Tisch School Of The Arts

The Tisch School of the Arts (known more commonly as Tisch or TSOA) is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a center of study in the performing and media arts. Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the arts, and creative entrepreneurs. The school merges the technical training of a professional school with the academic resources of a major research university to immerse students in their intended artistic disciplines. It is located at 721 Broadway in Manhattan, New York City.

History

Tisch School of the Arts was founded in order to provide rigorous conservatory training in theatre and film in the context of a research university. The school established itself as one of the leading artistic centers in the country, creating additional departments such as dance, theatre design, and cinema studies within a few years. Following the creation of the undergraduate Department of Drama in 1974, the school rapidly expanded into other artistic forms, including the Interactive Telecommunications Program, Department of Dramatic Writing, Department of Performance Studies, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Department of Photography and Imaging, and The Department of Art and Public Policy. In 1982, a gift from Laurence A. and Preston Robert Tisch made possible the acquisition and renovation of 721 Broadway, where most of the school’s programs are housed. In recognition of the generosity of the Tisch family, the school was renamed Tisch School of the Arts.

Departments and programs

Tisch School of the Arts has six departments and 17 programs and offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Bachelor of Arts (BA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Professional Studies (MPS), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. Tisch also offers a selection of classes to NYU students not enrolled in any of its programs through the Open Arts curriculum.

The six core departments are:

• The Institute of Performing Arts
• The Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television
• The Skirball Center for New Media
• The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music
• The Department of Art and Public Policy/Arts Politics
• The NYU Game Center

The Institute of Performing Arts

The Institute of Performing Arts comprises six departments and programs whose focus is live performance.

The Graduate Acting Program offers a three-year MFA that equips acting students with the skills of a working career in theatre and/or film.

The Department of the Dance offers training on the graduate and undergraduate level to students preparing for careers as dancers or choreographers.

The Department of the Design for the Stage and Film offers a three-year MFA curriculum that prepares students to be professional designers of scenery, costumes, and lighting for the stage and production design for film.

The Department of Drama offers a four-year undergraduate program leading to the BFA The program has been designed to include all of the traditional components of conservatory training and theater and serves a lunch plan applicable with tuition. while taking full advantage of the liberal arts resources of the New York University and the cultural resources of the New York City.

The Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program is an MFA program specially designed for the major collaborators in the creation of new musical theater and opera: composers, lyricists and book writers.

The Department of Performance Studies is a graduate-level scholarly department offering studies in performance â€" for example, postmodern performance, capoeira, kathakali, Broadway, festival, balletâ€"using fieldwork, interviews, and archival research, leading to the MA and PhD degrees.

Graduate Acting Program

The Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts has, since its inception in 1966, grown to become one of the most rigorous and celebrated MFA acting programs in the country. Yearly pooling from 900 plus actors, a select 16 are chosen to enter into the incoming class. The program has gained an international reputation for its selectivity and its distinctive conservatory training.

Graduate Acting alumni have gone onto various careers in the arts. Some of these alumni include Mahershala Ali, Debra Messing, Nina Arianda, Amanda Detmer, Billy Crudup, Florencia Lozano, Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Kevin Carroll, Barry Bostwick, John Conlee, Daniel Dae Kim, Bruce Davison, Garret Dillahunt, Genevieve Angelson, Jeffrey Donovan, Aunjanue Ellis, Frankie R. Faison, Edi Gathegi, Jordan Gelber, Matthew Gray Gubler, Christopher Guest, Danai Gurira, Marcia Gay Harden, Jason Butler Harner, Mary Beth Hurt, Marin Hinkle, Neal Huff, Glenn Kessler, Tony Kushner, Eriq La Salle, Ron Lagomarsino, Heather Lind, Camryn Manheim, Logan Marshall Green, Michael Mayer, John C. McGinley, Ntare Mwine, Nyambi Nyambi, Pedro Pascal, Danny Pino, Josh Radnor, Taylor Schilling, Ben Shenkman, Maggie Siff, Rocco Sisto, Enver Gjokaj, Stephen Spinella, Corey Stoll, Daniel Sunjata, Sean Patrick Thomas, Robin Weigert, Saul Williams, Jeff Whitty, Victor Williams, Rainn Wilson, Frank Wood, David Zabel, Daniel Zelman, Navi Rawat, and Steve Kazee.

Zelda Fichandler became chair of the program in 1984 and stepped down in 2008. In May 2008, Mark Wing-Davey became chair.

