Overview
The Fine Arts minor is offered through Parsons School of Design.
This minor engages students in a diverse array of studio practices, ideas, communities, and global relationships. Students learn to translate their concepts into individual expression by experimenting with composition, color, materials, form, space, or
performance, developing a solid set of making skills and contemporary artistic strategies. Formal techniques and critical thinking skills are explored in 2D (painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, collage), 3D (sculpture, installation), and
4D (video, performance) Core Labs. Topics and Core Studio courses combine these technical and conceptual skills with more involved investigations of concepts in contemporary art, while xStudios and Collabs give students the opportunity to do interdisciplinary
work with contemporary artists on specific current themes. After completing a sampling of studio and lab coursework, students have the opportunity to develop their own fine arts practice through an Advanced Practice course, delving into a distinct
area of fine arts and creating self-designed projects with specific faculty members.
The Fine Arts minor requires successful completion of 18 credits across five subject areas, as outlined in the chart below.
Course availability may vary from semester to semester. Some courses may be in development and offered at a later time. Students seeking to pursue alternative coursework to fulfill the minor should consult with their advisors.
Curriculum
Students who have already completed one of these courses, or will do so for their major, should instead select another course in the subject area 2D/3D/4D Techniques and Processes.
Learning Outcomes
A student who has completed this minor should be able to demonstrate:
- Strength in at least two techniques and processes in 2D, 3D, or 4D media and the ability to reflect on how these help to shape the content of the work
- Competence in framing conceptual ideas through visual media
- An understanding of what fine art is through a working knowledge of the concepts and movements that inform contemporary art
- An understanding of the interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary possibilities of the Fine Arts minor as it relates to a student's disciplinary major
- Competence in discussing and critiquing artwork, including an ability to analyze work using a range of approaches. These may include (and are not limited to) knowledge of formal/visual categories and semiotic/psychoanalytic approaches, as well as
the articulation of more subjective, embodied responses
- Competence in identifying and generating one's own questions as the basis for visual inquiry, which may be sourced in particular historical, cultural, or societal concerns
Eligibility
The Fine Arts minor is available to undergraduate students across The New School, with the exception of students enrolled in the BFA in Fine Arts.
For questions regarding this minor's curriculum, including requests for course substitutions, please contact Adam Brent, Associate Professor of Fine Arts, at BrentA@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.