Center
The Center for the American Experience (CAE) at The New School examines the complex past and present of the nation and its place in the world and in our lives. CAE fosters bold scholarly, creative, and civic engagement with the aim of analyzing, understanding, and advancing the United States’ most ambitious values—among them democracy, freedom, equality, pluralism, and pragmatism.
At a moment of profound democratic challenge and polarization, the center brings together the university’s historic dedication to critical inquiry with an urgent commitment to public engagement and transformative education. At its core, CAE is nonpartisan, dedicated to resisting the politicization of education and creating an environment in which pluralism, dialogue, and fearless debate can thrive.
Building on The New School’s legacy of cultural pluralism as articulated by philosopher Horace Kallen—one of the founding members of the University in Exile in 1933—and its enduring commitment to intellectual freedom, CAE embodies the university’s interdisciplinary and creative traditions. Overseen by the provost, guided by a distinguished global advisory board, and led by a historian, a political scientist, and a media sociologist, the center advances pluralism in perspective, participation, and imagination.
To learn more, contact [email protected].