Department of Dance

The Department of Dance is fashioned in a conservatory style and is extremely selective; on average, thirty dancers are selected per graduating class. The previous director, Linda Tarnay, was a dancer in the Martha Graham Company and all of the teachers have performing experience with companies from around the world, such as Houston Ballet, Merce Cunningham's Company, and American Ballet Theatre, among others. Many of the faculty have their own companies independent of the dance department, which serve as a springboard to larger companies for many students immediately following graduation.

In the past, famous choreographers such as Aszure Barton, Kate Weare, Nacho Duato, Jessica Lange, Deborah Jowitt, Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Alonzo King have set their pieces and created original works specifically for Tisch Dance students.

The program strives to prepare students for the rigorous life of a dancer, preparing them by treating their third year students as a company, also known as the Second Avenue Dance Company. Students graduate in three years, hence the difficult schedule which is accelerated in order for dancers to graduate earlier than their peers in other college dance programs. Because of brevity of the three-year program, students attend a six-week summer course following their first and second years. During these summer intensives, six different companies come in a week each and teach students their style of movement. This is an excellent way for students to be introduced to companies and have the chance to get noticed and get to know the different companies in an intimate setting. This is unique to the Tisch Dance Program, and is conducive to introducing dancers into the real world of auditions and jobs as soon as possible. Also, a select group of second year students have the chance to study abroad in Salzburg, Austria in lieu of attending the summer program.

Department of Drama

Founded in 1974, the Department of Drama is one of the world's largest undergraduate drama departments; approximately 1400 students are matriculated there. According to the undergraduate drama department's literature, "the program in drama places equal emphasis on rigorous conservatory training and comprehensive theatre study in the most exciting and creative city in the world: New York." The head of the department is Louis Scheeder.

Over 100 shows are produced each year in the program including main stage shows, studio related projects, directing projects, and student-run black box productions. The most significant performance spaces are the Frederick Loewe Theatre, the Abe Burrows Theatre, and the Robert Moss Theater. Unlike most conservatories where casting is assigned and each class serves as an individual company, casting at NYU's undergraduate level is open to any student in his or her second, third, or fourth year of training.

Conservatory training

The cornerstone of the program is the professional training component. Drama's professional program is a network of studios, each teaching an exclusive approach to the craft. Students train intensively in one of seven studios in a working environment composed of 12 to 18 students. Students train intensely for three full days a week, and a typical drama student can expect to spend more than 45 hours a week in class and rehearsal. All incoming actors are placed in a primary studio where they must train for the first two years before going on to an advanced studio. Students are divided and placed into these different studios, based on their audition, interview, and personal preference.

After their first two years of education, undergraduate actors have the ability engage in an internship or to audition for an advanced studio. Placement in these programs is open only to juniors and seniors and acceptance is offered only after a successful artistic review.

The studios that offer both primary and advanced training are the Atlantic Acting School, the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, the Experimental Theatre Wing, the Meisner Studio, the New Studio on Broadway: Music Theatre & Acting, the Playwrights Horizons Theater School, the Production & Design Studio, and the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute while the studios offering only advanced training are the Stonestreet Screen Acting Workshop and the Classical Studio.

Theater studies

All students must take a minimum of seven theater studies courses. The first two are introductory courses: Introduction to Theater Studies (ITS) and Introduction to Theater Production (ITP). To fulfill the rest of their theater studies requirements, students can choose from dozens of upper level theater studies courses, with topics ranging from avant-garde to Broadway, or from classical texts to modern American drama. There are also a series of honors seminars in theater studies, with varying topics from semester to semester.

Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television

The Department of Film and Television is an undergraduate and graduate program that trains students in cinematic storytelling.

The Rita & Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing trains undergraduate and graduate students to write for theatre, film and television.

The Interactive Telecommunications Program is a center for the study and design of new communication media forms and applications.

The Department of Photography and Imaging is an undergraduate program that cultivates a critical understanding and technical mastery of photography and creative imaging.

Department of Film and Television

The Department of Film and Television is composed of the Undergraduate Film and Television program and the Graduate Film program. The mission of the Undergraduate Film and Television program is to educate undergraduates in the art, craft, and technology of film, television, animation, and sound production. The program offers intensive hands-on production experience coupled with a broad exposure to the liberal arts.

The Graduate Film program, offered in New York and Singapore, is an intensive three-year conservatory which trains students in the art of cinematic storytelling. It focuses on helping filmmakers develop a narrative voice and the technical virtuosity to express that voice. Students learn by doing; screenwriting, directing, producing, crewing, and shooting on each other's projects. Students of the Graduate Film program leave with a minimum of five short films and a Masters of Fine Arts degree.

