between students and the academic program, the museum, and
alumni.
The Annual Graduate Student Symposium on the Decorative Arts
and Design, held at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum,
is a day–long academic forum convening scholars and students
of decorative arts and design. Speakers are selected from graduate programs around the world to present papers on topics from
the Renaissance to the present day.
Teaching Assistantships
Students may apply for a teaching assistantship in many of the
undergraduate programs at Parsons School of Design. Under the
supervision of a faculty member, a student teaches recitation
sections of a lecture class in exchange for partial tuition remission. Second-year students may also serve as discussion leaders
for recitation sections of Survey of Decorative Arts I and II.
Graduate Teaching Fellows are responsible for their own section
of a required undergraduate course in the Critical Studies
Department. Fellows are selected on the basis of academic distinction and receive an honorarium for this service.
Masters Curatorial Fellowship
Masters Fellows work one day per week in a curatorial department of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in
exchange for partial tuition remission. These one-year appointments engage students in all aspects of curatorial work, gallery
lectures, and exhibition research. Fellows are selected on the
basis of academic distinction and these positions are renewable
for a second year.
Required Courses
Selected Theory and Museum Studies Courses
Unless otherwise noted, classes are held at Cooper-Hewitt,
National Design Museum.
Decorative Arts Theory
This seminar offers a historiography of art theory, with special
attention given to decorative arts. Readings begin with the
Renaissance, when a hierarchy of the arts was first established.
Discussion moves to the codification of art theory by the academies of the seventeenth century and the aesthetic theories of
the eighteenth. Nineteenth-century studies of ornament emerge
as an essential strand of theoretical discussion, with emphasis
given to the works of Jones, Riegl, and Semper. The mechanization of art production in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
resulted in a renewed attention to craftsmanship and consideration of an industrial aesthetic, as seen in the writings of Morris,
Ruskin, Wright, and Le Corbusier. With the replacement of decorative arts with the more current fields of design and material culture, the question emerges whether this marks the end of the
decorative arts, or rather a reinvention of a theoretical discourse.
Proseminar
The Proseminar equips students with the skills required for scholarship in the history of decorative arts. Class discussions introduce
a range of methodologies and critical approaches. Exercises train
students in essential tasks such as conducting formal analyses,
writing catalogue entries, and making visual presentations. This
writing-intensive course stresses the mechanics of expository
writing through projects that require students to conduct and integrate primary and secondary source research. Each student
selects one work from the Cooper-Hewitt collection to study
throughout the semester.
Survey of Decorative Arts I
This course provides an overview of European decorative arts
from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, focusing on
Italy, France, and England. Discussions address style, function,
and meaning of the decorative arts in both daily and ceremonial
life. Drawing on interdisciplinary readings, the course considers
objects and ornaments within their cultural, political, and social
contexts. As the semester progresses, students explore how the
transmission of style, the migration of craftsmen, the availability
of new materials and techniques, and the development of artistdesigners who created unified decorative schemes, all led to the
establishment of an international vocabulary of design.
Survey of Decorative Arts II
Students examine the decorative arts from the nineteenth century to the present. Sessions on the nineteenth century consider
Neo-classicism, the many revival styles, exoticism, the Arts and
Crafts movement, and Art Nouveau within the broader history of
the period. Individual craftsmen, firms, and important style-makers and commentators on the decorative arts are discussed, as is
the effect of industrialization on design and objects. Moving into
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the course considers
decorative arts in Europe and America and addresses various
theories of modernism as well as the development of industrial
design. Twentieth-century topics include the Bauhaus, Art
Moderne, the Wiener Werkstaette, and Scandinavian design.
Designing Memory
This seminar explores the shifting meanings of the decorative
arts and design against the broader cultural-historical and theoretical backdrop of collective memory studies. We examine the
intersection of collective memory, and material and visual culture
through a wide range of topics including the numerous arenas for
the display of objects such as museums, period rooms, and
world’s fairs. The early uses of photography are considered in
order to better understand how the depiction and/or imaging of
things, or the spectacle of seeing things, also converged with the
project of making things. One objective of this seminar is to
underscore the various prisms through which the study of the
decorative arts and design may be investigated. Students are
encouraged to think creatively and critically about both objects
and ideas. Conceptual and historical readings are complemented
with on-site collection studies at the Cooper Hewitt, National
Design Museum.
Museology
This course focuses on the history of the museum from the
Renaissance kunstkammer to the public galleries of today’s
museum, with particular attention given to the collection and display of decorative arts and design. Readings range from the psychology of collecting, the canonization of culture, and the
narrative of display, to the implications of public funding. The history of the museum has played an important role in the classifica-
39
tion of objects, and in the designation of value. Case studies
examine these shifting rubrics in museums of history, of culture,
of individual’s collections, of science, of natural history, of design,
and — no less significantly — in museums of art. Class meetings
will alternate between group discussions and working presentations from museum curatorial staff.
Theory of Ornament
This seminar explores the nature of ornament, addressing such
fundamental questions as: What is ornament’s relation to other
artistic categories, to decoration, to the surface it is on? To
answer these questions we read past and current debates about
the status and role of ornament from the Renaissance to the late
twentieth century. Students place these theories within an artistic context by studying the shifting, visual role of ornament in
prints, drawings, and objects. In both theory and practice we see
how the growing independence of ornament led to a crisis over
its status and to its final rejection in the early twentieth century.
The seminar concludes by analyzing the emergence of the
“motif” as a defining element of ornament in academic studies
and its effect on our understanding of ornament as a form of
artistic expression.
Selected Media-Based Surveys
Survey of Costume: 1700 –1860
Dress is a personal form of expression shaped by societal conventions, artistic trends, and established notions of body and
gender. This course surveys dress and fashion accessories from
the late seventeenth through mid-nineteenth centuries focusing
principally on the trends of England and France. During these one
hundred and fifty years, fashion shifts from the purview of the
nobility to a general preoccupation of the middle class. It follows
the general aesthetic trends prevalent in other decorative arts
and is an interpretable barometer of social change. This survey
emphasizes fluctuations of silhouette and the meanings of dress
within the larger society.
Survey of Glass
This survey of Western glassmaking methods, production and
design, from the ancient period to the nineteenth century,
includes the major techniques and designers. After a brief introduction to the history of glass, this course emphasizes the glassmaking and decorative traditions of Italy, France, England,
Germany and America. Topics include the impact of mechanized
production as well as the innovative techniques that emerged in
the nineteenth century. Visits to museum collections and a glassmaking studio supplement the course.
Materials and Techniques in the Decorative Arts
This course introduces students to technical and material
aspects of the decorative arts. In a small group, we will consider
both historic and contemporary forms of production across a
wide range of media, including furniture and woodwork, prints
and paper, ceramics, glass, wallcoverings, textiles, and metalwork. The class visits museums, manufacturers, workshops, and
galleries around the city for behind-the-scenes visits as we draw
on the expertise of craftspeople, designers, curators, conservators, and dealers. In addition to developing a basic knowledge of
technique and process in the decorative arts, one of the main
aims of the class is to acquaint students with sources that may
be useful to them later in their studies and careers in the field.
Survey of Jewelry
Across cultures and through history people have chosen to ornament themselves with jewelry. An examination of jewelry illustrates the aesthetic, design, and technical developments of its
time and offers insights into the cultural forces at work on both
the maker and wearer. As personal adornment, jewelry exists at
the intersection between the production of an artist, the desires
of a wearer, and the perceptions of the viewer. This survey follows the development of jewelry from the renaissance through
the twentieth century, emphasizing relationships between jewelry, dress, and other forms of body adornment, and jewelry as
personal and societal statement, while studying techniques and
media employed in the creation of jewelry.
Survey of Ceramics
This course surveys the history of western ceramics. It begins
with an introduction to the technology of ceramics, focusing on
body types, formation, and firing and decorating techniques.
Subsequent lectures present intensive histories of Asian ceramics, German porcelain, Chinese export porcelain, French porcelain,
English pottery and porcelain, and American ceramics. Lectures
are supplemented with visits to public and private collections.
Survey of Silver
Silver has played a significant role in the decorative and fine arts
since ancient times. After an introduction to the properties of the
metal and to both the traditional and industrial techniques of its
fabrication and ornamentation, the course focuses on the products made by European, English, and American precious metalsmiths since the Middle Ages. Identification and connoisseurship
are discussed. Students visit museum collections and auction
previews of gold and silver.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Survey of Textiles
This course introduces the culture and history of textiles from
the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries. The interdisciplinary class looks at textile’s full significance as a sought-after
commodity in world trade, and fosters an understanding of production, technology, distribution, and function, as well as decorative and ornamental characteristics. Varied approaches to the
study of textiles are discussed. Attention is paid to developments and influences of style and ornament associated with specific geographical regions, cities, media, designers, patrons, and
other relevant figures. Beginning in the sixteenth century when
lace, embroidery, tapestry, and silk weaving reigned as the height
of luxury, the semester ends with a discussion of high performance fabrics and their roles in science, sport, architecture, and
fashion. Format combines slide lectures with visits to collections
in the New York area such as the Cooper Hewitt, National Design
Museum textile collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and
The Museum at FIT.
The Arts and Living in Britain in the
Long Eighteenth Century (1660–1820)
This course looks at the cultural and historical issues which influenced taste and social habits during the period 1660–1820. The
seminar examines patterns of patronage and collecting in so far
as they relate to the furnishing of interiors and ways in which
social habits dictated domestic equipment, with particular
emphasis on foreign influences. We will look at the provisions
made for essential domestic services including heating, lighting
and time-keeping, and sophisticated domestic activities including
dining and taking tea, dressing, game-playing, and writing. The
seminar considers design sources for domestic equipment and
draws on recent transcriptions of eighteenth-century inventories
of important London and country houses, reflecting new
research undertaken for specific projects, such as the new
British Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which
demonstrate new ways of presenting history and the development of the decorative arts.
Selected Seminars —Renaissance through
Early Modern (1500–1800)
Drawings and Prints Seminar: Design Resources for the
History of the Decorative Arts
This course offers, through a representative selection of ornament prints, an overview of the history of ornament from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The class considers a broad
variety of issues based on an analysis of designers, major artistic
centers, the production of ornament prints with attention to the
engraver, print publisher, and print seller, the print market, the
role of the print in the diffusion of ornament, and how craftsmen,
artists, and patrons used ornament prints. Special attention is
given to the topic of design and execution by discussing the variety of relationships between ornament prints and decorative arts
objects. The class studies original prints and drawings from the
Cooper-Hewitt’s drawings and prints collection, as well as the
collections of other print study rooms in New York City.
The Art of Dining
This seminar examines why the metal, ceramic, and glass
objects used for food and beverage storage, preparation, and
service during the past four hundred years have taken the
shapes or forms they have. The course provides a thorough period context for objects which are often treated as isolated pieces
of small sculpture in culturally neutral museum displays. Issues
include: how the characteristics of materials help determine the
forms objects take and the uses to which they are put; the introduction and changing popularity of various foods and beverages
and how they determine the vessels for service and consumption; exotic influences on customs and design; room use; furniture development; roles of servants; the rise of middle-class
consumers; and the impact of fast-food culture on the decorative
arts and modern mores. Object analysis and research sources
such as inventories and diaries, period literature, paintings and
drawings, advertisements, etc. are stressed. Each session combines a slide lecture with class discussion and a hands-on workshop with objects, drawings, or documents.
French Ceramics
This course focuses on the production of porcelain at the major
French manufactories of the eighteenth century. After an introduction to the development of porcelain in France in the late seventeenth century, participants study the production of factories
such as those at Saint-Cloud, Chantilly, Villeroy, Mennecy, and
Vincennes/Sèvres. Issues including technique, the creation of a
recognizably French style, factory organization and specialization,
41
Wine glass and Goblet, c. 1900.
Louis Comfort Tiffany. Favrile
glass. Bequest of Joseph L.
Morris, 1966. Flatware, 1986,
David Tisdale. Anodized aluminum.
Museum purchase from Eleanor G.
Hewitt Fund, 1986. Plate: Tuxedo,
1987. Gwathmey Siegel &
Associates. Produced by Swid
Powell, Inc. Porcelain, enamel
decoration. Gift of Swid Powell,
Inc., 1987.
the relationship between metalwork and ceramics, and the
domestic and foreign markets for French porcelain are examined.
Students examine French porcelain in the collections of the
Cooper-Hewitt and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and visit
local dealers and auction houses.
