The New School
EN-3: Student Life

New School Club for Sustainable Cities Join a group of New School students dedicated to exploring and expanding the links between the sustainability community in New York City and sustainability resources at The New School. Its main interests are renewable/sustainable energy, environmental justice, food issues, transportation systems, waste systems, responsible consumption, community engagement, and whimsy. Oikos NYC Oikos NYC is a student-led organization focused on social, economic, and ecological sustainability in the teaching and research of economics and management. Our goal is to strengthen action competence among young decision makers, increasing awareness and meaningful analysis of sustainable development and creating institutional support for learning and project implementation. We are a member of an international network of roughly 40 Oikos chapters worldwide, where student members turn ideas into action.

Visiting Scholars Lunch and Learn Series Tishman Environment and Design Center hosted three new Visiting Scholars in 2018. New School students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend a series of Lunch and Learn sessions to meet the scholars and learn about their projects and their careers. Earth Week Since the re-launch of the Tishman Environment and Design Center on Earth Day 2015, The New School has celebrated Earth Day by demonstrating its commitment to sustainability and addressing the climate crisis with a week-long series of programs and events coordinated by the Tishman Center in collaboration with academic departments, students groups, and other offices across the university. Earth Week at The New School is dedicated to championing environmental justice, inspiring activism through artistic expression and design, fostering professional opportunities in environmental sectors, promoting sustainable practices, and advancing sustainability in New York City and the world. Design, Justice, and Zero Waste: Exploring Pathways to the Circular Economy The Tishman Center and GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives) invite you to join us at Design, Justice & Zero Waste: Exploring Pathways to a Circular Economy conference and research collaborative. You will be part of a discussion with a global audience of innovative and creative eco-minded collaborators including students, practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists. As the world’s population increasingly urbanizes and the climate crisis worsens, the global economy risks breaching planetary boundaries with potentially catastrophic consequences if we continue to produce and consume at levels set by western standards. Frontline communities and workers in waste, manufacturing and distribution face disproportionate impacts from environmental degradation and extractive and exploitative industry practices. The conference will focus on how issues of production, consumption and waste impact environmental justice communities, workers and vulnerable populations.

Tar Sand Songbook Workshop Performance An illuminating work of documentary theater, Tar Sands Songbook asks us to reconsider our relationship with oil. Creator Tanya Kalmanovitch knows this relationship all too well: She was born in Fort McMurray, Canada, near the site of the Athabasca Oil Sands, the world’s largest bitumen reservoir. Fort McMurray has since become a flashpoint of international clashes over energy, the environment, and the economy. Written and directed with Cecilia Rubino, Kalmanovitch’s polyphonic piece weaves together a chorus of actors’ voices with an original, improvised score. The words of indigenous activists, engineers, heavy equipment operators, elders, oil patch workers, scientists, and members of her own family fuel discussions of our past and the powerful forces that shape our future. Actors Jennifer van Dyck and Peter Jay Fernandez, musician Tanya Kalmanovitch, and media designer Stephen Byram bring this work to life. The Ocean After Nature - exhibition The Ocean After Nature considers the ocean as reflecting the ecological, cultural, political, and economic realities of a globalized world. Featuring work by 20 artists and collectives in a variety of media — including photography, video, sculpture, and design — the exhibition explores new ways of representing the seascape as a means to identify and critique land-sea divides, the circulation of people and goods, and the vulnerabilities of ecosystems.

Recreation offers a variety of exciting outdoor adventures throughout the academic year. Students can participate in activities such as kayaking, camping, hiking, horseback riding, biking, skiing, snowboarding, and rock climbing at discounted rates.

Disrupt Climate Injustice - February 26 – March 2, 2018 The New School will disrupt regular curriculum across the University in order to learn about climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe. This disruption is an opportunity to come together to take concrete action toward fighting climate change and supporting climate justice.

Students hired by the Tishman Environment and design center support sustainability projects on campus including the Good As New materials collection, planning Earth Week and other sustainability-focused events.

The New School uses the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility: "I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work." Students sign the pledge using an online form, and receive a green ribbon to wear at graduation.