Both programs offer courses in fiction and documentary filmmaking. Each semester, utilizing the many resources of the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, students take courses in screenwriting, directing, aesthetics, acting, cinematography, editing, producing, and sound design. These courses complement specific filmmaking projects that provide hands-on training and practical experience. By graduation, they have a range of technical skills that allow them to create opportunities for themselves in the industry.

Notable alumni include Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), Joel Coen (Fargo), Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire), Frank Coraci (The Wedding Singer), Susan Seidelman (Desperately Seeking Susan), Billy Crystal, Marc Forster (World War Z), Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise), Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Martin Kunert (Voices of Iraq), Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing), Damon Lindelof (Lost), Todd Phillips (The Hangover), Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), Eli Roth (Hostel), Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live), Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas), Sheetal Sheth (The World Unseen), M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense), Todd Solondz (Welcome To The Dollhouse), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Oliver Stone (JFK), Jim Taylor (Sideways), Stanley Weiser (W.), Daniel Sollinger (Rhyme & Reason) and many others.

Rita & Burton Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing

The Department of Dramatic Writing provides instruction in playwriting, screenwriting, and writing for television. Graduate and undergraduate students attend workshops across narrative disciplines, exchange ideas, and work with faculty members to craft compelling stories. The first-year curriculum provides young writers with a working knowledge of basic dramatic craft. Students then declare a concentration in playwriting, screenwriting, or writing for television. Upon graduation, students of all three disciplines have fulfilled a professional body of work.

Alumni include Pulitzer Prize nominated playwrights Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Rajiv Joseph (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) and Neil LaBute (Reasons to be Pretty); television writers Elliott Kalan (head writer for The Daily Show), Adam F. Goldberg (creator of The Goldbergs), Brian K. Vaughan (creator of Under The Dome), Bill Wrubel (Modern Family), Donald Glover (30 Rock), Jake Johnson (New Girl), Jessica Conrad (Saturday Night Live), Dan Gregor (How I Met Your Mother), Robia Rashid (How I Met Your Mother), Mehar Sethi (Robot Chicken), Darren Belitsky (head writer @midnight), Brendan Hay (The Simpsons), Jessica Goldberg (Parenthood), Julia Brownell (Parenthood), Ross Maxwell (Glee), Alon Aranya (Hostages) Jason Grote (Hannibal); screenwriters Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed), DC Pierson (Mystery Team), and Evgenia Peretz (Our Idiot Brother), and many others. Winner of the 2012 Nicholl Fellowship was Dramatic Writing graduate James DiLapo. Other exalted alumni and former professors in the department are Tony Kushner (Lincoln) and Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count On Me).

The faculty of the department includes Charlie Rubin (Seinfeld, Saturday Night Live), Ethan T. Berlin (Da Ali G Show, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell), Blair Singer (Weeds, Monk), Eric Gilliland (That 70's Show, Roseanne, The Wonder Years), Bryan Goluboff (In Treatment, Smash), Walter Bernstein (Fail Safe, The Front), Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding), Jeremy Pikser (Bulworth, War, Inc.), and Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog). The chair of the department is Richard Wesley.

Interactive Telecommunications Program

The Interactive Telecommunications Program is a graduate department focused on the study and design of new media, computational media and embedded computing under the umbrella of interactivity.

Founded in 1979, the origins of the program date back to 1971 when George Stoney and Red Burns created the Alternate Media Center (AMC). ITP grew out of the work of the AMC, and set the stage for the experimentation which would follow as well as the informing spirit of collaboration, and the ongoing emphasis on crafting social applications and putting the needs of the user first. A center for application development and field trials, the AMC initially focused on exploring the then-new tool of portable video made possible by Sony's introduction of the Portapak video camera.

Burns and her colleagues at the AMC came from backgrounds in documentary film and traditional mediaâ€"they shared a vision for a freely accessible, grass-roots technology which would enable users to create their own documentaries and distribute them widely. They lobbied Congress for the creation of what is now public-access television and significant field trials for two-way television in community settings, the use of teletext in major urban centers and communications technologies for the developmentally disabled.

Burns believed that a graduate course of study was needed to train creative, forward thinking, ethical new media developers for what she saw would be a new and growing field. With the founding Chair, Martin Elton, at the helm, the first 20 graduate students entered the program in 1979. In 1983 Burns turned her full attention from AMC to ITP and was appointed Chair of the department, taking over from then Chair Mitchell Moss, a position she has held until she stepped down in 2011. She holds the title of Chief Collaborations Officer at ITP. In 1996, she was awarded the Tokyo Broadcasting Systems Chair. Under her leadership the department has become a center for scholars and practitioners to engage new technologies and put them in the hands of media-makers.

