Historical Studies

Overview

The Historical Studies MA program offered by The New School provides our students with unparalleled opportunities for engagement with critical social theory and in interdisciplinary collaboration.

Founded in the mid-1980s by Charles Tilly, Louise Tilly, Aristide Zolberg, and Ira Katznelson, the Committee for Historical Studies continues to build upon its original premise: that history is a field of inquiry critical to all human understanding. We remain committed to developing theoretically informed and critical approaches to historical questions.

Our course offerings cover a wide range of historical periods and world regions, with particular strength in the large-scale transformations of the modern era. Areas of faculty expertise include the history of capitalism, history of politics, history of violence, gender history, history of psychoanalysis, history of social movements, and history and theory. Our diverse approaches draw on the insights of critical social theory. Committed faculty mentors work with students to cultivate their abilities as scholars, as educators, and as writers who can communicate to a wide audience.

Outcomes

With a strong interdisciplinary foundation, students from the Historical Studies department use empirical, historical, and ethnographic expertise to rethink the present. Our students are accepted into the most prestigious universities, sought-after companies, and respected institutions in their fields.

Our master’s alumni have continued their graduate studies in master's and doctoral programs at top universities, including:

• Harvard University
• Columbia University
• Brown University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• New York University
• University of California, Berkeley
• Duke University
• The New School for Social Research

They have also found employment in the following sectors:

• Nonprofits and NGOs

Founder, Edible History

Operations manager, Youth Engagement Fund

Head of research, The New Historia

Co-founder and executive director, Wikitongues

Communications officer, Detroit Justice Center

• Media

News presenter and producer, KOMPAS TV

Founder, In The Beginning

Freelance writer and editor

Freelance digital strategist and content creator

• Education and Libraries

Teacher, New York City Department of Education

Assistant teacher, The Churchill School and Center

Senior page, New York Public Library

• Legal, Finance, and Business

Research paralegal, Kuharski, Levitz & Giovinazzo

Editor and communications specialist, Credit Suisse

Tax/municipal examiner, DataTrace

Founder and league coordinator, S3 Boston Simply Sports Social