From Cella to Kunstkammer: The Emergence of the
Renaissance Studiolo
One of the most significant manifestations of Renaissance
Humanism in the decorative arts is the emergence of the studiolo, a domestic space specifically constructed as a retreat for
scholarly meditation and aesthetic appreciation. This seminar
begins with the origins of the humanist study, both the self-conscious emulation of the ancient bibliotheca and the practical evolution out of the monastic cella and the royal trésor. Seminar
topics focus on the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century princely studiolo of the Medici in Florence, the Montefeltro in Urbino and
Gubbio, and the Este in Ferrara and Mantua. The course culminates with the Kunstkammern that flourished from 1540–1740.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Hexagonal Landform Teapot #2,
1985. Richard Notkin. Stoneware.
Museum purchase, 1985.
The Grand Tour
In eighteenth-century Britain, the crown of a young landowner’s
classical education was a tour of Europe, especially Italy. An
extensive industry—involving guides, dealers, topographical
artists, copyists, and restorers—developed in response to this
unparalleled phenomenon. The great collections formed on the
tour influenced contemporary art and design at home, particularly
in the creation of a series of major country houses with their furnishings, art collections and natural environments. This course
looks at the patrons, artists and events, such as the discovery of
Herculaneum and Pompeii, which led to the Grand Tour’s widespread influence on the arts of England.
Intimate Objects: The Gift in Renaissance Europe
This seminar explores gift-giving in the complex social spheres
of Renaissance Europe and its effects on the production, valuing,
and interpretation of objects. Subjects include marriage rituals;
the gift as a token of friendship, as evidenced in the exchange
of portrait medals, small collectibles, and books among European
humanists and rulers; and the political implications and effects
of the gift, including diplomatic gifts exchanged by the Medici and
the courts of Europe, by European traders and their counterparts
in Africa and the East, and the elaborate rituals of gift-giving
within court circles in Tudor England and the French court at
Fontainebleau.
Lettera 32, c. 1960. Marcello
Nizzoli. Manufactured by Olivetti.
Metal housing. Gift of Mel Byars,
1992. Photo: Matt Flynn
Royal Furnishings of Versailles
Representing the apogee of absolute monarchy under Louis XIV
in the seventeenth century, Versailles symbolized royal extravagance at the close of the eighteenth century, when the revolution wrested Louis XVI from Versailles and the throne. This
course focuses on the furniture and interior design of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Famous artists, craftsman and
tastemakers such as Charles Le Brun, Andre-Charles Boulle,
Jean Berain, Georges Jacob, Adam Weisweiler, Jean-Baptiste
Colbert, Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, and Marie
Antoinette are discussed.
The Seventeenth-Century English House
This course surveys the architectural developments during a century of war, revolution, and social change. Increasingly, English
houses, both externally and internally, reflect continental models;
prints, illustrated books, and greater opportunities for travel
reinforce this. The role of architects also changes significantly:
from acting as surveyor and interpreting the wishes of the patron,
he (for they are all male) takes over control of the design and
building process. The Office of Works, which controlled all royal
and government buildings, is the driving force for change in this
field, as well as providing a professional training for architects.
Radio Nurse, 1937–38. Isamu
Noguchi. Manufactured by Zenith.
Bakelite housing. Gift of Mel
Byars, 1991. Photo: Dave King
We consider its role, and especially its two leading architects of
the early and late seventeenth century, Inigo Jones and
Christopher Wren, and the royal palaces that they were required
to provide. In London the development of the town house
reflects the increased economic power of the rapidly growing
middle class; in the country a new type of compact house,
allowing greater privacy for family, for servants and for guests,
lead to increasingly specialized rooms, which demand new types
of decoration and furnishing. Finally we consider the strong
French and Dutch influence on a group of great country houses
of the late seventeenth century.
Selected Seminars: 1800–Present
Contemporary Issues in Fashion
In the last quarter of the twentieth century fashion has fragmented into a plurality of styles with a diversity of potential readings.
From Levi’s to couture designers, from synthetics to organically
farmed hemp, from uniforms of conformity to on-the-street individuality, a range of aesthetic and meaning-filled choices is available to both the creators and consumers of fashion. This seminar
43
offers a joint exploration of key topics in contemporary fashion
including the rise of the celebrity designer, revivalism styles and
appropriation of imagery, the influence of technology on fashion,
the role of the media in disseminating fashion, and certain topics
of consumer and gender theories. Previous course work in the
history of fashion is recommended but not required.
Design Since 1945
This course examines the major post-war movements, designers
and trends. It emphasizes both industrial and graphic design with
some discussion of relevant architecture and fashion when appropriate. Commencing with the early Modernist work done in both
America and Scandinavia it proceeds to examine the significant
contributions made in Italy and Germany in the Sixties and
Seventies. Post-Modernism and the present state of “pluralism”
are to be discussed. Contemporary ideas about social responsibility, the use of technology and new materials, as well as the role
of design in society are explored through contemporary texts.
Designing American Lifestyles: 1876–1976
This course examines key American architecture and design
movements that were shaped into compelling “lifestyles” not only
by the design community but also by media figures and tastemakers. We study the role of books, magazines, exhibitions, films,
department stores, and museums in the creation of such socially
and culturally significant movements as modernism, the colonial
revival, and the arts and crafts. The impact of powerful events
in the nation’s history, such as World War II, is also discussed.
Domesticity and Modern Design 1850–1966
This seminar investigates the history of modern design through
notions of domesticity and the architecture of the interior. We
explore concepts of modernity, tradition, feminine taste, and
everyday life, and examine how these concepts have influenced
the design of the home from the mid-nineteenth to the midtwentieth centuries. Some examples of spaces to be studied
include the Victorian parlor, the so-called Frankfurt Kitchen
(1926–1929), and the Case Study houses (1945-1966). The
course is conducted as a research seminar, with students
encouraged to use the Cooper-Hewitt’s collections and archives
as much as possible.
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Graphic Design: Art Nouveau to the Present
This seminar explores the history of twentieth-century century
graphic design commencing with works from the Art Nouveau
period and concluding with the recent digital revolution. It
emphasizes the avant-garde movements and their accompanying
designers to illustrate how they contributed to the collective
process of advancing, detracting from, or redirecting graphic
design during the past century. This course also places the history of graphic design in the context of concurrent architecture and
industrial design movements while illuminating the effects of various cultural and societal conditions on graphics communications.
Modern Scandinavian Design
This course focuses on the architecture and industrial design produced during the twentieth century in Finland, Sweden, and
Denmark. Industrialization came late to these nations and the culture and tradition of design blossomed alongside the new industries. Because of their strong craft traditions and relatively
progressive social systems, they embraced the political and formal values of the Modernist movement with a unique rigor. In
fact, in Finland and Denmark design is a significant cultural and
economic export. The course begins with a discussion of the prewar work of designers such as, Kaare Klint, Elis Bergh, Alvar
Aalto, and Gunnar Asplund. It examines the major figures and
manufacturers of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s including Kaj Franck,
Orrefors, Hans Wegner, Marimekko, Arne Jacobsen, and Verner
Panton. The final section examines contemporary work including
objects by Ikea, Thomas Sandel, Bjorn Dalhstrom, and Harri
Koskinen. The course includes field trips to furniture dealers and
museum collections.
Nineteenth Century British & American Silver:
From Craft to Industry
The nineteenth century witnessed significant transformations in
the style, production, and distribution of precious metal objects
in both Britain and the United States. Course participants examine
these transformations through lectures, detailed independent
object examinations, and study of relevant primary and secondary
source materials. After an introduction to the properties of
silver and gold, and to traditional and industrial techniques of fabrication and ornamentation, the course focuses on the products
made by British and American precious metalsmiths from 1760
to 1900, their marketing, and their uses in the societies in which
they were produced. Issues of identification and connoisseurship
of precious metal objects are covered, with one or more guest
lecturers sharing their specialized knowledge.
Redefining Modernism
This seminar explores major modernist movements including
English Arts and Crafts, Russian Constructivism, De Stijl, German
Modernism, and post-war American and Scandinavian design. The
class explores similarities and differences in theory, practice, and
the resulting objects in an attempt to define “what is modernism?” Providing a strong overview of the political, social, and
aesthetic issues guiding twentieth-century design, the course
addresses architecture, graphics, and industrial design, and
emphasizes practitioners’ writings.
Revivalism to Modernism: French Furniture 1840-1930
This course looks at the development of French furniture and
interiors from revival styles and eclecticism that characterized
decorative arts of the mid-nineteenth century through to the
early twentieth century, when French design became associated
with the functional yet luxurious modernism of Le Corbusier. The
emphasis is placed on learning and identifying the characteristics
of different stylistic periods of furniture: Louis-Phillipe, Second
Empire—including the Gothic, Renaissance, Louis XV (Rococo),
Louis XVI, and Regency revivals, as well as the influence of
China and Japan— Art Nouveau (Style 1900), Art Déco, and finally International Style Modernism. Designers covered include
Henri-Auguste Fourdinois, Louis Majorelle, Emile Gallé, Hector
Guimard, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Jules Leleu, Paul Iribe, Louis
Süe, André Groult, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Charreau, and others.
Sustainable Design
Many leading architects and designers have recently turned their
energies to creating ecologically responsible buildings and products—a design movement that has been called a second industrial revolution. Architects, designers and entrepreneurs see the
challenge of building in concert with nature as the most important initiative of the coming generation. Eco-architecture has
developed as a vibrant strategy for corporations and public institutions. The course is structured around planning an exhibition of
sustainable design. Students choose objects, write catalogue
essays, organize object presentation, write wall texts, and develop interactive educational initiatives. Topics include: 1) designers
using recycled or cast-off materials; 2) products that employ
renewable and sustainable raw materials; 3) products that re-use
manufactured debris; 4) continuously recyclable products; 5)
familiar products produced via environmentally friendly techniques; 6) products requiring low-energy transport and operation;
7) designs powered by renewable sources. The class visits studios engaged in sustainable design.
Tiffany and Twentieth-Century Design
Louis C. Tiffany (1848–1933) is best known today for the mosaic
glass lamps and windows that his firm produced from 1880 until
1932. The actual scope of his work was much broader and
included—in addition to glass objects—products ranging from
colonial revival furniture to jewelry. The seminar addresses
issues of connoisseurship and focuses on Tiffany as a model for
issues of twentieth-century design, manufacturing, marketing
and consumption. Topics include the role of women in Tiffany’s
workshops, as consumers of his art objects, and as patrons for
large-scale decorating projects; advertising practices as a means
of increasing demand; and the role of private collectors and
museums in generating a renewed market for Tiffany’s work
from the 1960’s onward.
Faculty
Sarah E. Lawrence, Director. Art theory and Renaissance art
expert. Research Fellow at the Fondazione di Studi di Storia
del’Arte Roberto Longhi. Recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon
Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellowship in Judaica at the Jewish
Museum, 1997-2000. Recent exhibitions include “Crafting a
Jewish Style: The Art of Bezalel, 1906–1996,” The Jewish
Museum, NY, and other venues (1998–99). Scholarly publications
on Renaissance medals, Judaica, and the History of Collections.
Ph.D, Columbia University.
Donald Albrecht, Independent Curator. 2003 Fellow, American
Academy in Rome. Recent exhibitions and catalogs: “National
Design Triennial” (2003) and “Russell Wright: Creating American
Lifestyle” (2001) at the Cooper-Hewitt; “On the Job: Design and
the American Office” (2001) at the National Building Museum;
and “Glass and Glamour: Steuben’s Modern Moment” (2003) at
The Museum of the City of New York. Additional projects at the
J. Paul Getty Center, Library of Congress, and Vitra Design
Museum. Formerly curator, American Museum of the Moving
Image. Articles in Interiors, Architectural Digest, Architectural
Record, and elsewhere. B.Arch, Illinois Institute of Technology.
Laura Auricchio, Associate Director. Formerly on staff at the
Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern
Art and on the faculty at Connecticut College. Recipient of
Whiting and Fulbright Fellowships for research on eighteenthcentury French art. Scholarly articles published in EighteenthCentury Studies, Art Journal, Genders, and elsewhere. Art
criticism published in Art on Paper, Art Papers, and Time Out
New York. Ph.D, Columbia University.
45
Wine glasses: “Sherry
Netherlands,” 1985.
Designed by Matteo Thun,
Produced by Barovier & Toso,
Murano, Italy, Blown glass.
Gift of Barovier & Toso.
Photo: John White
Ornament (1989), catalogue of the Hans and Paul Vredeman de
Vries prints in the Hollstein series (1997), Juste-Aurele
Meissonnier. Un génie du Rococo (1999), numerous articles and
reviews. Ph.D, Leiden University.
