The School of Drama has its roots in the legendary Drama Workshop, which came to The New School in 1940. Founder Erwin Piscater and his faculty, which included Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg, fostered some of the most important artistic voices in the
modern American theater, Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, Harry Belafonte, and Judith Malina to name a few.
In 1994, the School of Drama began offering an MFA degree, with concentrations in directing, playwriting, and acting.
In 2013, the School of Drama established a BFA degree in dramatic arts, to nurture and educate the next generation of citizen artists. This program offers students the opportunity to grow not only as directors, writers, actors, and creative technologists,
but as multi-passionate and hyphenate artists.