Why pursue an undergraduate degree in this historical moment, and how? This course takes these questions as its primary focus. It prepares you to make the most of your New School education through developing and workshopping a comprehensive, individualized plan for your undergraduate degree that builds on your prior learning experiences, articulates your personal educational philosophy, and outlines how you plan to achieve the interdisciplinary education you seek. To do so, we examine the meaning and value of liberal arts in higher education; the New School’s unique historical place in shaping what it means to be an educated person; and the educational contexts that best support non-traditional students. If true learning is lifelong and education is a public good, how can you make most effective use of your time at the New School? A major in the liberal arts encourages curiosity, exploration, and breadth–and also demands responsibility. The continued learning it inspires constitutes the basis of reinvention, of yourself and the world. This section of the course is open only to students enrolled in the Bachelors Program for Adults and Transfer Students.

Why pursue an undergraduate degree here, now? This course takes that question as its primary focus. It prepares you to make the most of your education by creating a comprehensive, individualized plan for your undergraduate degree that assesses your prior educational experiences, expresses your personal educational philosophy, and outlines how you plan to achieve the education you want. To do so, we examine the state of higher education and the state of The New School. What does it mean to be an educated person in the 21st century? Should education be a force for social change? Who should bear the cost of higher education? How does The New School answer those questions? We look at what studying the liberal arts has promised, for whom, and how a major in the liberal arts encourages curiosity, exploration, and breadth–and also demands responsibility. The most important outcome of education is to be able to articulate what you know–and what you don’t. This reflection–and the continued learning it inspires–constitutes the basis of reinvention, of yourself and the world. This course is open only to students enrolled in the Bachelors Program for Adults and Transfer Students.