Michael Mills, former full-time faculty member of ITP, went on to Apple Computer. He contributed to the group that developed the original prototypes that later became QuickTime. Current ITP chair Dan O'Sullivan, during his student years, served as an intern at Apple and created the prototype for the first navigable interactive video moviesâ€"a parallel effort to what was going on in ATG's 3-D graphics group at the time. O'Sullivan also introduced the first widely used interactive television application in NYC, produced and broadcast directly from ITP by way of Manhattan Cable Public Access.

Industry leaders, artists and visionaries who have lectured at ITP over the years include Chairman and CEO of R/Greenberg Associates Digital Studios Robert M. Greenberg, musician and pioneer of immersive virtual reality Jaron Lanier, multimedia artist Vito Acconci, multimedia artist & musician Laurie Anderson, Ethernet creator Bob Metcalfe, CEO of New York Times Digital Martin Nisenholtz, artist Toshio Iwai, and Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger of Antenna Design.

Current ITP faculty members are known for their contributions to the new media field -- Daniel Rozin, Chrysler Design Award-Winning Artist in Residence, has had his work shown in major museums around the world, most recently at the Israel Museum; Dan O'Sullivan and Tom Igoe co-authored a text on physical computing and Igoe has individually authored several books on programming and using the arduino; Jean-Marc Gauthier is the author of several books on interactive 3D applications, and his art installations have been seen internationally; Douglas Rushkoff and Clay Shirky are widely published critics, authors and journalists; Marianne Petit is an artist known for her interactive stories and her work in assistive technologies and social applications; Dan Shiffman has published two books on the Processing (programming language); Red Burns has served on many boards and is regularly an invited speaker at industry eventsâ€"she is also the recipient of a Chrysler Design Award, for "Design Champion," a leadership award from the New York Hall of Science, the educator award from the Art Directors Club, Crain's All Star Award, the NYC Mayor's Award for science and technology and was the first recipient of the Matrix Award.

The online magazine Digital Performance describes ITP as

"An oversized Greenwich Village loft houses the computer labs, rotating exhibitions, and production workshops that are ITP â€" the Interactive Telecommunications Program. Founded in 1979 as the first graduate education program in alternative media, ITP has grown into a living community of technologists, theorists, engineers, designers, and artists uniquely dedicated to pushing the boundaries of interactivity in the real and digital worlds. A hands-on approach to experimentation, production and risk-taking make this hi-tech fun house a creative home not only to its 230 students, but also to an extended network of the technology industry’s most daring and prolific practitioners."

Department of Photography and Imaging

The Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch is a four-year undergraduate BFA program centered on the making and understanding of images. Students explore photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression. The program offers students both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum while demanding a serious and broad grounding in the liberal arts. It is a diverse department embracing multiple perspectives; the 140 majors work in virtually all modes of analog and digital photo-based image making and multimedia. The Department of Photography and Imaging teaches students how to make and understand images, while exploring photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression. Studies include both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum that consists of studio/production and photo history and criticism and a serious and broad grounding in the liberal arts. The department embraces multiple perspectives, and students work in virtually all modes of photo-based image-making, using both analog and digital technologies. Students take courses in studio/production, photo history and criticism, liberal arts, and elective areas.

Faculty and staff of the department consist of artists, commercial and documentary photographers, designers, critics, historians, and scholars, offer a wide range of perspectives. Alumni from the department go on to exhibit their work in galleries and museums; publish in national newspapers and magazines; pursue graduate degrees; become art critics; work as documentary photographers and photojournalists, filmmakers, graphic designers, web designers, picture editors, and educators; work in computer graphics and multimedia; and work in museums, educational, and community art settings.

The faculty of the department includes Wafaa Bilalâ€"the guy with the camera installed in the back of his head, Fred Ritchinâ€"former editor of the New York Times magazine, Neil Selkirkâ€"Diane Arbus’s only posthumous printer, Shelley Riceâ€"a Fulbright Scholar and an important photography historian and critic knighted in France, Deborah Willisâ€"one of the preeminent scholars of African-American photography and history and Mark Jenkins - renown American artist most widely known for his street installations.

