• Code as a Liberal Art Hero

    Code as a Liberal Art

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  • Program Contact

    Program Director, Code as a Liberal Art
    Rory Solomon
    Assistant Professor, Code as a Liberal Art
    [email protected]

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    Launch Experience

  • Lang’s Code as a Liberal Art minor enables you to develop skills in code and computational thinking as tools for critical and creative inquiry and for better understanding how computational systems affect different aspects of society. Through discipline-specific projects, you gain coding skills that expand your literacy in computational logic and let you further your own creative practice. You explore algorithmic thinking and consider questions of access, equity, and social justice in relation to technological systems.

    • Study Options Minor

    Big data and algorithmic processes structure almost all aspects of contemporary life. Students minoring in Code as a Liberal Art critique the effects of these processes. Through hands-on experience, you learn foundational skills in code and use computation as a tool to enhance your liberal arts education—to better analyze, communicate, create, and learn. You are introduced to the theory and practice of computational thinking and learn to code to help answer research questions and to express yourself creatively.

    In additional to offering practical coding skills, the minor provides you with a broader understanding of the historical and social factors that have led to the increasing presence of computational systems in our lives. You think critically about the ways humans interact with computation, gaining an understanding of its limits from philosophical, logical, mathematical, and public policy perspectives.

    Minor requirements

    Connecting to New York City

    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. The Code as a Liberal Art Minor introduces students to a variety of code-based researchers and practitioners through guest speakers and opportunities to participate in coding events around the city, including events sponsored by Data & Society, Processing Community Day NYC, and  Babycastles artist’s collective.

    Career Paths

    In Code as a Liberal Art courses, you learn how to think critically about technology. You gain skills in code and computational thinking that prepare you for a career in a range of areas, including media production, software design/development, data journalism, advocacy, and nonprofit and community development work, as well as graduate study. 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 go on to graduate study, consider applying to the accelerated BA/MA program, which enables you to earn graduate credits that apply to both your Lang degree and a master’s degree at The New School.

    Outcomes at Lang

  • Featured Courses

    All students in the minor take Code as a Liberal Art, which provides an introduction to basic coding skills through a series of projects and examines how coding and computational thinking intersect with different disciplines and creative practices. Students can then choose between a number of rotating electives at Lang and Parsons. Recent courses include:

    • LCST 2234

      Radical Software

      This hybrid theory/practice seminar will trace the history of radical, activist, and countercultural uses of software and digital technology. From the milieu surrounding the Whole Earth Catalog, to hacker collectives such as Anonymous, to recent art and activism, we will explore efforts that have at...

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    • PUDT 2110

      Critical Computation Lab

      Critical Computation Lecture + Lab (CC Lecture + CC Lab) are corequisites that work hand-in-hand to introduce computation and code as an expressive medium for artists, designers, and technologists. CC Lecture provides an introduction to computation through a series of critical inquiries and technica...

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    • LCOD 2123

      Internet Geographies

      The internet, like many technologies, is often claimed to possess the power to collapse time and space. As emphasis is placed on the capacity of communication networks to erase distance, the physicality of the internet itself tends to disappear from public view and public concern. At the same time, ...

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  • Learn from and work with faculty mentors from a variety of disciplines who are academic scholars and creative practitioners.

  • Noteworthy

    A selection of news and announcements about the Code as a Liberal Art program and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

  • Upcoming Events

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Submit your application

Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.