History of Decorative Arts and Design MA

Program overview

Length:	2 years
Language:	English
Study pace:	Full time
Institute:	The New School
Location:	New York City, Paris
Education level:	Master Degree

Request information

Program webpage

Contact

History of Decorative Arts and Design MA

Understand the History of Art

The History of Decorative Arts and Design Masters Degree Program at The New School focuses on the stylistic, historical, and theoretical contexts of European and American decorative arts and design from the Renaissance to the present.

The program’s home, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historical and contemporary design. History of Decorative Arts and Design classes meet in the museum, offering students the opportunity not only to learn directly from the collection but also to work with curators, educators, visiting researchers, and designers in the museum’s community of scholars.

Students will attend object-based courses on furniture, interiors, ceramics, costume, glass, graphic design, metalwork, textiles, works on paper, and other media, and go beyond connoisseurship to address objects as intersections of social meaning and aesthetic theory.

There are two areas for concentration in the Masters degree study of History of Decorative Arts and Design:

Contemporary Design Studies
Students may elect to follow a suite of courses in contemporary design studies. These explore themes in design and visual, material, and popular culture, with a focus on the post-1945 period. The curriculum is enriched by its connection to the contemporary design exhibitions of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
Popular Culture
A sequence of three courses in aspects of twentieth-century American popular culture is also offered: Twentieth-Century American Popular Culture; Advertising in Twentieth-Century America; and Looking at the Decorative Arts thorough Film. These courses, which may be taken in any order, examine the intersection of the popular and the material in American culture, and consider ordinary objects in terms of class, gender, and racial identity, and the politics of taste.

The History of Decorative Arts and Design program leads to a master’s of arts degree. Graduates go on to careers as historians, curators, and scholars in museums, universities, historic houses, auction houses, and galleries.

For more information about History of Decorative Arts and Design MA, please submit an information request below and the school will contact you with further information.

Request information

Admission requirements

Students wishing to study the History of Decorative Arts and Design Masters degree program, must meet the following requirements:

Official College Transcripts: - All applicants with international transcripts must submit an original transcript from each institution attended outside the United States along with a certified English language translation.
Résumé: Submit a brief résumé (CV) listing relevant work experience, travel, exhibitions, etc., including dates and positions held.
Statement of Interest and Intentions:
Recommendations: Provide two letters of recommendation either from faculty members at a college or university you previously attended or from people with whom you have worked professionally.
TOEFL: If English is not your native language, submit results of the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). The minimum score required for acceptance to this program is 580 for the paper-based, 237 for the computer-based, or 92 for the Internet-based exam.
GRE:If English is your native language and you took the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), submit your GRE and general tests scores (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing).

This program has an IELTS English language proficiency requirement. For more information about IELTS or to book a test, click below:

Request information - obligation free

Want to know more about History of Decorative Arts and Design MA? Fill out the following form and include any questions you have. This information will be sent directly to the school, and a representative will respond to your enquiry.

* = Required field

Errors

Email Address *
First Name *
Last Name *
Street Address *
ZIP /Post Code
Town/City *
Country *
Age *
Gender *
Telephone
Message
Preferred Start Date *
By submitting this form, you give us consent to send your details to the school of your interest. This will allow the school to contact you and provide you with further information. Educations.com will never sell or disclose your personal information to a third party without your consent. We will only provide your information to schools which you have requested information from via our site. By disclosing your personal information by using this website, Educations.com will also send you an informative monthly email newsletter and may send other information regarding schools and courses we think will be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving these emails at any time. » Terms & Conditions

The New School

new school building

The New School, New York

The New School, in New York City, was founded in 1919 by a group of prominent progressive scholars as a place where citizens of a democratic society could engage in the free exchange of ideas with scholars and artists representing the widest possible range of intellectual, aesthetic, and political orientations. Their institution is now a renowned progressive university comprising several divisions bound by a common purpose: to prepare and inspire nearly 15,000 undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students to make a positive difference in the world.