Notable alumni include Hank Willis Thomas, Rachel Morrison, Wyatt Gallery, Michael Schmelling, Will Steacy, Chang W Lee, Paul Sepuya, Monique Jaques, Shabd Simon Alexander, Bryan Denton, Sara Macel, Olivia Malone, Aaron Schuman, Matthew Kristall, Jonno Rattman, Tim Deussen, Jackie Neale, Nicholas Calcott, Richard Renaldi and Margeaux Walter.

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music

The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music (Recorded Music or ReMu) is a training ground for aspiring creative entrepreneurs. This undergraduate degree program has four main areas of curricular study: business, production, writing, history & emergent media, and musicianship & performance, all with a special focus on pop, rock, R&B, and hip hop. It is the only program of its kind to offer a BFA degree in Recorded Music.

As is the case with all Tisch programs, professional training is combined with a solid liberal arts education. In addition to the 58 credits taken within the Institute, students are expected to earn a total of 44 general education points in courses offered by Tisch and the NYU College of Arts and Sciences. Students also complement their study with 26 points in elective courses taken in their areas of interest. Additionally, in their senior year, students are required to develop a Capstone Project, a full creative plan to launch themselves as entrepreneurs. Projects vary, but have included launching various types of record labels, publishing, production, and new media companies; building a video game development studio; and starting an innovative music venue.

The institute offers over 135 courses on a rotating basis. Highlights include: Topics: Punk Rock, Topics: Paul Simon & Graceland, Topics: The Motown Legacy, Legal & Business Essentials for Performing Artists, Branding, Funding Your Music Venture, Curating Live Music Events, The Art of Mixing, Mastering the Record, Arranging the Record, The Virtual Producer: Beats & Beatmaking, Writing the Hit Song, Stage Presence & The Art of Performance, Private Vocal Coaching, and Image Development for the Performing Artist.

In addition to coursework, an essential component of a student's educational experience at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music consists of special events. Through lectures, interviews, performances, panels, workshops, and demonstrations, Recorded Music faculty and invited guests delve into topics that enhance the knowledge and information presented in Recorded Music’s classrooms and studios. Guests have included Clive Davis, Fat Boy Slim, Rob Thomas, Troy Carter, Kevin Liles, Amanda Palmer, Young Guru, DJ Swivel, Tommy Mottola, Marshall Crenshaw, Desmond Child, Jesse Harris, Tony Visconti, Steve Lilywhite, and Paul Shaffer, to name a few. The institute also routinely participates in the EMP Pop Music Conference and CMJ Music Marathon.

Full-time faculty include: Jeff Rabhan, Chair of the program and longtime artist manager, music-industry executive and international consultant; producer/mixer/engineer Nick Sansano, who is also the institute’s Associate Chair; journalist/cultural critic Jason King; Grammy-Award winning sound engineer Jim Anderson; Errol Kolosine, former General Manager of Astralwerks; hip-hop/R&B producer/mixer Bob Power; the "Dean of American Rock Critics" Robert Christgau; acclaimed author and radio host Dan Charnas; legal guru Lauren Davis; multi-instrumentalist/producer Jeff Peretz; and performing artist Nora York. Adjunct faculty includes Questlove, drummer of The Roots; Josh Deutsch, Chairman of Downtown Records; Bob Marley’s former publicist, Vivien Goldman; music critic Julianne Escobedo Shepherd; and producer David Kahne. Duncan Sheik is our acting Performer-in-Residence. The "In Residence" position has been held previously by Desmond Child (Songwriter-in-Residence), Ryan Leslie (Artist-in-Residence), Swizz Beatz (Producer-in-Residence), and Tom Sturges (Executive-in-Residence).

Notable alumni include producer Arca; MBK Entertainment/RCA Recording artist Elle Varner, Bo Pericic of the trance duo Filo & Peri, Dan Knobler and Jon Seale, co-founders of audio/visual company Mason Jar Music, Meridith Valiando Rojas who developed DigiTour Media, and Carter Matschullat, who started indie label Dovecote Records.

Skirball Center for New Media

The Skirball Center for New Media includes the Department of Cinema Studies, and the Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) program. The MIAP program is a two-year graduate program, founded and led by Howard Besser, during which students study and prepare for careers in moving image archiving and preservation. The Department of Cinema Studies has both graduate and undergraduate programs, and is chaired by Richard Allen (film studies scholar).

The NYU Game Center

The NYU Game Center is dedicated to the exploration of games as a cultural form and game design as creative practice. The NYU Game Center currently has a two-year Masters in Fine Arts program and an Undergraduate minor.