Jennifer F. Goldsborough, Professor, Sotheby’s Institute
Graduate Works of Art Program, and Associate Professor,
Chesapeake College. As Chief Curator and Curator of Silver,
Ceramics and Glass at the Maryland Historical Society, curated
exhibitions and wrote catalogs including: “Lavish Legacies:
Baltimore Album Quits 1845-1855” (1994); “Classical Maryland
1814-1845” (1993); “Women Silversmiths” (1991); “Silver in
Maryland” (1983). Major contributing author for Becoming a
Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S.
Department of State (Rizzoli, 2003). MA, Connecticut College.
Catherine Bindman, freelance editor and art critic. Former
Deputy Editor of Art on Paper magazine. A former curator in the
prints and drawings departments of the Victoria & Albert
Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York who has published widely on design, art on paper, and the
art market. Former board member of the Victorian Society
(Metropolitan Chapter). A director of the Dieu Donne Papermill in
Soho, New York.
Elizabeth De Rosa, independent curator. Exhibitions: “Tiffany:
Behind the Glass,” (Queens Museum of Art, 2000) and
“History’s Mysteries” (New Jersey Historical Society, 1998).
Former Curator of Collections, New Jersey Historical Society and
Senior Researcher, Brooklyn Museum of Art. Past president
Victorian Society in America, Metropolitan Chapter. Recipient of
Jane and Morgan Whitney Fellowship, Department of American
Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ph.D,
Columbia University.
Isabelle Frank, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs,
The New School. Former Program Officer, American Council of
Learned Societies. Editor of The Theory of Decorative Art: An
Anthology of European and American Writings, 1750-1940
(2000). Articles published in Museum News, Zeitschrift fur
Kunstgeschichte, and elsewhere. Ph.D, Harvard University.
Peter Fuhring, independent curator and scholar specializing in
the history of ornament and design. Exhibitions: “Hans
Vredeman de Vries” (2002); “Ornament and Print” (1998).
Publications: Design into Art. Drawings for Architecture and
www.parsons.edu/decorative_arts
Barry R. Harwood, Curator, Decorative Arts, Brooklyn Museum.
Exhibitions include: “The Furniture of George Hunzinger:
Invention and Innovation in Nineteenth-Century America” (1997);
“Twentieth-Century Design from the Permanent Collection”
(1994); “Tiffany Glass and Lamps at The Brooklyn Museum”
(1991). Installations: “The Aesthetic Movement;” “English
Glass;” “The Egyptian Revival;” and “Neoclassicism in the
United States.” Publications include the Hunzinger exhibition catalogue, and articles in The Magazine Antiques, Studies in the
Decorative Arts, and elsewhere. Ph.D, Princeton University.
Joanne Dolan Ingersoll, Associate Curator, The Museum at the
Fashion Institute of Technology. Recent exhibitions at FIT include
“The Big, The Bold, and The Beautiful: Screen Printing for Fashion
and Interiors” (2003); “A Woman’s Hand: Designing Textiles in
America,” (2000). Publishes and lectures on textile history. MA,
SUNY-FIT.
Caroline Knight, Certificate tutor, Victoria and Albert Museum;
Lecturer: Courtauld Institute of Art, University College, University
of London, private organizations. Architectural historian specializing in sixteenth- and eighteenth-century England and Italy.
Publications include a history of Kensington Palace. Currently
writing a book on the architectural, social, and garden history of
sixteenth- through eighteenth-century houses in the London
area. MA, Courtauld Institute of Art.
Ulrich Leben, Associate Curator of Furniture, The Rothschild
Collection, Waddesdon Manor, Great Britain. Specializes in French
and German Decorative Arts. Publications on French and German
Decorative Arts, and the monograph Bernard Molitor (1755-1833).
Exhibitions include: “Jean Jacques Bachelier (1724-1806)”
(Musée Lambinet, Versailles); “Charles Honoré Lannuier (17791816)” (Metropolitan Museum of Art). Ph.D, Universitaet Bonn.
Mary Cheek Mills, glass scholar. Consultant for Wintherthur
Museum, Delaware, and Sotheby’s American Arts Program.
Recipient of the Corning Museum of Glass Richards Award for
research on American glass. Lectures widely. Publications
include: “The Cooperative Venture of Union Glass Works,
Kensington, Pennsylvania, 1826–42,” Journal of Glass Studies
(1992). MA, Winterthur Program in Early American Culture.
Christopher Mount, design historian. Formerly Editor-in-Chief,
I.D. Magazine, and Associate Curator, Department of Architecture
and Design, MoMA, New York. MoMA exhibitions include:
“Modern Living” (2000), “Different Roads: Automobiles for the
Next Century” (1999), “Stenberg Brothers: Constructing a
Revolution in Soviet Design” (1998), “Piet Mondrian’s De Stijl
Colleagues” (1995), “Typography and the Poster” (1994), and
“Kaj Franck: Designer” (1992). Recent publications include:
“Arne Jacobsen: An Obsession with Form” (Chronicle Books,
2003) and articles in Architecture, Dwell, Glass Magazine,
Graphis and elsewhere.
Jeffrey Munger, Associate Curator, European Sculpture and
Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art. Specialist in
European ceramics. Recent exhibitions include: “Chocolate,
Coffee, and Tea” (2004). As Associate Curator of Decorative Arts,
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, he contributed to installations
including “The Firestone Collection of French Silver” (2002) and
to publications such as “The Forsyth Wickes Collection in the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston” (1992). MA, Harvard University.
Anne-Marie Quette, Conférencière at the Musées Nationaux de
France and Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. Specialist in
French furniture. Publications include two volumes of Le Mobilier
Français: Louis XIII, Louis XIV (1996) and Art Nouveau 1900 (1995).
Maria Ruvoldt, specialist in Renaissance art and feminist theory.
Recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in
the Humanities from the Penn Research Forum, University of
Pennsylvania. Recent publications: The Sleep of Reason:
Inspiration and Creativity in Renaissance Imagery (Cambridge
University Press, 2004); “Michelangelo’s Dream,” Art Bulletin
(2003). Ph.D, Columbia University.
Denny Stone, Collections Manager, New York Historical Society.
Former Curator of Costumes and Textiles, San Diego Historical
Society. Recipient of Mellon Curatorial Fellowship in Textiles,
Jewish Museum, New York. Curated numerous exhibitions
including “Elegant Fantasy: The Jewelry of Arline Fisch,” on tour
through 2003. MA, Fashion Institute of Technology.
Deborah Dependahl Waters, Deputy Director, Collections and
Exhibitions, Museum of the City of New York. Past president of
the New York Silver Society. Publications include: Elegant Plate:
Three Centuries of Precious Metals in New York City (2000);
Plain and Ornamental: Delaware Furniture, 1740-1890 (1984).
Contributed to the exhibition catalog Art and the Empire City
(2000) and many other exhibitions and catalogs. Ph.D, University
of Delaware.
John Wilton-Ely, professor emeritus, University of Hull. Former
Director of Education, Sotheby’s, London. Internationally known
scholar on eighteenth-century art, architecture and decorative
arts. Piranesi specialist and author of: Piranesi: The Complete
Etchings (1994); Piranesi as Archictect and Designer (1993); The
Art and Mind of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1988); as well as articles on Beckford, Hawksmoor, Wren and others.
Tessa Murdoch, Deputy Keeper in the Department of Sculpture,
Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass, Victoria and Albert Museum,
based in Metalwork and specializing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English Silver. Installing new permanent gallery
of sacred silver and stained glass at the Victoria and Albert
Museum. Recipient of 2002 Getty Curatorial Grant to complete
research on English giltwood furniture 1700-1750. Numerous
exhibitions and their accompanying publications. Ph.D, University
of London.
47
Lighting Design
Lighting Design is integral to architecture, interior design, product design, theater, and many other
disciplines. The Master of Fine Arts degree offered by the Department of Architecture, Interior
Design and Lighting, provides a strong interdisciplinary education in the intellectual, aesthetic, and
technical aspects of lighting design. Recognizing that human physiology and psychology are central
to an understanding of light as a design medium, the MFA curriculum offers a broad and rigorous
study in the design, history, practice, and theory of light and lighting.
Lighting has been an important part of design education at Parsons for decades. The graduate
degree program has the distinction of being the first in the field of architectural lighting, as well as
the only graduate lighting program focused primarily on design and social practice. The MFA curriculum combines strong technical and design training with a rigorous study of the phenomenology, history, and evolving theories of light in regard to social practice.
The program’s integrated curriculum within the department brings lighting students into close contact with other graduate architecture and interior design students. Distinguished faculty members
serve as mentors and the large, supportive professional community in New York City supplements
Parsons formal studies with numerous programs and lectures where students are always encouraged to participate. New York is an exhilarating laboratory of light, rich with examples to study and
emulate. Graduates of the program have varied career choices, and may fill an important role as
architectural lighting designers either in private practice or as lighting specialists within architecture
and interior design firms. Some graduates choose to concentrate in theatrical and/or exhibition lighting while others become research professionals in companies designing lighting-related equipment.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Ben Shih Ping Lin,
Juan DeLeon-Torres and
Wen-Kai Tseng, Projections 5
Faculty
Peter Wheelwright
Chair
JoAnne Lindsley
Director
David Clinard
Jim Conti
Renée Cooley
Jessica Corr
Dusti Helms
Jungsoo Kim
Jonathan Knowles
Chou Lien
Mark Loeffler
Lora Lomuscio
Michael Morris
Henry Muller
Robert Prouse
Matthew Richter
Nathalie Rozot
Randy Sabedra
Conor Sampson
Lynn Saville
Leni Schwendinger
Joel Siegel
David Singer
Mark Sussman
Matthew Tanteri
Thomas Thompson
Linnaea Tillett
Attila Uysal
James Yorgey
49
Juan DeLeon-Torres,
Three Lines
Curriculum
The program is a two-year (four semester) full-time course of study. A minimum of 64 credits of
required courses are necessary to graduate. This total includes 52 credits of Lighting specific study,
3 credits of History of Architecture and 9 credits of interdisciplinary academic electives including
students from the programs in Architecture and Interior Design, and shared faculty. Elective courses, up to a total of 19 credits per semester, are allowed and encouraged but are not required.
Preparation for Admission
All applicants must have an undergraduate or graduate degree, usually in one of the following disciplines: Architecture, Environmental Design, Interior Design, Engineering, or Theater Arts.
Applicants whose bachelor degrees are in unrelated disciplines should have experience working in
these fields. Students deficient in education or experience in building-related disciplines, as
described above, or who are lacking architectural drawing skills or mathematics including algebra,
plane geometry or trigonometry may be accepted conditionally into the program but required to
enroll in the Pre-Architecture Studies program within the Department’s Architecture Program. This
course of study would postpone enrollment in the lighting degree program for one year while providing them with the tools and disciplinary exposure to excel in the MFA Lighting Design program.
The Lighting Design Studio is the core of the curriculum where students learn to envision form and
space “in light.” Light is an essential element of our environment. It is through light that we register
visual information, perceive the form and color of objects and space, and accomplish tasks in general. The design studio sequence is complemented by a parallel technology series as well as courses
in the cultural, historical, and perceptual aspects of lighting design.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Vivie Chia-Yu Lin, Vicky Wy Pang
and Yasmin Shahamiri,
Installatum
MFA LIGHTING DESIGN CURRICULUM
First Year Fall
Studio 1
Principles of Light
History of Architecture
Light Perception and Culture 1
6
3
3
3
15
First Year Spring
Studio 2: Natural &
Technological Light
Daylight & Sustainability
Historical Influences of Light
Multi-discipline elective, required
6
3
3
3
15
Second Year Fall
Studio 3
Thesis Preparation
Luminaire & Systems Technology
Luminaire Design
Multi-discipline elective, required
6
3
3
3
3
18
Second Year Spring
Thesis Studio
Light Perception & Culture II
Professional Practice
Multi-discipline elective, required
Total
7
3
3
3
16
64
51
Konstantinos Predaris
and Yasmin Shahamiri,
Brandston Competition:
Morning, Night
Facilities and Resources
Lighting Design students work in an open studio alongside of
graduate architecture and interior design students. A lighting
resource library and a lighting laboratory are adjacent to the studio. As a part of the academic community of the Department of
Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting, all department
resources are available including a large materials library and
model shop located adjacent to the second floor architecture studio, and the Donghia Materials Center on the third floor. Use of
the fabrication shops in the Fine Arts Department located above
the studio is encouraged and promotes important exchanges
with other MFA graduate students. While the studio is equipped
with wireless digital technology, students also have access to
computer labs on both departmental floors and the University’s
nearby Computer Center. Participation in the department’s lecture series and exhibitions further the dialogue between Lighting,
Architecture, and Interior Design.
