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Program Contact
Carly Cannell, Program Director
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is awarded for completion of 120 credits as designated by the program. A maximum of 60 credits may be transferred from another institution. Students must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA and fulfill all requirements in a timely manner.
Your BFA begins with Parsons’ first-year curriculum, which serves as the first-year course of study for all undergraduate programs at Parsons. The first year immerses you in an exploration of art and design concepts, skills, and critical practices, training students to become flexible thinkers, proficient makers, and lifelong learners.
Starting in your second year, courses guide you through the study of materiality and two- and three-dimensional form and space. The design studio sequence introduces topics of increasing complexity across various typologies, and you learn to conceptualize and develop interior designs using hand and digital drawings, physical models, collage, and renderings.
Throughout your studies, art and design history and theory courses develop essential research, writing, and critical reasoning skills as well as the conceptual foundations for creative inquiry.
Parsons’ position within a major university — The New School — informs our interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and practice. University electives broaden your skills and perspectives with a wide range of liberal arts courses in the humanities, the social sciences, media studies, and business.
To view degree requirements from prior years, visit the Academic Catalogs archive. For a complete listing of courses and course descriptions, visit the university course catalog.
| FIRST YEAR | F | S |
|---|---|---|
| PUFY 1000 Integrative Studio 1 | 3 | - |
| PUFY 1010 Integrative Seminar 1 | 3 | - |
| PUFY 1100 Sustainable Systems | 3 | - |
| PUFY 1020 Space/Materiality | 3 | - |
| PUFY 1030 Drawing/Imaging | 3 | - |
| PUFY 1040 Time | - | 3 |
| PUFY 1001 Integrative Studio 2 | - | 3 |
| PUFY 1011 Integrative Seminar 2 | - | 3 |
| PLHT 1000 Objects as History | - | 3 |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | - | 3 |
| Subtotal | 15 | 15 |
| SOPHOMORE YEAR | F | S |
|---|---|---|
| PUID 2010 Interior Design Studio 1 | 4 | - |
| PUID 2110 Studio Lab: Textiles & Soft Materials | 2 | - |
| PUID 2020 Representation and Analysis | 3 | - |
| PLSD 2100 History of Architecture: Lecture | 0 | - |
| PLSD 2101 History of Architecture: Recitation | 3 | - |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | 3 |
| PUID 2011 Interior Design Studio 2 | - | 4 |
| PUID 2111 Studio Lab: Light & Surface Interaction | - | 2 |
| PUID 2030 Materiality & Assembly for Interiors | - | 3 |
| PLxx 2xxx / 2xxx Intro to [Area of Choice]: Lecture / Recitation | - | 3 |
| Subtotal | 15 | 15 |
| JUNIOR YEAR | F | S |
|---|---|---|
| PLSD 3500 Advanced Research Seminar: Constructed Environments | - | 3 |
| PUID 3010 Interior Design Studio 3 | 3 | - |
| PUID 3040 Ecological Design for Interiors | 3 | - |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | - |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | 3 |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | 3 |
| PUID 3011 Interior Design Studio 4 | - | 4 |
| PUID 3111 Studio Lab: Building Systems | - | 2 |
| Subtotal | 15 | 15 |
| SENIOR YEAR | F | S |
|---|---|---|
| PUID 4010 Interior Design Studio 5 | 3 | - |
| PUID 4110 Professional Practice | 3 | - |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | 6 |
| Students should explore their elective options with their advisors to create a coherent study plan. | 3 | 6 |
| PUID 4011 Interior Design Studio 6: Capstone | - | 4 |
| PUID 4111 Studio Lab: Research & Writing | 2 | - |
| Subtotal | 15 | 15 |
Objects as History and Sustainable Systems can be taken in either sequence, one in the fall semester and one in the spring.
The three first-year studio courses—Drawing/Imaging, Space/Materiality, and Time—can be taken in any sequence, two in the fall semester and one in the spring.
BA/BFA students completing a BFA in Interior Design: Please speak to your advisor to see how your course requirements are spread across your five years at The New School.
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.