In addition to academic programs, NYU Game Center offers an Open Library that features a collection of digital and non-digital games for casual playing.

Faculty include Eric Zimmerman, Bennett Foddy, Clara Fernandez-Vara, Katherine Isbister and Charles Pratt.

The Department of Art and Public Policy

An Activist, Critical, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program

The politics that make art. The politics that art makes. This is an opportunity for artists and those working in the intellectual and institutional domains of art to enhance and elaborate the value and significance of their creative endeavors through intensive study, reflection, and engagement with the university and the world. Based at Tisch, the program combines a dedicated core faculty with access to faculty and courses from five different schools at New York University.

Students who undertake this advanced course of study will gain a broad understanding of the issues and the skills required to make their ideas work in practice. They will be well placed to assume a leadership role in creating new institutional venues and public forums for creative work with their publics and for deepening an understanding of how art enriches social life. Students will be encouraged to become advocates for the arts from within the arts. The program will provide a deep grasp of what makes art necessaryâ€"both aesthetically and sociallyâ€"and what constrains its expression and development. They will complicate received notions of access to the arts and the artist’s social responsibility.…the relation between art and society and the role of the artist in civic life.

The M.A. in Arts Politics Program provides a critical and analytic setting in which artists and others with a social commitment to the arts can develop the means for an appraisal of the political implications and social significance of their work. The program combines an administrative home within the Tisch School of the Arts with partnerships across other NYU schools to offer a spectrum of interdisciplinary courses. The curriculum examines, in an activist key, the relation between art and society and the role of the artist in civic life. Art is treated as providing a particular lens through which the social world can be understood and as a medium of cultural intervention in political processes. …the relation between art and society and the role of the artist in civic life.

The M.A. program combines core courses with relevant electives drawn from across the University. Students attend classes with those who have related arts interests in other University areas and come together to critically reflect on the discourses and practical strategies that issue from the ability of art to intervene in and transform the social world. Arts politics considers art as both a way of knowing and a kind of action, as an invitation to claim artistic citizenship and a means to democratize the public sphere.

Arts politics attends to both formal and informal political processes that bear on the production, dissemination, and reception of the arts. It integrates approaches from the humanities, social sciences, and the arts themselves. It studies governmental and policy processes and the institutional ecology and political economy of the arts. It employs perspectives that understand how to decode cultural meanings, how social movements are formed, and how to read the aesthetic dimension of contemporary politics. Through official patronage and censorship, celebration and loathing, affirmation and critique of prevailing values, art has long been imbricated and implicated in the political. Yet arts politics is never fixed; its historical and cross-cultural variations help us understand what possibilities exist for civically engaged artists working in the present.

Faculty include Randy Martin, Karen Finley, Kathy Engel, Pato Hebert, Sheril D. Antonio, Ella Shohat, Marta Moreno Vega, Oskar Eustis, and Mary Schmidt Campbell.

Tisch School of the Arts, Asia

NYU's first branch campus abroad was the result of a partnership with Singapore Government agencies under Singapore's Global Schoolhouse program. Tisch Asia was also Singapore’s first graduate arts school and offered Master of Fine Arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing, film and international media producing. Summer programs included professional workshops and non-credit certificate courses.

The campus opened in fall 2007 on the former Ministry of Education & Republic Polytechnic grounds at 3 Kay Siang Road, Singapore, with the intention to enroll approximately 250 students. The anticipated enrollment figures were not achieved, financial irregularities were alleged and Tisch Asia President Pari Sara Shirazi was dismissed from her post by NYU in November 2011.

In a letter to the Tisch Asia community dated 8 November 2012, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell announced that the campus would close after 2014 with recruitment and admission of new students suspended with immediate effect. While celebrating the creative and academic achievements at the Singapore campus, she cited financial challenges as the reason for the closure decision. Schmidt-Campbell pledged that NYU would honour commitments to existing students and staff. The letter quoted support from Singapore's Economic Development Board stating that it remained open to future collaboration with NYU.

Subsequent reporting has begun to reveal details of the complex negotiations around the closure.

See also

• Laurence Tisch
• List of NYU Tisch People
• Tisch School of the Arts alumni
• List of New York University People

References

Notes

Further reading

• http://web.archive.org/web/20080804000315/http://www.drama.tisch.nyu.edu/page/studios.html
• http://clivedavisdept.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html
• http://itp.tisch.nyu.edu/page/home.html
• http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2011/04/07/guide-to-majors-at-nyu-photography-imaging/

External links

• Tisch School of the Arts website