LIBERAL studies
Liberal Studies Overview
with the New Republic, and Robert Boyers, editor of the literary quarterly Salmagundi.
Degrees Offered The Liberal Studies program offers the MA degree. Students who fulfill MA requirements in one of the six PhD-granting departments in the course of completing the MA in Liberal Studies may petition for admission to PhD study in that department. Below are some recent master’s thesis titles that reflect student creativity and interests. 37
Futurism, Fascism, and Henri Bergson’s Philosophy of Time Single Women in Sex and the City and Beyond The Aura of the Brand: Nike and Postmodern Capitalism Camp Aesthetics in Andy Warhol Biblical Allusions in Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra The Pinochet Case: Universal Jurisdiction and State Sovereignty The Concept of Self-Government in Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln Franz Kafka and Hannah Arendt’s Image of Totalitarianism
Recent Courses Aesthetics: Literature and Arts The Fate of the Novel Pessimism Odysseys Thinking Technology Picasso: Artist of the 20th Century
Recent Placements Laina Dawes (MA ’16): Doctoral Student, Columbia University Taymaz Pour Mohammad (MA ’16): Doctoral Student, Northwestern University Sonia Qadir (MA ’16): Legal Advisor, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women
THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH
Design your own interdisciplinary curriculum. The Committee on Liberal Studies brings together students interested in research and writing in the humanities and social sciences. In conjunction with a faculty advisor, students can choose courses that cover historical and contemporary philosophy, intellectual history, literature, the arts, media, critical theory, publishing, and writing. With only two required courses, Liberal Studies gives students the freedom to design a curriculum that best meets their academic interests and career goals. The program is designed for selfdirected students who want to improve the quality of their prose while mastering new modes of serious inquiry, either within an academic context or with the goal of engagement in the wider public sphere. Special attention is paid to the history of Western thought, but courses also explore current developments in global culture(s) and contemporary critical theory. A significant percentage of students seek to build a strong and broad intellectual base before choosing a PhD program in a humanities or social science discipline, whether at The New School for Social Research or elsewhere. Some develop careers in writing, journalism, or publishing; some aim for professions that benefit from a broad knowledge base, such as law, business, curatorial practice, or work with nonprofits. Others simply want a richer engagement with the culture of our times—and times past—independent of any particular professional goal. Students will encounter faculty engaged in critical media theory, like Dominic Pettman, Eugene Thacker, and Ken Wark, as well as distinguished journalists and creative writers, including Jed Perl, art critic