All About the Arts at NYU (Part 3)

If you’re interested in a career in arts education, you may find your home at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Educational Theatre majors take on intensive artistic training alongside a rigorous liberal arts curriculum. Students will find plenty of performance opportunities to support their training. There, you can tailor a course of study that reflects your personal artistic interests and conduct field-specific research.

“The Educational Theatre major often confuses people because it encompasses so much,” says recent grad Liv Rocklin. “But the way I explain it is that I left NYU fully equipped to bring art into the world in whatever way I can be most helpful.” Graduates of the Educational Theatre program will emerge with a deeper understanding of their medium. They’ll also obtain the skills to live a rich, artistic life, and the educational qualifications for state teaching certification eligibility.

Meanwhile, Steinhardt offers a BFA and MA dual-degree program in Studio Art and Teaching Art for those interested in visual arts education. In this program students gain intensive visual arts training at an undergraduate level. Furthermore, the addition of educational coursework prepares them to graduate with a master’s degree in five years. And it includes eligibility to apply for New York State teaching certification.

At the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Collaborative Arts majors immerse themselves in a multidisciplinary course of study that’s based on creative experimentation. There, students gain direct experience across a range of mediums. These include filmmaking, performance, visual arts, music production, and music technology.

“The next generation of creatives will look a lot different than the current one. And I think they’ll bear a strong resemblance to the ideas and practices we explore every day in Collaborative Arts,” says rising senior Collaborative Arts major Lex Garcia. The program encourages Collaborative Arts students to take risks and—you guessed it—collaborate. Accordingly, the program produces well-rounded individual and group works that reflect the experience and insight of their peers.

At the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a unique degree program, you can design your own concentration. And you can personalize your course of study based on your academic interests and creative passions. Gallatin provides students many opportunities to display their work or perform. For example, student work lines the walls of the Gallatin Galleries throughout the year, while the annual Gallatin Arts Festival is a weeklong showcase of Gallatin student performance, design, and visual art. Gallatin students interested in drama can perform as part of the Gallatin Theatre Troupe or in mainstage productions. What’s more, those passionate about fashion can learn about the business and art of fashion and can showcase their designs on the runway at the annual Gallatin Fashion Show.

Studying the Arts Away
A semester abroad doesn’t have to mean a break in your artistic studies. Most of NYU’s 15 additional global sites offer coursework that allow arts students to continue fulfilling their major requirements. For example, at NYU Berlin, studio art students take experimental interdisciplinary classes in one of Europe’s most exciting artistic capitals. Instrumental performance students continue their study with courses taught by renowned local musicians at NYU Prague. Similarly, drama students at NYU London perfect their craft in a unique partnership with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Applying to the Arts
If you’re interested in applying to arts programs at NYU, you may need to submit additional application materials. For visual arts mediums, a portfolio of work that best reflects your talent and areas of interest may be required alongside the Common Application. For performing arts applicants, an artistic review audition is required prior to admissions. So check the website of your preferred school or college for detailed application instructions and important dates and deadlines.