Overview
The Contemporary Dance minor is offered through Eugene Lang
College of Liberal Arts. This page outlines requirements for the minor. Lang students who major in The Arts at Lang (BA The Arts) also have the option to pursue
the Arts in Context concentration, in which they can study dance along with a liberal arts discipline. For example, students can study dance criticism and journalism by taking courses through Literary Studies and Writing.
Part of the interdisciplinary arts curriculum at Lang, the Contemporary Dance program offers a unique undergraduate curriculum centered on recent developments in the field, combining intensive practice and performance opportunities with a rigorous liberal
arts education. The curriculum emphasizes research and experimentation, while fostering a sense of social responsibility.
Studying dance at Lang is not just about learning the history of the discipline or training to become a performer or choreographer; it also involves looking to dance in order to think about the world. Dialogue takes place across artistic genres and students
are encouraged to think about dance in social, historical, and cultural contexts, employing a variety of disciplinary lenses. Students learn to think critically about their art, and they graduate with skills that enable them to explore, research,
and engage in thoughtful discourse about whatever discipline they choose to pursue, whether dance or a related field. Many courses in the Contemporary Dance curriculum are suitable for students with any degree of previous experience, and the participation
of nonmajors is encouraged. Read more about the Contemporary Dance program.
Curriculum
The Contemporary Dance minor is designed to introduce various approaches to dance research, including embodied practice and academic study of theory and history.
The minor requires a minimum of 19 credits in the following courses:
Total credits: 19 minimum
Students must receive a grade of C or better in all courses to fulfill the minor. Only specific courses satisfy the minor requirements, including electives. See the university course catalog for spring 2025 Contemporary Dance courses that fulfill these requirements. Classes should be chosen carefully, in consultation with the departmental faculty advisor. Students should track
their progress using the program requirement worksheet (PDF) for the year in which they declared their minor in Contemporary Dance.
Eligibility
Minors are available to all undergraduate students at The New School. Note: Students majoring in The Arts (BA The Arts) can enroll in any minor of their choice, as long as it is in a different discipline.
Please meet with your Student Success advisor to discuss how a minor will fit in with your overall degree requirements. If you have additional questions about requirements for the Contemporary Dance minor that cannot be answered by your Student Success
advisor, please consult:
Neil Greenberg
Director and Departmental Faculty Advisor for Contemporary Dance
neil.greenberg@newschool.edu
How to Declare or Change a Minor
General guidelines for declaring a minor are available here. Current students can declare or change a minor by logging in to my.newschool.edu, clicking on the Academics tab,
and then clicking on the link to Major/Minor Declarations.