FirstYearOptions by The New School

r a e Y t s F ir ns o i t p Your first year at Parsons introduces you to a community of peers with whom you collaborate and develop skills, a critical perspective, and an art or design practice. Parsons offers you flexibility in choosing a study path. You can begin your undergraduate studies in the Foundation program, which offers a broad range of approaches to art and design. Or, if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested in one of the following majors, you can enter a special first-year track that lets you begin studies in your field right away: design and management, design and technology, environmental studies, photography, and urban design. You can switch majors in your sophomore year after an academic review, regardless of what you chose as your first-year program. All first-year options include a significant liberal arts component, including courses in art and design history and theory, that helps you develop research, writing, and critical reasoning skills to strengthen your studio practice. For more information about your options, visit www.newschool.edu/parsons-first-year. Photography: Martin Seck

Foundation

Design and Management

Design and Technology

Environmental Studies

Photography

Urban Design

Foundation lets you explore a broad range of art and design concepts, skills, and critical practices, establishing a basis for your growth as an artist or designer. In the 2D Integrated Studio, Laboratory, 3D Studio, and Drawing Studio courses, you develop your creative practice with fellow students who are passionate about all kinds of art and design. After completing freshman-year courses, you work with an advisor and instructors to define your goals and choose a major.

The first-year Design and Management curriculum introduces you to business principles and practices that will enable you to succeed as a manager or entrepreneur. Project-based studio and seminar courses integrate business, design, and liberal arts, promoting interdisciplinary learning through collaborative work. Students interested in majoring in design and management are encouraged to take this first-year curriculum.

In the first-year Design and Technology curriculum, you explore the way digital technologies are revolutionizing art and design. In Core Studios, you learn the principles of design, particularly as they relate to interactive print and time-based media (including video, audio, and animation). You produce projects of progressively increasing complexity, focusing on visual composition, typography, color, imaging, and design for a specific audience. Students interested in time-based media, communication design, graphic and Web design, animation, and data visualization are encouraged to take this first-year curriculum.

The first-year Environmental Studies curriculum integrates education in sustainability and design thinking with instruction in environmental policy, the social sciences, and natural sciences. The curriculum offers you important insights into the environmental conditions in our cities, teaches you to think critically about environmental challenges, and empowers you to create interventions. Students interested in studying urban ecosystems, sustainable design, and public policy are encouraged to take this first-year curriculum.

The first-year Photography curriculum introduces you to the visual, technical, conceptual, and professional skills and vocabulary necessary to succeed in the field. Courses include seminars and studios in photographic drawing, painting, lighting, and design.

The first-year Urban Design curriculum introduces you to methods used in researching city spaces and the social, cultural, aesthetic, political, and ecological dimensions of urban life. You take part in fieldwork in which you observe and document street life in New York City, using photography, video, and drawing.

Architectural Design (BFA) Communication Design (BFA) Design and Management (BBA) Design and Technology (BFA) Environmental Studies (BA or BS) Fashion Design (BFA) Fine Arts (BFA) Illustration (BFA) Integrated Design (BFA) Interior Design (BFA) Photography (BFA) Product Design (BFA) Urban Design (BS)

Highlighted majors are those that Parsons recommends you enter after taking the first-year curriculum described above.