To fully engage the design studio, students are required to have a
laptop upon entering the program. Contact the department for
specifications
Required Courses
Lighting Design Studios I– IV The studio experience is at the
core of the Lighting Design curriculum. Its goal is to integrate
each student’s background with the rest of the curriculum by
working on projects that are guided and evaluated by working
professionals. The studios are designed to move progressively
from the theoretical expression of light through in-depth
research, study, and design toward professional application of
light in the built environment.
Studio I addresses abstract projects that involve the exploration
of fundamental design components: light, color, form, space,
plane, rhythm, balance and texture. This study begins in two
dimensions, proceeding through 3 dimensions to full-scale study.
Within the context of this initial investigation of light as a design
medium, students will discover various means of representation
from photography through hand and computer rendering to computer simulation in three dimensions.
Studio II focuses on the massing and orientation of architectural
form and fenestration to integrate daylight in interior spaces.
Electric lighting is addressed as a complement and supplement
to sunlight. Particular attention is given to the relationship of diurnal and night light to qualitative aspects of habitation and functional use in social space.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Studio III proceeds to full development of conceptual architectural lighting design with a series of projects addressing client
needs, programs, technical requirements and given conditions. In
this studio, students explore larger and more challenging architectural spaces and exterior areas. Exercises include reaching
beyond architectural lighting and expanding design vision by
learning from other media. Possible techniques include computer
visualizations and the design of performance pieces and analysis
of the theatricality of public spaces. Designs are rigorously
backed up with calculations, documentation and presentation
drawings. Students learn lighting techniques using computeraided calculation and representation, including modeling programs that calculate and present illuminances (such as AGI 32
and Lumen Micro™).
The Thesis Studio (Studio IV) completes the studio experience. It is preceded by a thesis seminar in the fall semester during which students develop a proposal for their final individual
studio project and associated research. The approved proposal
will be fully developed in the final studio with all associated
research, documentation, drawing, and developmental models,
allowing the individual to experience the development of an
architectural lighting project from start to finish, mentored by the
studio instructors and outside guest critics, within the structure
and schedule of the studio. The opportunity to collaborate with
graduate architecture or interior design students and faculty is an
option in this studio.
Principles of Light is a survey of various topics that influence
lighting design decisions, including properties of materials as
they relate to light, codes and the law, reading and using catalogs, documentation and health effects of light. This class also
introduces the technical and practical aspects of lighting design,
including the physics of light, lamp technology, application of
photometric data, and calculations.
Architectural History is a core course shared with entering
graduate architecture students. Students will be directed to one
of two options (Modern & Post-Modern Architecture or Issues
and Practices of Modern Architecture) depending on their previous education in architectural history/theory. Students new to the
discipline will undertake a survey of movements and theories in
architecture, landscape, and urban design, which address historically and culturally significant forms. More advanced students
will pursue a case study methodology and explore the impact of
philosophy, religion, science, and politics on design theory and
practice. Topics include form and meaning, nature/culture, space
and human identity, architecture representation and media, tradition and innovation.
Light, Perception and Culture I discusses how lighting design
is influenced by the human perceptual system and the culture of
the time. The design of space and the light needed to illuminate
it have been inseparable elements throughout the history of
building. The need to control and manipulate the quality and
quantity of light has impacted profoundly the shape and organization of architecture and public space. Students develop an understanding of how human beings react to and interact within light
by exploring contemporary theories of perceptual, somatic, and
aesthetic responses to light.
53
Vicky Wy Pang and Wen-Kai Tsent
Flexilas
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Manu Kingston,
Surachai Tangsakyuen and
Saiko Terahara, Illusion 3
Daylighting and Sustainability is a companion lecture course to
Studio II, educating designers in the observation, analysis,
description, manipulation, and evaluation of daylight, as well as its
effect on the quality of interior spaces. Topics include solar motion
and prediction methods; calculations; the interaction of daylighting
with building orientation, interior finishes, window configuration
and control devices, including interior and exterior shading. The
impact of light and electric generation is a critical element in the
discussion of sustainable architecture.
Theoretical, Historical & Sociological Influences of Light
explores historical relationships between social practice and light.
A multi-cultural survey focuses on the early impact of light in
people’s lives and their relationship to the built-environment.
Particular attention is given to the evolution of aesthetic, religious, philosophical, and psychological theories in regard to light
over time and within diverse cultures. Study of the development
of electric lighting and the extraordinary change in social practice
and its global effect on economics, leisure activity, and design
serves as a basis for students to speculate on future technologies and possibilities.
Luminaire and Systems Technology explores in depth, the
material and fabrication issues of the equipment used in lighting
interior and exterior spaces as well as electrical theory and practice, codes, control systems, energy management, ballast technology and outdoor lighting. Also covered are thermal issues
related to lighting design including luminaire performance, regulatory requirements, code issues and overall building performance
(integration of lighting with mechanical systems).
Luminaire Design is a companion studio to Luminaire and
Systems Technology. This class explores the design of fixtures
and covers aesthetic and technical form, as well as the influences of fabrication and mass production on both decorative and
utilitarian luminaires. Subjects include: concept origination; detail
studies; mock-ups; components; manufacturing processes; use
of materials, the integration of reflectors, lamps, lenses, ballasts
and shielding into a complete lighting fixture; code requirements;
and the interface between luminaires and surrounding architectural construction. Full-scale model building and functional mockups are also utilized as both study and presentation techniques.
Light, Perception and Culture II expands on the issues presented in Light, Perception, Culture I and covers subjective vs. objective responses to light, the psychology of lighting design, and the
impact of energy ethics on lighting decisions. Architectural photog-
raphy is used to develop the student’s awareness and ability to
observe light. Photography is also used as a component in the
development of perceptual aspects of lighting design. Study of
light in performance (both in its theatrical and post-modern expression) helps students to understand evolving cultural perspectives
and contemporary representations of identity and social practice.
Professional Practice is the culminating lecture course of the
master’s curriculum and explores the business and professional
aspects of the lighting design field. Subjects include ethics, project management, business structures for design offices, legal
issues, contracts, fees, codes, specifications, and construction
administration protocols. Integration of an advanced lighting
knowledge within varying design industry fields and exploration
of marketing issues and individual communication through portfolio preparation and invited critic review, will facilitate the transition from theory to practice.
55
Electives
Lighting Design students are required to take three interdisciplinary electives, chosen from the graduate level courses in the
Department of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting or other
New School courses as approved by the Director. Optional electives are offered to supplement the technical and computer
graphic knowledge. Independent study options allow the student
to explore topics of particular interest of their own choosing. To
develop an independent study the student must write a proposal,
a schedule of objectives and gain the approval of the Director
and a supervising faculty member.
Faculty
JoAnne Lindsley, LC, FIALD, FIES, Director, MFA Lighting
Design Program. Lighting designer, Lindsley Consultants Inc.
Past President, International Association of Lighting Designers
(IALD). Awards: 2003 Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education Grant;
IESNA Presidential Award for 90.1 National Energy Code; NY
Landmarks Conservancy Award: NY City Hall restorations; IESNA
Progress Award: KnowHow Series, application guidelines; Taylor
Technical Talent Award; IESNY Lumen. BS, Michigan State
University; post-graduate lighting, Parsons School of Design.
David Clinard, LC, lighting designer, American Museum of
Natural History. Founder, Clinard Design Studio. Previously:
Kugler Tillotson Associates, George Sexton Associates. Juror:
architectural and design programs at RISD and MIT; IESNY
Lumen award. IALD Associate. MFA, SUNY-Purchase; graduate
studies, RISD.
Jim Conti, lighting designer. Projects/clients: Steelcase, Alliance
for Downtown NY, Brooks Brothers, New World Foundation,
New Balance. Published: Radical Landscapes, Artforms, LD+A,
Interiors, Architectural Record, Architectural Review, New York
Times. Awards: IESNY Lumen, Nuckolls Fund for Lighting
Education, Linked by Light. Adjunct Associate Professor, Pratt
Institute. Associate Member, IALD, IESNA. MFA, Ohio State
University.
Renée Cooley, IALD. Principal, Cooley Monato Studio. Projects:
Takashimaya Cosmetics, Bergdorf Goodman, Four Seasons
Hotel, Tokyo. Awards: IESNY Lumen, Citation, Feldman, IALD
Citation: Guggenheim Museum Renovation and Expansion.
Member: board, IESNY; advisory board, Architectural Lighting
Magazine. BFA, Florida International University; MFA, Yale.
www.parsons.edu/architecture
Jessica Corr, product designer, partner, Collaborative.
Projects/exhibits: Exquisite Cannibals: Massachusetts College of
Art; Double Exposure: multimedia set design for the Alvin Ailey
Dance Co.; R & D Consultant for new materials, Prada.
Published: Graphis, Interni, Frame, Interiors, Elle Décor, Interior
Design. BFA, Parsons School of Design.
Dusti Helms, principal, Dusti S. Helms, Architectural Lighting
Consultant. Projects: Mercer Hotel, NY; Sony Center; Potsdamer
Platz, Berlin; Disneyland East Esplanade, Anaheim, CA; MAC
Cosmetics Worldwide; Tommy Hilfiger Flagship, New York;
Hyundai Department Store, Seoul. IALD Associate Member. BS,
University of North Carolina.
Jungsoo Kim, Senior Associate, Brandston Partnership, Inc.
Architectural guest critic in Korea and NYC. IALD Associate
Member. BFA, MFA, Ewha Women’s University, Korea; MA,
NYU; MFA, Parsons School of Design.
Jonathan Knowles, architect, BriggsKnowles. Projects: Hispanic
Information and Telecommunications Network; Satellite Imaging
Facility; Bethany Home of RI; Work Room and Children’s
Recreation Center, NYC. Published: Progressive Architecture,
Metropolis, ARCHIS, Domus. Awards: AIA, Progressive
Architecture Project Citation. BFA, B.Arch, RISD.
Chou Lien, IALD. Partner, Brandston Partnership, Inc. Taught
at Chun-Yun University, Taiwan. Guest critic at several design
programs in NYC. Sculptures at National Museum of Taiwan.
BA, National Taiwan Art Institute, Taiwan; MFA, SUNY Buffalo;
MS, Pratt.
Mark Loeffler, IALD, LC. Lighting and sustainable design consultant, The RETEC Group. US Green Building Council member,
LEED accredited. Projects: Boston University Arena/ Recreation
Center and Student Village Housing complex, University of
Connecticut Student Union, Yale University Chemistry Research
Building. MFA, Parsons School of Design.
Lora Lomuscio, IDSA, AWID, industrial designer. BA, Vassar
College; MID, Pratt Institute.
Michael Morris, principal, MorrisSato Studio. Awards: Fulbright
Scholar/ IIE, Dublin; Young Architects, NIAE Paris Prize; NYFA
Fellowship. Exhibits: Avantegarde ’90, Moscow; Architectural
League, Parsons School of Design, Rietveld Academy. BFA,
B.Arch, Cooper Union.
Robert Prouse, FIES, LC, IALD. Partner, Brandston Partnership,
Inc. Projects: Street and Esplanade Lighting at Battery Park City,
NY; San Antonio Museum of Art; Denver Transitway Mall; JC
Penney Headquarters; Bulgari Store, NY. Published: “Lighting”
in Architectural Graphics Standards. President, IALD Education
Trust. BA, University of Michigan; M.Arch, University of Colorado.
Nathalie Rozot, consultant, L’Observatoire Int’l, lighting designers:
Miami International Airport; TKOTL residential complex, Hong
Kong; Bayou River revitalization, Houston. Management in lighting design, exhibit design, architecture, landscape architecture and
urban planning. Projects published in Paris, Rome, NY, Osaka.
Ecole Boulle, Paris. Scholarship for Study Abroad, Parsons-Paris.
Randy Sabedra, lighting designer, RS Lighting Design. Projects:
executive offices of Marsh and McLennan Co., Onondaga
County Convention Center, Bulgari Jewelry Store Showroom,
USAir Terminal at La Guardia Airport, Perry Ellis Int’l Office and
Showroom, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College,
Centennial Illumination of New York Public Library. B.Arch,
California Polytechnic State University.
Conor Sampson, LC, Designer, Thompson + Sears LLC.
Projects: National Museum of American History, Delaware
Museum of Natural History, MOMA, Cleveland Museum of Art,
Queens West Stage III Urban Park. Awards: AIA scholarship,
IALD scholarship, FCAR research grant. Member: IESNY
Education Committee; IALD Associates; AIA. B.Arch, McGill
University; MA Lighting, Parsons School of Design.
