History

Charles Beard, John Dewey, and other progressive educators establish The New School for Social Research to engage citizens in open discussion of timely issues and efforts to solve social problems.

Parsons initiates a satellite school in Paris, becoming the first international branch campus for an American school.

One of the earliest courses devoted to the cinema as an art form, The Motion Picture, is offered at The New School.

The New School offers the first continuing education course in psychoanalysis, taught by Freud's associate Sandor Ferenczi.

Composer Aaron Copland begins teaching at The New School. His lectures become the enormously popular book, What to Listen for in Music.

The New School's landmark West 12th Street home in Greenwich Village opens, designed by Bauhaus architect Joseph Urban.

The New School offers workshops in modern dance taught by Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.

The New School for Social Research incorporates German scholars fleeing fascist persecution into their community as a graduate school of political and social science called the University in Exile.

The New School offers the first college course in photography, taught by Berenice Abbott.

Erwin Piscator brings his Dramatic Workshop to The New School, attracting students like Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, Harry Belafonte, Elaine Stritch, and Tennessee Williams. 

The New School offers the first-ever college course devoted to the study of jazz.

The New School offers courses in African American culture and history, taught by Alain Locke, Sterling Brown, and W.E.B. DuBois.

Celebrated French couturier Christian Dior attends Parsons classes to critique fashion design projects and share with students his innovative construction techniques.

Artists and New School alumnus John Cage offers his groundbreaking course in post-modern music composition at The New School.

The New School offers the first college course in the U.S. devoted to women's history.

Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks about school integration, housing discrimination, and affirmative action at The New School in Tishman Auditorium.

The New School opens the Center for New York City Affairs, the first research center in the U.S. devoted to a single urban area.

Sociologist, philosopher, and political scientist Hannah Arendt begins teaching at The New School.

Parsons School of Design becomes part of The New School and awards the country's first university degrees in fashion design, interior design, and lighting design.

The university establishes the Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, later named for trustee Robert J. Milano.

John Culkin, a media education pioneer, launches America's first master's program in media studies at The New School.

The New School becomes the first home for the New Museum, the only major museum in New York dedicated to contemporary art. One of the museum's first exhibitions features work by Joel Shapiro and other American artists.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei enrolls at Parsons. In a 2012 interview in Time magazine, Weiwei discusses how during his time at Parsons, he gained an understanding of the work of contemporary artists like Jasper Johns which changed the way he looked at the world.

Fashion designer Marc Jacobs graduates from Parsons with the Designer of the Year Award. Just two years later, he launches his eponymous collection, and in 1987 he becomes the youngest designer ever to receive the fashion industry's highest tribute, the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

The Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts is formed. Lang, which began as the experimental Freshman Year Program in 1972, joins the university and offers students small seminar-style classes taught by a faculty of prominent scholars.

The School of Jazz is established with a faculty of legendary musicians. Learning takes place in the classroom, studio, and also in ensemble playing, tutorials, public performances, and master classes with professional performers.

Mannes College of Music, the world-famous conservatory on Manhattan's Upper West Side founded in 1916, becomes part of The New School. Like the students they teach, Mannes faculty members come from every corner of the world and include performers and conductors from prominent performers, conductors, and scholars.

The New School launches a graduate program in the dramatic arts, now The School of Drama.

One of the first Internet-based distance learning programs at a major university is established at The New School.

Paul Newman appears as the first guest on Inside the Actors Studio. Inside the Actors Studio began as drama class at The New School.

The New School opens a new building on West 13th Street named for trustee Henry Arnhold and his wife, whose major gift made the building possible. Now a state-of-the-art home to The New School's College of Performing Arts.

Building on its history as a center for American writing and literature, The New School begins offering the MFA in creative writing.

Newly-elected senator Barack Obama speaks at The New School in the wake of his rousing appearance at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

The Parsons buildings at Fifth Avenue and 13th Street are combined to create the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, named for its major donor.

First Lady Michelle Obama wears design by Parsons alum Jason Wu to the first inaugural ball. She goes on to wear many looks by other Parsons alums during her time in office.

In response to the urgent global climate crisis, the Milano School launches a graduate program in environmental policy and sustainability management.

Parsons, Milano, and the Stevens Institute of Technology students design a home that wins the U.S. Department of Energy's 2011 Solar Decathlon award for affordability and lighting. Their design, Empowerhouse, was built in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity.

Parsons reimagines design-led business education, creating the first MS Strategic Design and Management program, preparing students to lead in creative industries and traditional businesses.

The University Center - the country's largest LEED Gold Certified urban university building - opens on 14th Street and Fifth Avenue, uniting the campus. The American Institute of Architects names the building one of the greenest buildings in the United States.

The New School introduces BA Journalism + Design program, through Parsons School of Design and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, designed to cultivate a new generation of journalists.

The College of Performing Arts is formed, bringing our renowned schools of Drama, Jazz, and the Mannes School of Music together. Housed within one college, students have the opportunity to experiment across genres and explore new artistic disciplines.

Parsons School of Design is considered the Best College for Art and Design in the United States and number three in the world by the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.

Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson, actress Laverne Cox, and International Rescue Committee president and CEO David Miliband are among this year's honorary degree recipients from The New School.

Parsons opens the 28,000-square-foot Making Center, equipped with traditional and cutting-edge tools, including CNC routers, 3D printers, 3D knitting machines, digital jacquard looms, state-of-the art metal milling machinery, printing facilities, and a ceramics lab.