Grad Profiles - New School University Media Studies

Overview
New School University was founded in 1919 as America's first university for adults. The University now consists of seven divisions: The New School, the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, the Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, the Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College, the Mannes College of Music, and the School of Dramatic Arts.

The media studies program, which is situated within The New School, aims to nurture the widest possible range of thought with hundreds of courses in dozens of subjects each term as well as special cultural and political events.

The Communication Department provides a full spectrum of lectures, seminars, screenings, and cultural and educational programs to more than 1,200 degree, certificate, and nondegree students each term.

With the approval of media studies advisers, many of the resources of the rest of the department, school, and university can be used for credit or extracurricularly in each student's graduate program.

The Community
New York is the communications capital of the world, and the media studies program fully utilizes the advantages inherent in its urban setting. Broadcast television stations; cable operations; film, video, and audio production companies; and corporate communications facilities provide professional internship opportunities in research and production. Special events bring media professionals to the New School each semester. Students are encouraged to explore on their own the numerous communications activities available only in New York City.

Media studies students are a diverse and creative group of more than 350. One third come from outside the United States, three fifths are women, and one fourth are members of minority groups. Most students work in media-related jobs while attending the program. Their average age is 30 years old. Nearly half of the full- and part-time students receive financial aid, ranging from small awards to full scholarships.

Programs of study and degree requirements
The Master of Arts Program in Media Studies of the New School University's Communication Department has provided a rigorous course of study, both theoretical and practical, for approximately 1,300 graduates since its inception in 1975.

The program is highly individualized, with a curriculum that includes academic seminars in communication theory as well as production classes in video, audio, and film and multimedia technologies. Through New School OnLine University, students may complete all of their master's degree on line. The department also offers a 12-credit graduate certificate in media management.

Most students attend part time and complete the degree in approximately three years. The thesis option requires 36 credits and the nonthesis option, 39.

Facilities & Resources
The Raymond Fogelman Library contains books, standard references, pamphlets, and periodicals essential to the program of study offered in media studies. Matriculated students may also use the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at New York University and the Cooper Union Library, which are members, with the New School, of the Research Libraries Association of Southern Manhattan.

The University Computing Center, which has Macintosh and PC platforms, is available to students for their research and writing. Students are eligible for computer center accounts, including e-mail. In addition to these campus-based facilities, students often work with faculty members on research and/or production projects at off-campus sites throughout the New York metropolitan area. The Knowledge Union, a $5-million state-of-the-art multimedia facility, is heavily used by media studies students.

Expenses and Aid
Costs: Tuition for the academic year is $980 per credit. A $100 University services fee is charged each semester and there is a $15 student services fee charged per term.

Financial Aid: Fellowships, assistantships, scholarships, and awards are available to all matriculated students, whether full- or part-time. The Awards Committee considers both merit and need in granting the available funds. The University also offers an extended payment plan that involves monthly billing throughout the semester.

Housing/Living Expenses: The University Housing Office maintains a comprehensive resource center with apartment listings and sponsors housing workshops for students. In addition, the office maintains a building where (subject to availability) apartments are available for students over 21 years of age. The cost of housing, food, transportation, and living expenses may range between $12,000 and $16,000 annually.

How to Apply
Applications from students in all academic disciplines are invited. The department particularly encourages applications from members of groups currently underrepresented in the university. Students must submit official transcripts, letters of recommendation, an essay, a one-page resume, and a $40 application fee. They must also sit for an interview with departmental faculty members and administrators. Standardized test scores are not necessary. Application deadlines are April 1 for fall and October 1 for spring admission. The financial aid application deadline is April 1.

Who to Contact
Office of Admissions
Media Studies Program
New School University
66 West 12th Street, Room 401
New York, New York 10011
Telephone: 212-229-5630
E-mail: nsadmissions@newschool.edu
http://www.newschool.edu/mediastudies

THE FACULTY AND THEIR RESEARCH

Core Faculty

Deirdre Boyle, Senior Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; M.A., Antioch. Video historian, media critic, consultant, and programmer; author of Subject to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited, Video Preservation, and Video Classics.
Dawnja Burris, Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; M.A., New School. Video producer, director, and editor; supervising producer of NYU-TV.
Paolo Carpignano, Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; D.Lett., Rome. Author of Crisis and Workers' Organization and The Formation of the Mass Worker in the USA as well as numerous articles on international communications.
Sumita Chakravarty, Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; Ph.D. (English), Lucknow (India); Ph.D. (communications), Illinois. Author of National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema, articles in The Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Cine-Tracts, South Asia Bulletin, and World Film Directors.
Diane Mitchell, Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; M.F.A., Michigan State. Multimedia producer/designer; artist; awards include NEA, NYSCA, and NYCH grants; industry awards in multimedia production for Fortune 500 companies and the United Nations.
Paul Ryan. Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; former McLuhan Fellow whose mentor in cybernetics was Gregory Bateson; author of Cybernetics of the Sacred and Video Mind, Earth Mind: Art, Communications and Ecology; video art has been shown in Japan, Turkey, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Spain and throughout the United States.
Barry Salmon, B.Mus., Berklee College of Music, M.A., New School. Core Faculty Member, Media Studies Program; composer of scores for numerous films as well as music for dance, theater, radio, and video art; performing and recording guitarist and record/CD producer.
Carol Wilder, Associate Dean and Chair, Department of Communication; Ph.D., Kent State. Professor Emeritus and former Communication Studies Chair at San Francisco State, publications span the areas of media theory and criticism, political communication, cybernetics, family systems therapy, and the rhetoric of the Vietnam/American War.

Part-Time Faculty