Lynn Saville, fine art photographer, exhibited internationally.
Exhibited: Milwaukee Art Museum, California Museum of
Photography, Brooklyn Museum. Represented by Yancey
Richardson Gallery. Awards: NYFA fellowship; NYSCA, 1999.
Published: Acquainted with the Night. BA, Duke University; MFA,
Pratt Institute.
Leni Schwendinger, Leni Schwendinger Light Projects Ltd.
Education: London Film School, Certificate Teaching experience:
Workshops and Lectures throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Instruction: Parsons School of Design, School of Visual Arts.
Joel Siegel, IES, AMA, lighting engineer; vice president of marketing and sales, Edison Price Lighting, Inc. Taught for CCNY and
Mechanical Institute of NY. Published: Lighting Design
Association Journal. Holds patents for several lighting products.
BS, City University; BA, City College.
David Singer, principal, Arc Light Design. Published projects:
Harley Davidson Cafe, NY; Zen Palate, NY; Eccoqui, NJ; Food and
Beverage, Hyatt Regency, Osaka; Bar Bat, Hong Kong; La City,
Hong Kong. BA, M.Arch, Washington University.
Mark Sussman, performance scholar and theater artist. Fifteen
years experience as director, designer and performer in experimental theater scene of NYC. Co-founder/ artistic co-director of
OBIE-winning, “Great Small Works.” Lighting designer for the
stage. Ph.D, NYU.
Matthew Tanteri, IALD lighting designer, Tanteri + Associates.
Awards: Interiors, Best Public Space; Guth Memorial Award
of Merit; Lumen Award. Projects: US retail stores of Issey
Miyake, Versace, Chanel. BA, Cooper Union; MFA, Parsons
School of Design.
Thomas Thompson, IALD, principal, Thompson + Sears, LLC,
architectural lighting firm with over 600 completed projects
throughout the United States, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and
South America. Projects: the Samsung Roding Pavilion and the
historic preservation of the Hoboken Train Station’s Main Waiting
Room. BAE, Pennsylvania State University.
Linnaea Tillett, IALD, lighting designer. Current projects:
Monroe Park, Michigan (Architect Maya Lin), Friends Meeting
House, Rutherford Place, NY, Uris and Lerner Plaza, Columbia
University. Ph.D, CUNY.
Attila Uysal, principal, Susan Brady Lighting Design. Projects
include hospitals, airports and transportation facilities, corporate
interiors, retail stores and showrooms, facade lighting, private
residences, and restaurants. Recipient of the Turkish Republic,
Ministry of Education’s scholarship for industrial design studies
in the United States. B.Arch, Middle East Technical University,
Ankara, Turkey; MA, Industrial Design, Pratt.
James Yorgey, LC, Technical Applications Manager, Lutron
Electronics Company. Member: IEEE, IESNA (former Chairman
of Energy Management Committee); ASHRAE/ IESNA Standard
90.1 Project Committee, Energy Efficient Design of New
Buildings, ASHRAE/ IES Standard 100P Project Committee,
Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings. BS, Penn State.
57
Photography
The MFA Photography Department functions as a 21st century atelier and think tank. Students are
encouraged to develop individual vision within a collaborative environment and to explore related
technologies focusing on the relationship between concept and production.
The goal of the MFA in Photography is to educate photographers about the expanding and evolving
creative position of the “photographer” today specifically in relation to emerging imaging technologies
and new media. This program will ground students in both the evolving language of photography
and the technology driving that evolution. Graduates are prepared to define the creative role of photography’s future within contemporary culture, either as scholars or practicing artists. Departing
from the traditional semester format, the MFA in Photography is a 26-month, 64-credit program that
blends practice and theory. The curriculum consists of technical and academic studies, as well as
major studio work. Students earn credits through summer residencies and by utilizing the latest distributed learning technologies. Participants complete requirements during three consecutive 8-week
intensive summer sessions in residence at Parsons School of Design and engage in independent
study and online learning during the fall/spring online sessions. The fall/spring online semesters culminate in a five-day intensive residency in January and June. During the distance learning semesters, students will continue work on their studio projects under the supervision of their advisor.
MFA Photography students come from varied backgrounds which add to the diversity of visions and
styles to the Department. Applicants accepted to the MFA in Photography have undergraduate or
graduate degrees in photography, video, or other related media. Others whose bachelor or graduate
degrees are in an unrelated disciplines should have considerable experience working in the field.
www.parsons.edu/mfaphotography
Chris Bezemet, Hot Tub Legs
Faculty
Michelle Bogre
Chair
James Ramer
Associate Chair and
Graduate Director
Jill Corson
Assistant Chair
Anthony Aziz
Adam Ames
Andrew Bordwin
Martha Burgess
Sammy Cucher
Simone Douglas
Robin Michals
Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
Penelope Umbrico
59
Phillip Brooks
Required Courses
Graduate Studio Students explore a personal direction in their
studio under the supervision of their graduate advisor. Students
should meet twice a week with their advisor and will be required
to attend regular critiques with their peers. A final review by the
Graduate Advisory Committee is conducted at the end of each
semester to assess each student’s progress. Independent Studio
is a continuation of personal studio work initiated in Graduate
www.parsons.edu/mfaphotography
Studio. Students are expected to maintain regular contact with
their advisor using the online Community Conference. The
semester of independent studio work culminates in a week-long
residency in January (for the Fall term) and June (for the Spring
term) during which group and individual critiques are conducted
and the Graduate Advisory Committee assesses student’s work.
See course descriptions on page 62.
MFA CURRICULUM
First Year Summer
Graduate Studio
Graduate Seminar
Wired Studio
6
3
3
12
First Year Fall
Independent Studio
Academic Elective
Community Conference
3
3
0
6
First Year Spring
Independent Studio
Academic Elective
Community Conference
3
3
0
6
Second Year Summer
Graduate Studio
Graduate Seminar
Think Tank
Teaching Methods
6
3
3
3
15
Second Year Fall
Independent Studio
Academic Elective
Community Conference
3
3
0
6
Second Year Spring
Independent Studio
Academic Elective
Community Conference
3
3
0
6
Third Year Summer
Graduate Studio
Graduate Seminar
Thesis & Exhibition
6
3
4
13
Total
64
61
Lexie Giarraputo
Wired Studio is a skills acquisition course designed to introduce
participants to new photographic technologies and working
methods. This course will explore the possibilities of the expanding capabilities of image making tools for all areas, ranging from
alternative processes to the purely digital environment.
Think Tank stresses collaboration rather than competition. The
course seeks to bring into focus the impact of new technologies
on working methods, production, and how they are viewed.
Students conceive, plan, and execute a large-scale public photographic project. Students are encouraged to incorporate new
technologies in all aspects of production and planning.
Thesis & Exhibition Candidates work with their advisory and
graduate committee to prepare their thesis exhibition and written
statement. In order to complete the program and this course,
students are required to complete their oral exam with the
Graduate Review Committee.
Cyber-Community Conference is a hub of exchange and communication both during residency and the independent study
period. During the residency period, CCC serves as a primary
source for program information, scheduling, and informal discussion and conferencing. During periods of independent study the
CCC provides students and faculty an essential link to the graduate community. Through asynchronous and live discussion
groups, critique space, and guest lecturers and critics, CCC facilitates a free and creative exchange despite geographic boundaries. It also allows the students to put into practice ideas and
learning methods in the Teaching Methods class.
Graduate Seminar I, II, III utilizes the artistic and intellectual
wealth of the city to explore contemporary issues in art and photography. This topic/critique course, lead by a graduate seminar
leader, will either meet and explore a specific topic or students
will meet with approximately five visiting professionals per
semester who will critique their work and introduce critical and
theoretical topics for discussion and research. The variety of visiting professionals will promote critical interaction with diverse
viewpoints as well as provide networking opportunities for the
students.
History of Representation This course explores historical trends
and cultural standards of pictorial representation and representational media to better understand contemporary practices.
Through readings, discussion, and research, students will explore
historical cultural standards that have defined fact, reality, and
www.parsons.edu/mfaphotography
truth. Students will examine the role of the photograph in contemporary culture and attempt to identify current cultural standards in a post-photographic digital world.
Art Since Lunch: a Postmodern Debate What is the next “ism”?
Unlike a traditional art history class that focuses on the past, this
class tries to predict and shape the future. This course is a critical
analysis of the current debate about photography and the images
being produced at the dawn of the 21st century. It will examine
the role of technology in photographic production and dissemination and how that impacts the global visual marketplace.
Hsuan Hsuan Wu
63
Intellectual Property in the Digital Age Intellectual property
is a rapidly changing field with new laws being made daily.
Through readings, lectures, and panel discussions, students will
explore the many facets of current copyright, trademark and art
law as it relates to photography.
Visiting Lecturers
Shimon Attie, photographer
Ollivier Dyens, artist, essayist, poet
Anthony Goicolea, artist, photographer
Sharon Harper, photographer
Antoni Muntadas, media artist
Melanie Wiora, photographer
Gary Scheider, photographer
Charlie White, photographer
Slater Bradley, photographer
Larry Sulton, photographer
Wendel White, photographer
Elliot Erwitt, photographer
Joel Meyerowitz, author, photographer
David Alan Harvey, writer, photographer
Alix Pearlstein, multidisciplinary artist
Collier Schorr, photographer
Neil Goldberg, photographer
Catherine Wagner, artist, photographer
Dan Graham, multidisciplinary artist
Ellen Birell, multidisciplinary artist
Allan Frame, writer, photographer, director
The Faculty
James L Ramer, Photographer and Installation Artist. Exhibitions
include: David Lusk Gallery, TN; Contemporary Museum, MD;
Rupert Goldsworthy Gallery, NYC; Ole Dominion University, VA;
Southern Illinois University, IL. Collections: Asissi Foundation,
Promus Corporation, Schering-Plough Inc. MFA, Memphis
College of Art.
Michelle Bogre, Photographer. President, Communications
Exchange. Member: P. P. of A. Exhibitions: NY Camera Club.
Clients: Eastman Kodak, DuPont, IBM, Wheeler Group. Featured:
American Photographer, Chicago Tribune, Time-Life Library of
Photography, The Family of Women, others. BJ, University of
Missouri; Certificate, University College, Cardiff, Wales.
Anthony Aziz, Artist, Photographer specializing in digital imaging. Collaborator in team of Aziz + Cucher. Exhibitions include
Venice Biennale, 1995; Biennale de Lyon, 2000; The
www.parsons.edu/mfaphotography
Photographer’s Gallery, London; Cooper Hewitt Design Museum,
International Center of Photography (ICP), New York; New
Museum of Contemporary Art, New York. Collections include:
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art; Reina Sofia Center of Contemporary Art, Madrid.
Awards: Pollock-Krasner Foundation, 2002, New York Foundation
for the Arts, 2003. MFA, San Franciscio Art Institute.
Martha H Burgess, photographer, installation and new media
artist. Exhibited: Rice University Gallery, Houston, TX; Gary
Tatintsian Gallery, NYC; Riva Gallery, NYC; Contemporary
Museum, Baltimore, MD; P.S.1, LIC; University of CT Center for
Visual Art and Culture; FotoFest, Houston, TX. Fellowships:
Guggenheim Fellowship; Jerome Foundation; New York
Foundation for the Arts; Epson Corporation; Scitex Corporation;
Ford Foundation; Macdowell Colony; P.S.1; Fannie B. Pardee
Prize, Yale University. Clients: Tibet House; Merrill Lynch Video
Network; Skidmore Owings & Merrill Architects; NNY; Sony
Audio; IBM; American Express, Eisenman Architects. MFA,
Yale University.
Sammy Cucher, internationally recognized photographer specializing in digitally based images. Collaborator in team Aziz +
Cucher. Exhibitions include: Los Angeles County Museum,
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid), The Photographers’ Gallery
(London), Venice Biennale (1995) and Biennale de Lyon (2000).
MFA, San Francisco Art Institute.
Robin Michals, new media artist/designer, developer of earcades. Clients: The New Yorker, Fox Sports, Priceline. Exhibits:
Venetia Kapernekas Fine Arts, Eyewash, the Alternative
Museum. Featured: several shows including the Ninth New York
Digital Salon. BA, Barnard College; MFA, Columbia University.
Cay Sophie Rabinowitz, Senior Editor, Parkett. Contributing
writer: Afterall, Art Papers, Boiler, Self Service. Catalogue texts
on Monica Bonvicini, Sabine Hornig, Rita McBride, Thomas
Schutte. Research areas: Rhetoric and Aesthetics, Berlin Dada,
Ethnography, Propaganda. Faculty positions: Emory University,
Parsons, California Institute of the Arts.
