New York University College of Arts and Science
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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NYU College of Arts and Science |
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| Established | 1832 |
| Type | Private |
| Location | New York City, New York, USA |
| Dean | Matthew S. Santirocco |
| Website | www.cas.nyu.edu |
The College of Arts and Science of New York University (CAS) is the oldest school at NYU, founded in 1832. It is located at NYU's Washington Square Campus and its administrative office resides in the Silver Center.
[edit] Academics
The school's 630 faculty members are organized into 28 departments, 23 programs and centers and 14 research centers, among them many Guggenheim Fellows, Pulitzer Prize, Nobel Prize, National Medal of Science and MacArthur Fellowship winners.
The College of Arts and Science is home to the second oldest chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in New York State. The Beta of New York at New York University was established in 1858. [[1]] Some notable individuals elected to Phi Beta Kappa at New York University include Arista Records founder Clive Davis and Pulitzer Prize winning composer and MacArthur Fellowship winner Milton Babbitt.
CAS has many prominent departments. The philosophy department has been ranked # 1 in the United States. [2] The economics department is considered top 5-10. The politics department is ranked in the top 20 annually, and its International Relations program is ranked 10th nationwide.[3] The mathematics department which is part of the Courant Institute is also considered to be one of the best in the country, ranking #5 in citation impact [4], and #1 in applied mathematics.[5]
CAS offers two types of undergraduate degrees: the bachelor of arts (B.A.) and the bachelor of science (B.S.). To graduate, all CAS students must complete the requirements of the Morse Academic Plan (commonly referred to as "MAP"). MAP is the undergraduate liberal arts core curriculum of CAS and is designed to foster analytical thinking. MAP includes courses in western civilization, social policy, scientific inquiry, and expressive culture. CAS also requires foreign language proficiency and an expository writing course. CAS courses are traditionally either seminars or weekly and semi-weekly lectures with larger lectures being divided into recitations.
Students in CAS usually have two advisors: one advisor in the department of their major and one faculty mentor. Many CAS students complete a thesis or independent study project. The Dean's Undergraduate Research Fund provides grants for the research of CAS students. The school also offers Freshman Honors Seminars for incoming students and Collegiate Seminars for upperclassmen. These seminars are small courses taught by senior faculty in their respective areas of expertise. In addition to senior faculty, NYU's president John Sexton, several university deans, and various leaders from government and businesses around New York City are among those who teach Freshman and Collegiate seminars.
[edit] History
The history of the College of Arts and Science begins with the founding of the University itself in 1831 by a group of prominent New Yorkers. Among them was Albert Gallatin, a member of Thomas Jefferson’s cabinet.
From the beginning, the College focused on teaching both the classics and pragmatic subjects, such as languages, sciences, engineering and agriculture. Students were allowed to enroll for course work leading to a diploma or take individual courses without the pressures of a core curriculum. In 1832, the NYU College of Arts and Science held its first classes in rented rooms in four-story Clinton Hall, located near City Hall. In 1833, construction began on the "Old University Building," a grand, gothic structure that would house all of the school's functions. Two years later, the university community took possession of its permanent home, thus beginning NYU's enduring (and sometimes tumultuous) relationship with the Village. The original University Building was replaced by a newly renovated structure in 1906, which NYU then called Main Building. Main Building was renamed the "Silver Center" in 2002 after Julius Silver, a 1922 graduate of CAS, bequeathed $150 million to the school.
Since NYU was modeled after the University of London, CAS was designed to be non-denominational, unlike Columbia College, which had the support of the Anglican Church and at the time offered a classical education grounded in theology. CAS would provide education to all qualified young men at a reasonable cost, would abandon the exclusive use of "classical" curriculum, and would be financed privately through the sale of stock. NYU's establishment through a joint stock company would prevent any religious group or denomination from dominating the affairs and management of the institution. It is interesting to note that although NYU was designed to be open to all men regardless of background, NYU's early classes were composed almost exclusively of the sons of wealthy protestant New York families.
The early College of Arts and Sciences offered space to many scientists without university affiliation. Samuel F. B. Morse invented the telegraph while teaching at the College, John W. Draper had a lab at the "Old University Building" as well as Samuel Colt, who invented the "Colt" in his remnants at Washington Square. The Old University Building offered space for ateliers to artists who sought refuge at the bohemian community around Washington Square Park.
In 1895, NYU’s chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken, decided to reserve Washington Square for the professional schools and to move University College to a campus in the Bronx - University Heights - which was designed by Stanford White and associates. in 1903, an undergraduate site was restored at Washington Square Park with the opening of a new Collegiate Division, which later became Washington Square College in [1913]. For the next 60 years, undergraduate liberal arts education at NYU took place in two locations-University College at the Heights and the College on Washington Square.
During the 1960s and 1970s, feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, then-President of NYU, James McNaughton Hester, negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York, which took place in 1973. While University Heights alumni fought to keep the campus, some suggest that the sale was a "blessing in disguise" as the Uptown campus was losing money and the management of two campuses was financially impossible for NYU back at the time. After the sale of the University Heights campus, University College merged with Washington Square College to form CAS.