The New School educates students in the liberal arts, social sciences, fine art and design, management and administration, creative writing, contemporary and classical music, and dramatic arts, at its historic Greenwich Village campus and, in many areas of study, online throughout the world. It graduates economists and actors, fashion designers and urban planners, dancers and anthropologists, orchestra conductors and filmmakers, policy analysts and jazz musicians, poets and psychologists, filmmakers and philosophers, teachers and sustainability managers, architects and opera singers, graphic artists and social entrepreneurs.

This unique, diverse urban university prides itself on nurturing students into world citizenship, growing individuals whose ideas and innovations forge new paths of progress in the arts, sciences, humanities, and public policy.

The academic divisions of The New School:

Parsons The New School for Design

Parsons is one of world’s most prestigious colleges of art and design. It was founded in 1896 by the American artist William Merritt Chase and his associates and named in 1936 for its former president, Frank Alvah Parsons. In 1970, Parsons joined The New School, which enabled it to expand its educational offerings and strengthen the connections between design training and academic education. Parsons offers undergraduate, graduate, continuing education, and pre-college programs that emphasize social awareness and civic engagement as part of a contemporary art and professional design education.

Parsons Paris*
Parsons Paris - The new campus for Parsons The New School for Design Beginning in fall 2013, Parsons will launch a new academic center in Paris, France. Parsons Paris* will give students access to our renown innovative programs in combination with the unique resources of a European art and design capital. The following undergraduate and graduate degree programs will be offered:

(*Note: The Paris campus is under review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.)

The New School for Public Engagement

This division was formed in 2011 by the merger of The New School for General Studies and the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. Considered the founding division of the university, it still supports the original mission of The New School, the lifelong intellectual and cultural education of adults. It offers a self-managed undergraduate degree program for transfer students and working adults and master’s programs in creative writing, English language teaching, and media studies as well as graduate programs in International affairs, management, and urban policy at the Milano School.

The New School for Social Research

The New School for Social Research continues the legacy of questioning, critique, ethical engagement, and intellectual innovation inherited from its 1933 origins as the University in Exile, a refuge for scholars driven from Europe by the Nazis. This graduate division offers master and doctoral programs in the social sciences and philosophy in a setting where disciplinary boundaries are easily crossed and contemporary research is leavened by the traditions of American progressivism and European critical theory.

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts

Eugene Lang College The New School’s four-year liberal arts college for traditional-age students, is named for educational philanthropist Eugene M. Lang, a major benefactor. The college offers mature and self-motivated undergraduates a rigorous education centered on seminar-type classes with strong emphasis on civic engagement activities and internships. Students can choose from a unique selection of traditional and interdisciplinary majors and minors, all of which involve them in analysis and problem solving through seminar presentations and discussion and capstone projects.

The New School for Drama

The New School has been a center for the dramatic arts since the 1930s and 40s, when Tennessee Williams studied playwriting and Marlon Brando studied acting there. Today, The New School for Drama offers a four-year BFA in Dramatic Arts and a three-year MFA program with concentrations in acting, directing, and playwriting for career-minded students. The New School faculty includes leading artists of the New York City theater. Students benefit from a wealth of performance and production venues and professional networks.

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music

This unique BFA program makes use of the tradition of the artist as mentor to offer talented young musicians an amazing conservatory music education in a major university setting. New York City is the jazz capital of the world, and The New School is able to offer some of the world’s great jazz and contemporary musicians as teachers and mentors and incomparable performance opportunities. The mission of the program is the creation of a new breed of musician ready to take contemporary music to a new level.

Mannes College The New School for Music

Mannes College is one of the nation’s leading classical music conservatories. Its undergraduate, graduate, continuing education, and preparatory programs provide a comprehensive world-class music education to a select group aspiring musicians from around the world. Mannes was founded as a neighborhood music school almost 100 years ago, and it maintains an intimate atmosphere, fostering mentoring relationships between its students and its eminent faculty. Students have performance opportunities in leading New York City classical music venues.