Penelope Umbrico, Artist, Photographer. Widely exhibited.
Collections include: International Center for Photography,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art.
Represented by Julie Saul Gallery. Recipient, New York
Foundation of the Arts Catalogue Grant; New York Foundation
of the Arts Artists’ Fellowship. BFA, Ontario College of Art;
MFA, School of Visual Arts.
Margaret Lanzoni
65
General Information
Academic Policies
Academic Calendar 2004–2005
Faculty members assign grades that reflect the degree of accomplishment in
the following: concept, technique, execution, progress, class participation, and
attendance.
Fall 2004
Registration
Labor Day*
Classes begin
Convocation
Rosh Hashonah*
Last day to add a class
Yom Kippur*
Last day to drop a class
Spring Early Registration
Thanksgiving*
Classes and Exams end
Winter Break
Apr 16–25 1
Sept 6
Sept 7
Sept 9
Sept 15**–16
Sept 20
Sept 24**–25
Sept 27
Nov 8–22
Nov 24–28
Dec 23
Dec 24 – Jan 23
Spring 2005
Martin Luther King Day*
Registration
Jan 17
Jan 10 –22 1
Classes begin
Last day to add a class
Last day to drop a class
President’s Day*
Spring Break*
Fall Early Registration
Classes and Exams end
Graduation
Jan 24
Feb 4
Feb 11
Feb 21
March 21–27
April 14 –28
May 16
May 20
Aug 3 –Sept 3 2
Grade Descriptions
A
(4.0)
A(3.7)
B+
(3.3)
B
(3.0)
B(2.7)
C+
(2.3)
C
(2.0)
C(1.7)
F
(0.0)
Jan 18 –212
Summer 2005
Late May–Mid August: Classes
* indicates no classes, unless otherwise designated on University calendar
** indicates evening hours
1
Registration for continuing students
2
Registration for new students/late reg. for continuing students
Work of exceptional quality.
Work of high quality.
Very good work.
Good work; satisfies course requirements.
Below average.
Less than adequate.
Well below average.
Lowest passing grade.
Failure; no credit.
W (– –) Withdrawal, no grade, no penalty. Assigned by the Registration Office if
a student officially withdraws from a course during the withdrawal period. If
he/she withdraws between the fourth and seventh week and properly obtains
advisor approvals, he/she will receive a grade of W. No withdrawals are allowed
after the seventh week of classes. There is no penalty for a grade of W.
WF (0.0) Withdrawal Failing. Student has unofficially withdrawn after the withdrawal deadline, stopped attending, or failed to complete a final project or
examination without prior faculty approval. Calculated as 0.0 in the GPA.
I (Incomplete) Signifies a temporary deferment of a regular grade. May be
assigned when coursework has been delayed for unavoidable reasons.
Incomplete grades are given only with the written approval of the instructor
and the Department Chair. A grade of “I” must be removed and a final grade
given within one year. Failure to meet the agreed upon “make up” deadline
will result in a WF on the permanent record.
GM Grade Missing for individual.
P/U Pass/Unsatisfactory
Grade Point Average
Semester grade point average (GPA) is computed by multiplying each course’s
credit value by the numerical grade earned and totaling the products. This figure is divided by the total number of credits attempted.
Semester GPA determines Academic Warning, Probation, Dean’s List, Honors,
Financial Aid Awards, and matters concerning academic status.
Cumulative GPA is calculated using the same formula as the semester GPA,
but it includes all semesters’ course credits and grades. Cumulative GPA determines eligibility for financial aid and graduation. Transfer credits are not included in the cumulative GPA.
Academic Standing
University-wide
All matriculated graduate students must earn 3.0 term GPA and cumulative
GPA to remain in good academic standing. Students with less than 3.0 term
GPA or cumulative GPA will be placed on academic probation. Students
who earn less than 3.0 cumulative GPA for two consecutive semesters will
be dismissed.
www.parsons.edu
Additional Divisional requirements
Graduate students who do not complete one half of accumulated attempted
credits after two consecutive semesters in their program will be subject to probation and will not necessarily be allowed to register for more courses and/or
equivalency credits in the following semester. Students are additionally responsible for meeting department/program academic requirements in order to
remain in good academic standing in their program.
At Mannes and the Actors Studio Drama School all students also must earn a
grade of “B-” or better in required classes to remain in good standing in the
program. At the conclusion of the semester’s probation, students who receive
additional grades below “B-” will be subject to dismissal. Mannes students
who fail remedial courses and Actors Studio Drama School students who fail
any required course will be dismissed.
At Parsons, students must earn a satisfactory grade “B” in each required
course to remain in good academic standing. Students who do not satisfactorily complete a required or sequential course, but who are otherwise in good
academic standing, are subject to Curricular Probation. Students on Curricular
Probation who fail to make satisfactory progress will be dismissed as will students with a term GPA of 2.5 or lower. They may be ineligible to continue in
portions of their academic programs until the deficiency is resolved.
Academic Dismissal Appeals
University-wide
Students who are dismissed from their degree program may petition to their
Dean’s Office to reverse the decision by filing a formal written appeal. All
appeals must be presented in writing, with supporting documentation, within
two weeks of receipt of notice of academic dismissal. Students may expect to
hear the results of an appeal within two to four weeks of its submission.
Appeals must contain the following information:
• An explanation of poor performance and/ or failure to complete required
coursework
• A description of plans to improve academic performance and/or to complete
outstanding work
• Any other relevant information pertaining to academic history or potential
Students dismissed based on Fall term grades must be notified before Spring
semester classes begin. If the dismissal status is determined after classes
begin, the student will be allowed to attend classes and be placed on probation
for the spring term.
Repeated Course Policy
With divisional approval, graduate students with a grade of “C” or below and
undergraduate students with a grade of “F” or WF are eligible to repeat up to 3
courses during a single degree program. Although the initial grade will appear
on the transcript, the grade earned the second time will be computed in the
grade point average and the previous grade will drop out of the cumulative
GPA. Students must submit an approved form at the time of registration.
Graduation
To earn an undergraduate degree, students must have a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and complete departmental requirements.
To earn a graduate degree, students must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
and complete departmental requirements. Doctoral programs may require
cumulative GPA’s above 3.0.
Degree Completion Term Limits
Students must complete their degree requirements within 5 years for the
Master’s degree. Term limits for the Ph.D are the following: 10 years at the
Graduate Faculty, except the clinical psychology Ph.D which must be completed within 12 years, and 8 years at the Milano Graduate School of Management.
Beyond these time limits, students are not permitted to register unless an
extension of time is obtained. Extensions of time may be granted based on a
petition submitted by the student and assessed by the student’s academic
department. To petition, the student must outline work completed toward the
degree and a plan for completion of the degree. If the extension of time is not
granted, the student will be dismissed from the program.
Graduation Honors
Undergraduates who have completed at least 60 credits in residence for a
bachelor’s degree and 34 credits for an associate’s degree and who have
a 3.7 cumulative GPA may graduate With Honors noted on their diploma and
transcript.
Departmental graduation honors will continue to be internally awarded and will
be noted on transcripts but not on the diploma.
Dean’s List
Parsons, Mannes, Jazz, Lang and Milano Undergraduates. Students must be
full time and have 3.7 term GPA.
New School BA. Student must be registered for at least 9 credits with a
3.7 term GPA.
Grade Appeal
Students who receive a grade that they feel is inappropriate may petition
for an academic grade review by following the procedure outlined in the
Student Handbook.
Changes of Grade
Errors on final grades may be revised by the instructor with the approval of the
Department Chair up to one year following completion of the course. After that
time, all grades are part of the permanent academic record and no changes will
be allowed unless authorized by a dean. Grades of WF are considered permanent and can only be changed with the signature of a dean.
Repeated courses may not be counted twice toward fulfillment of graduation
requirements. Nor may they be counted twice for loan or New York Tuition
Assistance Program (TAP) certification.
67
Academic Programs
Undergraduate
BFA & BA/BFA Bachelor of Fine Arts
Architectural Design (HEGIS 299)
Communication Design (HEGIS 1002)
Design and Technology (HEGIS 1009)
Fashion Design (HEGIS 1009)
Fine Arts (HEGIS 1002)
Illustration (HEGIS 1009)
Integrated Design Curriculum (HEGIS 1009)
Interior Design (HEGIS 203)
Photography (HEGIS 1011)
Product Design (HEGIS 1009)
BBA Bachelor of Business Administration
Design and Management (HEGIS 1099)
AAS Associate in Applied Science
Fashion Studies (HEGIS 5012)
Fashion Marketing (HEGIS 5012)
Graphic Design (HEGIS 5012)
Interior Design (HEGIS 5012)
Graduate
MFA Master of Fine Arts
Design and Technology (HEGIS 1009)
Fine Arts (HEGIS 1002)
Lighting Design (HEGIS 201)
Photography (HEGIS 1011)
M.Arch Master of Architecture
(HEGIS 202)
MA Master of Arts
History of Decorative Arts and Design (HEGIS 1003)
Summer Intensive Studies
New York Pre-college and College
Paris Pre-college and College
Continuing Education
Studio Art and Design
Digital Design Courses
Parsons Academy (Grade 4–12)
Administration
Parsons Administration
Paul Goldberger, Dean
Lesley A. Cadman, Vice Dean
Nadine Bourgeois, Senior Associate Dean
Clive Dilnot, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
James R. Delmore, Executive Director of Budget and Planning
Susan E. Ebersole, Director of Development
Heather T. Ward, Director of Admissions
Florine Demosthene, Assistant Director of Admissions
Sarah Farsad, Assistant Director of Admissions
www.parsons.edu
James Stillwell, Assistant Director of Admissions
Sung Kim, Admissions Counselor
Erin Stellmon, Admissions Counselor
Sheila Watts, Admissions Counselor
Parsons Board of Governors
George Walker, Chair
Arnold Aronson
Dominique Bluhdorn
Harlan Bratcher
Keith Clinkscales
Michael Donovan
Nancy Dorn
Diane von Furstenberg
Tess Gilder
Robert Greenberg
James Gubelmann
Victoria Hagan
William E. Havemeyer
George R. Hearst III
Robert F. Hoerle
Sheila Johnson
Donna Karan
Sidney Kimmel
Kedakai Lipton
Robert Millard
Javier Saralegui
Denise V. Seegal
Sally Susman
Tomio Taki
Marvin Traub
Honorary Members
Marvin Blumenfeld
Donald Brooks
Hélène David-Weill
Harry B. Henshel
Anna-Maria Kellen
Jack Lenor Larson
Dianne H. Pilgrim
Betty Sherrill
Henry Wolf
New School University
The New School, founded in 1919, pioneered the idea of a lifelong Universitylevel education for adult students. It is celebrated for its social science, humanities and public policy initiatives. Beginning with the 1970 merger with Parsons
School of Design, New School University has grown into one of the largest arts
education resources in the nation. The University has about 1,200 faculty,
7,000 degree students, and 25,000 continuing education students. In addition
to Parsons, the other divisions are: The New School, The Graduate Faculty,
Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, Eugene Lang
College, Mannes College of Music, and the Actors Studio Drama School.
The Jazz and Contemporary Music Program round out its arts offerings.
Officers of New School University
Bob Kerrey, President
Arjun Appadurai, Provost and Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs
James Murtha, Executive Vice President
Linda A. Reimer, Senior Vice President for Student Services
Frank Barletta, Vice President and Treasurer
Sherry F. Brabham, Vice President and Chief of Staff
Carol Cantrell, Vice President for Human Resources
Shelley Reed, Vice President for Information Services
Greggory Keith Spence, Vice President and General Counsel
Nancy E. Stier, Vice President for Budget and Planning
Kristin Sorenson, Vice President for Development
Doris Suarez, Secretary of the Corporation
Trustees of New School University
Philip Scaturro, Chair
Henry H. Arnhold
Arnold H. Aronson, Vice Chair
Diane P. Baker
Franci J. Blassberg
Richard J. Bressler
Gabriella De Ferrari
Robert E. Denham
Beth Rudin DeWoody
Strachan Donnelley
Douglas D. Durst
Walter A. Eberstadt
Jason Flom
Michael J. Fuchs
Nancy A. Garvey
Michael E. Gellert, Vice Chair
Paul A. Gould
Jonathan N. Grayer
Susan U. Halpern
William E. Havemeyer
William H. Hayden
George W. Haywood
Robert F. Hoerle
Sheila C. Johnson
Michael J. Johnson
Richard L. Kauffman
Bob Kerrey
Eugene M. Lang
Bevis Longstreth
Robert B. Millard, Treasurer
Robert H. Mundheim
Jonathan Newcomb
Nancy B. Peretsman, Vice Chair
Ramon J. Rodriguez
Joshua Sapan
Mrs. James C. Slaughter
Lorie A. Slutsky
Malcolm B. Smith
William J. Snipes
Elliot Stein
Julien J. Studley, Vice Chair
Steven Swid
Tomio Taki
John Tishman, Vice Chair
George Walker
Lilian Shiao-Yen Wu
William D. Zabel
Life Trustees
Adrian W. Dewind
Malcolm Klein
Divisions of the University
The New School
Ann-Louise Shapiro, Dean
Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science
Benjamin Lee, Dean
Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management
and Urban Policy
Fred P. Hochberg, Dean
University Art Collection
The contemporary art collection of New School University has over 1,100 art
works, acquired through purchase and donations. Art is installed throughout
the University’s public spaces, including hallways, classrooms, offices and
lobbies. It reflects the diversity and international character of New School
University and is often intentionally provocative.
