The New School's new semester begins in twelve days. But what new school will that be? Cancellations of courses with less than 75% enrollment continue (one of mine was a casualty*), but the biggest question is which faculty members will voluntarily or "involuntarily" leave the school, and what will be produced by the three months of liberal arts "academic re-envisioning" announced the day after fall classes ended (!). I had my first meetings as a University Faculty Senate co-chair today, one of them with good people from the Provost's Office, and I'm not sure folks have any idea how tumultuous, not to say traumatic, this semester will be.
At Public Seminar, the online journal based at the graduate faculty, someone decided it might be useful to look at New School history at this juncture, and stumbled on two essays from the New School Histories vertical my friend J and I edited for the university centennial in 2019. One is one of mine, which I'm always glad to share... though I guess resonates in unforeseen ways in this moment.
The thought has crossed my mind a few times these past months whether it might be time for a new New School history article for Public Seminar, but what would it say? The thought arose in response to the mobilization of variously one-sided versions of that history by the advocates for restructuring and by those threatened with restructuring. But this is no time for "demythologizing the New School," or adjudicating among the myths - even with the rider that what New School actually has been is stranger and more inspiring than most people know.
*This means I "owe" the college an extra course in 2026-27
