The New School’s Collaborative on Climate Futures Hosts a Symposium on Climate, the Environment, and Justice
The one-day event provided a forum in which to discuss collaborative work on climate, the environment, and justice.
Office of Admission
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts
79 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor
New York, NY 10003
Phone: 212.229.5150 or
800.292.3040
Fax: 212.229.5355
lang@newschool.edu
Jürgen von Mahs
Chair and Departmental Faculty Advisor, Environmental Studies
freiherr@newschool.edu
Student Success Advisor, Environmental Studies
Ahdya Attea
Lang Academic Advisor
ahdya@newschool.edu
The New School's Environmental Studies program takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the defining ecological issues of our time and creating opportunities to tackle them in practical, direct ways. Our students are innovators and creative problem solvers who are passionate about facing the environmental challenges of this century, curious about the interaction between humans and their environments, and inspired to bring about social and ecological justice.
The Environmental Studies program is rooted in the understanding that complex environmental problems cannot be grasped through a single discipline. As a student in the program, you investigate the relationship between humans and their environment through social, ecological, and political dimensions. We emphasize three main areas:
Environmental Studies students take classes at Lang, in the Adult Bachelor's Program, and at Parsons School of Design. In an interdisciplinary curriculum that blends liberal arts with science, policy, and design, you take seminar and studio-based courses and engage in fieldwork and internships to gain practical, hands-on experience that is grounded in a rigorous theoretical framework. This prepares you to identify the critical environmental issues that face contemporary cities - and to devise creative and scientifically sound responses that draw on multiple academic disciplines.
Curriculum Notice
We are in the midst of an exciting redesign of this curriculum that addresses the urgent challenges of our time, building new programs and majors that respond to changes in the world and tap into The New School’s unique strengths and groundbreaking work. Students who begin their studies at Lang in fall 2026 or after can take courses in this subject and pursue it further through minors, electives, or broader individualized study. Students interested in following a guided path of study in this subject are encouraged to speak with their Student Success advisor for more information.
Lang continues to offer courses and co-curricular opportunities in environmental studies. Students who begin their studies at Lang in Fall 2026 or after can continue to explore this subject through:
While it offers the atmosphere and intimacy of a small college, Eugene Lang College is part of The New School, a major progressive university in New York City. As an Environmental Studies student your learning laboratory is the city itself and its diverse, surprising forms of nature. By studying environmental justice issues in NYC, you explore sustainability and climate change as they relate to inequalities along axes of race, class, and community. Finally, senior capstone projects and optional internships with nearby businesses, government agencies, and community groups take you into the professional world of environmental policy, science, business, and design.
The Environmental Studies program prepares you for careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors and for graduate study in a wide range of fields. Graduates are able to hold meaningful conversations with experts in related fields and even manage teams of experts in complex projects. Career options include sustainability consulting, public policy, working with corporations in environmental analysis, working with nonprofit environmental organizations, urban design, and urban planning.
Consult our 4-Year Lang Career Pathways Map (PDF) for helpful steps and resources to link your academic journey to your future plans. If you are planning to pursue graduate studies, consider applying to the Bachelor's-Master's program, which enables you to earn graduate credits that will apply to both your Lang degree and a master's degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management at the university's Schools of Public Engagement.
Note: This program is STEM-designated. After graduating, eligible F-1 students in this program can apply for an additional 24 months of Optional Practical Training at the end of their Post-Completion OPT.
The one-day event provided a forum in which to discuss collaborative work on climate, the environment, and justice.
"We're able to directly improve water quality locally while generating local economic activity in a way that can rectify some of the systemic patterns causing water contamination in the first place."
Faculty and students collaborate with communities throughout NYC on restorative environmental action.
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.