Master of Science in Education Supervision and
Administration in the Visual Arts
Bank Street College of Education and Parsons School of Design have collaborated to offer a three-summer graduate degree program leading to the Master of
Science in Education Supervision and Administration in the Visual Arts. This program is designed to meet the needs of educators and has two principal components: the leadership portion provides the knowledge and skills needed for the
role of supervisor and administrator in diverse school and community settings,
the studio portion helps students refine and develop art and design skills.
Bank Street College of Education and Parsons School of Design invite interested candidates to apply for this dynamic program. For additional program information, housing, financial aid and an application, contact:
Office of Graduate Admissions
Bank Street College of Education
610 West 112th Street
New York, NY 10025
Tel. 212-875-4404
gradcourses@bankstreet.edu
www.bankstreet.edu/gs/admission.html
New School Online University
With Internet access, you can participate in online degree programs, courses,
events, and chats. Students log on to discussions in progress, pick up and drop
off assignments, and get instructor feedback. The online orientation week and
toll-free tech support help new students acclimate. For information and course
listings, call 212-229-5880 or visit www.dialnsa.edu.
Institutional Information
New School University provides the following institutional information on the
University website www.newschool.edu. To request copies of any of these
reports, please contact the appropriate office listed on the website.
• FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act) see below
Parsons School of Design
Paul Goldberger, Dean
Eugene Lang College
Jonathan Veitch, Dean
Mannes College of Music
Joel Lester, Dean
Actors Studio Drama School
search underway for Dean
Evangeline Morphos, Special Advisor to the
Provost on the Dramatic Arts
Jazz & Contemporary Music Program
Martin Mueller, Executive Director
www.newschool.edu
• Financial Assistance Information (federal, state, local, private and institutional
need-based and non-need based assistance programs, Title IV, FFEL, and
Direct Loan deferments)
• Institutional Information (fees, refund policy, withdrawing from school, Title IV
grant or loan assistance information, academic information, disability services
for students)
• Campus Security Report (crime statistics on campus, in or on non-campus
buildings or property, and public property reported to campus security or
local police). The Security & Advisory Committee on Campus Safety will provide upon request all campus crime statistics as reported to the United States
Department of Education. Anyone wishing to review the University’s current
69
crime statistics may access them through the website for the Department of
Education: http://ope.ed.gov/security. A copy of the statistics may also be
obtained by contacting the Director of Security for New School University at
(212) 229-5101.
In compliance with the Student Right to Know Act, information on the
Graduation Rate can be obtained by contacting the Records Office, New
School University, 65 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10003
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended in 1995
and 1996, with which New School University complies, was enacted to protect
the privacy of education records, to establish the right of students to inspect
and review their education records, and to provide guidelines for correction of
inaccurate or misleading statements.
New School University has established the following student information as
public or directory information, which may be disclosed by the institution at its
discretion: student name; major field of study; dates of attendance; full- or parttime enrollment status; degrees and awards received; the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended, addresses, phone numbers,
photographs, email addresses, and date and place of birth.
Students may request that New School University withhold release of their
directory information by notifying the University Records Office in writing. This
notification must be renewed annually at the start of each fall term.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain
rights with respect to their records
• The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45
days of the day the University receives a request for access. Students should
submit to the University Records Office, dean, head of the academic department, or other appropriate official, written requests that identify the record(s)
they wish to inspect. The University official will make arrangements for access
and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the University official to whom the
request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
• The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that
the student believes are inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the
University to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading.
They should write the University official responsible for the records, clearly
identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the University decides not to amend the record as
requested by the student, the University will notify the student of the decision
and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for
amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be
provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
• The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records except to the extent that FERPA
authorizes disclosure without consent. One exception which permits disclo-
www.parsons.edu
sure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the University in an
administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position
(including law enforcement units and health staff); a person or company with
whom the University has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection
agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an
official committee (such as a disciplinary or grievance committee) or assisting
another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a
legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education
record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
• The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by New School University to comply with the requirements
of FERPA. The office that administers FERPA is:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202-4605
Student Financial Services
New School University provides a comprehensive program of financial services
for degree-seeking students including significant institutional scholarship support
to eligible students on the basis of merit and need. Eligible students may apply
for assistance under the following federal, state and institutional aid programs:
Scholarship and Grant Programs
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
New York State Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)
New York State Aid for Part-time Study Program (APTS)
New York State Higher Educational Opportunity Program (HEOP)
New York State Regents Opportunity Scholarship Program
New School University Scholarships
Loan Programs
Federal Stafford Loan Program
Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) Program
Federal Perkins Loan Program
Private credit-based educational loans
Work Programs
Federal Work-Study Program
On-Campus Student Employment
Other Programs
Federal aid to Native Americans
Veterans Benefits
Social Security payments to children of deceased/disabled parents
Tuition and Financial Aid
How To Apply
In general, to be eligible to apply for assistance under the programs listed above
students must be matriculated in a degree program and be enrolled at least halftime. In addition, to be eligible for federal assistance, students must not be in
default or owe a refund on any of the federal aid programs. Students interested
in applying for the government and institutional financial assistance programs listed above must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
using New School University’s code of 002780 annually. Students are encouraged to file this form electronically at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Completion and submission of the FAFSA will enable the Financial Aid Office to receive a need analysis
report, or Student Aid Report (SAR), electronically. International students may be
eligible to receive institutional scholarships, and may apply by completing the
Undergraduate International Student Scholarship Application annually.
Financial Aid Application Procedures
1. File application forms by:
• March 1 for Fall semester (priority packaging)
• November 1 for Spring semester
Estimated Cost of Attendance and Determining Eligibility
The information on student resources contained in the Student Aid Report
(SAR) allows the Financial Aid Office to determine a student’s eligibility for
institutional scholarship awards as well as eligibility for federal aid programs.
The expected student contribution and aid from other sources are subtracted
from the student expense budget to determine the individual student‘s
financial need. Thus, a simple expression of the financial aid equation is represented by the following formulation: Student Expense Budget – Available
Resources = Need.
Your student expense budget, or Cost of Attendance, is the foundation on
which eligibility for student financial assistance is determined. Federal laws
regulating the disbursement of funds to students receiving Title IV aid (including subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental
Opportunity Grants, Federal Stafford Loan, Federal Perkins Loan, and Federal
Work-Study awards), dictate the expense items that can be included when
calculating COA budgets. Allowable expenses for the period of enrollment are
tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, other personal expenses, transportation costs and federal loan fees.
Details on tuition, fees and other education-related expenses can be obtained
from the University Financial Aid Office, or online at
www.newschool.edu/admin/finaid/faid/frameset_costs.html.
Additional Information
Forms, instructions and program details are available from the New School
University Financial Aid Office
65 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10003
212-229-8930
financialaid@newschool.edu
or can be found in the Financing Solutions Guide online at
www.newschool.edu/admin/finaid/faid/index.html.
Students are entitled to request information on all programs and application
procedures in a paper format, and can do so by contacting the University
Financial Aid Office.
www.newschool.edu
Below is a listing of typical school year expenses for a full-time
on-campus resident.
Typical School Year Expenses
2004–2005 Academic Year
Tuition (graduate) 1
University Fees
Health Services Fee
Health Insurance Fee 2
Room and Board 3
Books and supplies
Personal Expenses
Transportation
Total
$27,500
560
320
1,246
10,810
2,062
1,562
904
$44,964
1
Full-time annual graduate tuition. Part-time (below 12 credits per semester)
graduate tuition is charged by the credit, at $972 per credit in 2004–2005.
2
Estimated cost; subject to change. Students demonstrating they already have
health insurance may waive this fee.
3
Estimated cost.
Billing, Payment and Refund Policies
Billing and Payment Information
An invoice for fall semester’s tuition and fees, including approved financial aid
awards, is mailed to students during July. Payment is due in August. For the
spring semester, invoices are mailed during December and payment is due the
first week in January. Invoices will be mailed only to registered students. Fall
students will be charged a $150 late fee if they register after the specified payment arrangements deadline in early August. Payment for tuition, fees and
housing may be made by bank debit card and cash (in person only), or by personal check (made payable to New School University), Visa, MasterCard,
American Express, or wire transfer. There is also an extended payment plan.
For more information please visit www.newschool.edu. For questions about
billing and payments, please contact the Bursar Office at 212-229-5659 or
email bursar@newschool.edu.
Accepted Forms of Payment: Payment may be made by bank debit card and
cash (in person only for both), personal check, VISA, MasterCard, American
Express, or by wire transfer. Please contact the Bursar’s Office regarding wire
transfer instructions at the email address bursar@newschool.edu or by calling
212-229-5659, ext. 2.
Payment by check: Please make checks payable to New School University and
include the student’s name and New School ID number in the memo section.
According to University policy, third-party checks are not accepted with the following exception: Checks from parents will be accepted, but must include the
name of the student and the New School ID in the memo area.
Payment by credit card: You may make payment via ALVIN using your credit
card (with a New School ID number and PIN), or credit card authorizations may
be faxed to the Bursar’s Office at 212-989-9361. Faxed credit card authorizations must include the card number, expiration date, amount to be charged,
signature of the cardholder, student name, and New School ID number.
71
Monthly Payment Plan
The University offers a Monthly Payment Plan (administered by Tuition
Management Services) as an alternative means of managing tuition costs.
Through this plan, tuition, fees and housing for the full academic year (fall and
spring semesters), may be paid in eight or ten monthly installments rather than
in a lump sum. Students also have the option for a four or five monthly installment plan for a single semester. The payment plan is not available for the summer semester. Only matriculated students taking six or more credits per
semester are eligible. There is a participation fee of $110. For more information
about the payment plan visit www.afford.com or call Tuition Management
Services at 800-722-4687.
Refund Schedule and Policies
In the event of early withdrawal, a percentage of tuition will be refunded (see
University Refund Schedule). Refunds will be granted only after the official
withdrawal procedure has been completed or the University determines you
are no longer enrolled. Refund processing takes approximately four weeks.
University Refund Schedule: Degree Students
Courses dropped
% Semester Tuition Charges Refunded
Before semester begins
100%
Within first week of semester
90%
Within second week of semester
80%
Within third week of semester
70%
Within fourth week of semester
60%
After fourth week of semester
No refund
Fees, including the tuition deposits for new students, are non-refundable.
Housing fees are subject to the terms stated in the housing contract.
The above percentages will be applied to the number of credits dropped and
the tuition will be recalculated based on the new credit load. Refund amounts
will be the difference between tuition already paid, and the recalculated tuition.
Contact the Bursar’s Office if you have questions about your account. Your
financial aid may be affected if you withdraw or drop credits. Failure to complete payment prior to withdrawal does not relieve you of financial liability. For
students receiving Title IV funds (federal aid) who withdraw officially or unofficially from all classes, refund calculations will be based on the amount of Title
IV aid earned and on the amount of time the student was in attendance, using
a proportional calculation through 60 percent of the payment period. This calculation has no relationship to the student’s institutional charges. The amount of
tuition, fees, housing, and meal plans assessed will be based on the institutional refund policy.
