The Department of Art & Public Policy, established by the faculty and the Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts, is an interdisciplinary initiative that includes faculty and students from the 13 departments of Tisch. The Department embodies the School's recognition that young artists and scholars need an opportunity to incubate their ideas outside of the safe haven of the academy, in a dialectic with real-world problems.
The Department offers graduate courses that investigate the social, ethical and political issues facing contemporary artists and scholars, and examine public policy issues that affect their ability to make and distribute their work. New York City is a unique environment to observe art, probe the issues facing artists, and explore the public’s perception of art. The summer provides an opportunity for NYU and visiting students to delve into various art cultures and expressive movements while developing an understanding of the value and significance of art, and the artist’s social responsibility.
Summer 2009 Course Offering:
NOTE: THIS COURSE HAS BEEN CANCELED FOR SUMMER 2009.
Live From New York: The Metropolis and the Performing Arts
New York City has always been and remains one of the world's great cities for the performing arts, providing a unique balance and tension between historical tradition and cutting-edge change. This four-week course looks at the contemporary performing arts scene in New York City. Focusing primarily on theater, music, dance, the course frames a series of live performances around the history and context of New York's cultural scene.
Each week will be devoted to one medium, with lectures, guest speakers, walking tours conducted in support of one or two live performances per week.
Focus will be given both to larger cultural forces/organizations-Broadway, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center-and to more independent responses to them. Students will get to attend a "traditional" performance at an organizational venue, and then attend independent productions in smaller, more cutting-edge venues on their own.
The goal of the course is to provide a deeper understanding of New York's cultural traditions and the current responses to them. In addition to an aesthetic appreciation of the works performed, students will gain a contextual appreciation of the market forces, structures, organizational pressures that go into creating performance in New York City.
Students will be asked to attend a performance with their class, as well as attend an independent production; keep a production journal, and share their independent viewing experiences with the class.
