The Center for the American Experience (CAE) at The New School is a faculty-led initiative that brings together design, the performing arts, the social sciences, and the humanities to examine the complex past, present, and future of the United States and its place in the world and in our lives. CAE is dedicated to interdisciplinary scholarship, creative practice, innovative pedagogy, and bold civic engagement.
Guided by the complementary perspectives of historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Professor of History at Eugene Lang College and The New School for Social Research, and media sociologist Julia Sonnevend, Associate Professor of Sociology and Communications at Parsons School of Design, CAE explores the ideas, histories, myths, cultures, and debates that have shaped American life. At a moment defined by political polarization, challenges to democracy, and profound changes in how information is created, shared, and understood—from social media to artificial intelligence—the Center examines the forces shaping American culture, public life, and democracy. By connecting perspectives across disciplines and communities on campus and beyond, the Center embraces the multiplicity of the American experience.
Building on The New School's longstanding commitment to cultural pluralism—a theory articulated by philosopher Horace Kallen, one of the university's earliest faculty members—CAE brings diverse perspectives into conversation not to sharpen divisions, but to cultivate understanding, discover common ground, and imagine new possibilities.
Through public programs, exhibitions, performances, and collaborative research, CAE convenes scholars, artists, students, and the broader public to explore the American experience and its enduring questions together.
Faculty Co-Directors:
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, Professor of History
Julia Sonnevend, Associate Professor of Sociology
Contact Us:
To learn more, visit cae.newschool.org or contact cae@newschool.edu.
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.