Housing and Residence Life
The Office of University Housing offers undergraduates and graduate students
unique living and learning spaces with amenities that suit individual needs and
budgets. Residence hall and apartment facilities are fully furnished and staffed
with professional residence hall directors, assistant resident coordinators, and
student resident advisors. Our enthusiastic resident advisors expose residents
to diverse educational and social programs that take advantage of the rich
opportunities of New School University and New York City. In addition to 24hour security coverage, our residential staff is trained and certified in handling
crisis and emergencies should the need arise. A “Residence Hall Handbook”
details Housing services and residence hall policies that are essential to creating safe, supportive, and respective communities.
www.parsons.edu
www.newschool.edu
www.afford.com
The Office of University Housing also offers assistance in searching for offcampus accommodations. Listings for rental properties, shared apartments,
short-term accommodations and sublets are posted on the Housing bulletin
boards. University Housing also provides up-to-date printed and electronic
compilation of these listings upon request. Pick up an Off-Campus Housing
Resource Guide to learn more about New York City and its adjoining neighborhoods. Workshops and one-on-one sessions are also available.
For more information about University Housing please visit
www.newschool.edu, click on “Student Affairs.”
International Student Services
This school is authorized under Federal law to enroll non-immigrant alien students. International Student Services’ mission is to help internationals reach
their fullest potential and have positive experiences while at the University. In
cooperation with other departments, faculty, staff, and students, International
Student Services aims to promote diversity and respect for cultures from all
over the world. International Student Services helps international students
learn to help themselves by developing workshops, handouts, and other programs, and by offering advice and support. All internationals are required to
attend orientation and check in with International Student Services so that the
office can see that students have been properly admitted into the United
States, and to review rights, responsibilities and regulations. International
Student Services offers each international student one-on-one advising sessions. For more information about International Student Services please visit
www.newschool.edu, click on “Student Affairs.”
Student Disability Services
Student Disability Services shares the University’s philosophy of encouraging all
students to reach their highest level of achievement and recognizing and
embracing individual differences. Student Disability Services assists students
with disabilities in obtaining equal access to academic and programmatic services, and in providing accommodations designed to assist students with disabilities as required by the American Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504
of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. For more information about Student
Disability Services please visit www.newschool.edu, click on “Student Affairs.”
Student Health and Counseling Services
Student Health Services promotes the health and well-being of students by
providing counseling and medical services, health education, and the Student
Health Insurance Plan. Medical services are available to students who are ill or
injured, or who have questions about their health. A staff of physicians, nurse
practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and office assistants are available to
serve student’s medical needs. The Counseling Services staff, including
licensed psychologists, clinical social workers, psychological counselors and a
psychiatrist, provide students with a supportive environment to discuss any
concerns or problems. Counseling Services will work with each student to
decide on a plan of treatment that will address concerns in a reasonable and
helpful manner. The Health Education Program offers a variety of health-related
workshops, training, and outreach programs throughout the University. The
Student Health Insurance Plan offers affordable health insurance. For more
information about Student Health and Counseling Services please visit
www.newschool.edu, click on “Student Affairs.”
Student Affairs
Student Affairs offers workshops, events, and programs that enrich each student’s academic experience as well as recreational and health education programs. These opportunities reflect our diverse student opulation—intellectually,
artistically, culturally, and socially. Students are also encouraged to become
involved in Recognized Student Organizations and other Leadership Programs.
Student Affairs is committed to bringing students together from across the
academic divisions to build community and an environment dedicated to the
principles of fairness, civility, and diversity. For more information about each of
the Student Affairs offices below, please visit www.newschool.edu:
Office of Student Development
Office of Intercultural Support
Office of Career Development
Office of Student’s Rights and Responsibilities
Office of Health Education
Equal Employment Opportunity
New School University is committed to creating and maintaining an environment that promises diversity and tolerance in all areas of employment, education and access to its educational, artistic or cultural programs and activities.
New School University does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color,
sex or sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical disability, national or
ethnic origin, citizenship status, or veteran status.
Inquiries concerning the application of the laws and regulations concerning
equal employment and educational opportunity at the New School University
(including Title VI-equal opportunity regardless of race, color or national origin;
Section 504-equal opportunity for the disabled; and Title IX-equal opportunity
without regard to gender) may be referred to: The office of the General Counsel,
New School University, 66 West 12th Street, Room 804, New York, New York
10011. Inquiries may also be referred to: the Office of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs, U.S. Department of Labor, 23 Federal Plaza, New York,
NY 10278 or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),
New York District Office, 201 Varick Street, Suite 1009, New York, NY 10014.
For individuals with hearing impairments, EEOC’s TDD number is 212-741-3080.
Admissions
Parsons School of Design University Admissions
55 West 13th Street, 7th fl, NY, NY 10011
Telephone 212-229-5150
or 877-528-3321 (toll-free in the U.S.)
Visit the Online Open House at: http://admissions.parsons.edu
or email: studentinfo@newschool.edu
Graduate Open Studios
December 2, 2004, 6–9 pm
Master of Architecture
25 East 13th Street, 2nd floor
MFA Design & Technology
2 West 13th Street, 10th floor
MFA Fine Arts
25 East 13th Street, 5th floor
MA History of Decorative Arts and Design
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Smithsonian Instituion
2 East 91st Street
MFA Lighting Design
25 East 13th Street, 3nd floor
MFA Photography
66 Fifth Avenue, 3rd floor
Graduate Portfolio Days
September 26, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
October 9, 12–4 pm, Parsons School of Design at the Theresa Lang Student
Center, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor, New York City.
Students or employees who believe they have been discriminated against
on the basis of a disability may contact their Division’s Dean Office, their
Department Director, or the Office of the Vice-President for Human Resources,
who is the University Disability Official.
73
Application Procedures
Applicants for graduate admission should observe the priority deadline of Feb
1. After Feb 1, applications will be considered on a case by case basis only. No
applications to Fine Arts and Architecture will be considered after Feb 1.
Please note that a strict deadline of Feb 1 is maintained for financial aid/scholarship applicants. Forms and links to financial aid materials can be found in the
Financial Aid section of the New School University website at
www.newschool.edu.
Applicants must submit the following to the Office of Admissions as a package:
• Application form with $40 fee.
• A brief resumé (c.v.) including appropriate work experience, travel, exhibitions, etc. List dates and positions held.
• Statement of interest and intentions.
• Official copies of all college transcripts.
• 2 letters of recommendation from faculty or people with whom you have
worked professionally (unless otherwise indicated).
• Scores of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),
if English is not the student’s native language. See individual departments
for score requirements.
• A stamped, self-addressed envelope for the return of your artwork.
All materials submitted to the Office of Admissions, including your portfolio,
transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc., will become the property of
Parsons School of Design. Original artwork will not be accepted by mail; the
Office of Admissions is not responsible for any original artwork that is mailed
to its address.
TOEFL and GRE Tests
Students required to take the TOEFL or GRE exams may obtain information
from the Educational Testing Service, Box 955, Princeton, NJ 08540; 609-9511100 or by visiting www.toefl.org or www.gre.org.
In addition to the materials listed above, the following departmental
components are required:
Architecture
No applications to Architecture will be considered after Feb 1.
1. Scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and general tests
(Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytic). TOEFL score of 580 (237 computerized)
or better is required.
2. A portfolio that does not exceed 9”x12”. The content of the portfolio will be
reviewed with an understanding of the applicant’s background. It may include
drawings and photographs of architectural projects. It should include examples
of other art work. Slides, films, and videos will not be reviewed. Do not include
excess packaging.
3. A third letter of recommendation.
www.parsons.edu
www.toefl.org
www.newschool.edu
Design and Technology
1. A TOEFL score of 580 (237 computerized) or better is required.
2. A portfolio submitted in one of the following formats: Website URL,
CD-ROM, DVD, videotape, or slides. Please provide an inventory list and
clear run instructions.
History of Decorative Arts and Design
1. Interviews are required of students who live within 200 miles of NY.
Students who live beyond this radius are encouraged to make every effort
to arrange an interview. Call 212-849-8344.
2. A third letter of recommendation.
3. A minimum of six credits in art history, or equivalent experience, is required.
4. A sample of scholarly work is desirable, but not required.
5. Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores are desirable, but not required.
A TOEFL score of 650 (280 computerized) or better required.
Fine Arts
No applications to Fine Arts will be considered after Feb 1.
1. A TOEFL score of 580 (237 computerized) or better is required.
2. A portfolio consisting of 20 images of recent art work in slides or CD-ROM
format with an inventory list. DVDs and VHS tapes are also accepted for
installations and performances.
Lighting Design
1. Scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and general tests
(Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytic). TOEFL score of 580 (237 computerized)
or better is required.
2. A portfolio that does not exceed 9”x12”. The content of the portfolio will be
reviewed with an understanding of the applicant’s background. It may include
drawings and photographs of architectural projects. It should include examples
of other art work. Slides, films, and videos will not be reviewed. Do not include
excess packaging.
Photography
1. A TOEFL score of 580 (237 computerized) or better is required.
2. A portfolio consisting of 20 examples of current work. Portfolios will be
accepted as slides, on disk, CD, or videotape.
Application
Graduate Degree Programs 2004–2005, Parsons School of Design, New York
Attach check or money order for $40 payable to Parsons School of Design and mail to: University Admissions,
55 West 13th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10011. Carefully complete all requested information.
To which program are you applying? (check one)
❑ Architecture
❑ Design and Technology
❑ Fine Arts
Ms/Mr
❑ History of Decorative Arts and Design
❑ Lighting Design
❑ Photography
Last name/Family name
First name
Middle initial
Name on Transcript (if different)
Email address
❑ Male ❑ Female
Date of Birth (month/day/year)
Social Security Number (if applicable)
Permanent Home Address (place where you will always be able to be contacted)
Street
City
State
Apt No.
Effective Date
Zip or Postal Code
Country
Telephone
Apt No.
From (Month/Day/Year)
To (Month/Day/Year)
Country
Telephone
Mailing address (place where official correspondence will be sent)
Street
City
State
Zip or Postal Code
Are you a (check one):
❑ U.S. Citizen
❑ U.S. Legal Permanent Resident
❑ International Student
If you checked U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident, please check the area which best describes your ethnic origin (optional):
❑ American Indian or Alaskan Native
❑ Asian or Pacific Islander
❑ Black, Non-Hispanic
❑ Hispanic/Latino
❑ White, Non-Hispanic
❑ Multi-Ethnic
If you checked Permanent Resident please provide your alien registration number (on your green card):
If you checked International Student what is your: Country of Birth
The term you are applying for begins
❑ Fall 20___
❑ Spring 20___
❑ Summer 20___
Citizenship
❑ Other ___
Are you applying for financial aid?
❑ Yes
❑ No
Are you applying for housing?
❑ Yes
❑ No
References
Name
Address
Name
Address
Name
Address
Applicant’s Education
List all colleges attended, give month and year of entering and leaving, and list degree (if obtained).
College
Period attended (mm/yy)
City/State/Country
Degree obtained
College
Period attended (mm/yy)
City/State/Country
Degree obtained
College
Period attended (mm/yy)
City/State/Country
Degree obtained
Miscellaneous
Have you ever enrolled in any other Parsons/New School University program or course (degree, non-degree or continuing education)?
❑ Yes ❑ No
If “yes” Name of division
Dates attended
Student ID# (if known)
How did you hear about Parsons?
To what other schools have you applied?
(optional, for statistical purposes only)
The information I have supplied on this application is true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand that the material submitted
with this application becomes the property of Parsons School of Design and will not be released to another party.
Signature
Date
Have you completed the following? 1. Signed and dated this form 2. Attached a check or money order for $40 3. Contacted the appropriate
schools and arranged for transcripts to be sent 4. Contacted the appropriate agency and arranged for test scores to be sent
Mail to: University Admissions, 55 West 13th Street, 7th floor, New York, NY 10011
Parsons School of Design focuses on creating engaged citizens
and outstanding artists, designers, scholars and business leaders
through a design-based professional and liberal education.
Parsons students learn to rise to the challenges of living, working
and creative decision making in a world where human experience is increasingly designed. The school embraces curricular
innovation, pioneering uses of technology, collaborative methods
and global perspectives on the future of design.
Parsons School of Design is an international college of the visual
arts. Parsons is accredited by the Commission on Higher
Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and
Schools. Parsons School of Design is an accredited institutional
member of the National Association of Schools of Art and
Design. Parsons School of Design offers a NAAB accredited
professional Master of Architecture degree.
Parsons School of Design is a division of New School University.
Parsons (USPS 760-830) Volume 22, Number 1, September
2004. Parsons is published nine times a year in September,
November, December, January, April, May, June, July and
August by New School University. Periodicals rate paid at
New York, New York. Postmaster: Send address changes to
PARSONS, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011.
Graphic Design: Parsons Promotion Design Office
Editorial: Jennifer Arnold, Nadine Bourgeois, Heather Currier,
Kate Evanishyn and Ann Lee
Cover: OpenOffice
Photography: Nick Ferrari, Harriet Grindel