Columbia University School of the Arts

The Columbia University School of the Arts , also known simply as the School of the Arts or as SoA, is the division of the university that offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, Theatre Arts, and Writing, as well as a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Film Studies. It works closely with the Arts Initiative at Columbia University (CUArts) and organizes the Columbia University Film Festival. Founded in 1948, the school is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.

Divisions

Film

A world-renowned film school, the Film Division at Columbia University's School of the Arts in New York City offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees with concentrations in screen-writing, directing, and producing.

The select MFA program accepts only 6% of applicants, having an annual incoming class of 65 out of the 1000+ applicants. The film program accepts 46 out of approx. 700 applicants.

Theatre Arts

The Theatre Arts Division at Columbia University's School of the Arts in New York City offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Theatre Arts with concentrations in acting, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, stage management and theatre management and producing. The Division also offers a Ph.D. and joint JD/MFA degree in association with Columbia Law School.

Visual Arts

In this division, students work in the fields of painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, digital media, drawing, performance and video art.

Writing

The program offers degrees in creative writing, with concentrations in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. One of its more notable features are "master classes", four-week courses for writers (as opposed to critical scholars) "designed to stimulate provocative discussions about literary craft and artistic choices". Master Class faculty have recently included Helen Vendler, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, James Wood, Richard Ford, Han Ong, Susan Choi, and Jonathan Ames. The writing division also employs prestigious writers as seminar and workshop instructors; these have recently included Zadie Smith, Gary Shteyngart, Nathan Englander, Myla Goldberg, Adam Haslett, Jessica Hagedorn, Phillip Lopate, Marie Howe, Eamon Grennan, Paul LaFarge, David Gates, Francisco Goldman, Darcy Frey, and David Ebershoff.

Current Writing Faculty

Future

According to the Proposed Manhattanville Academic Mixed-Use Environmental Impact Statement, Columbia intends to expand, as-of-right, its presence in Manhattanville by adaptively reusing Prentis Hall for the School of the Arts. Columbia currently owns and occupies Prentis Hall, 628–644 West 125th Street, with approximately 91,000 gross square feet (gsf) of academic space. By the 2015 analysis year, Prentis Hall may be enlarged to include an additional floor of approximately 17,000 gsf of additional academic space.^[1]

Notable alumni and attendees

• David Altmejd - artist of sculptural systems
• Jonathan Ames (1989) - writer
• Laurie Anderson (1972) - musician
• Kenneth Ascher, DMA (1966 CC; 1968 GSAS; 1971 SOA) – jazz pianist, composer
• Jesse Ball (2004) - writer
• Albert Berger - Producer Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine, Cold Mountain
• Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (1974) - poet
• Kathryn Bigelow (1979) - screenwriter, film director, producer and two time Academy Award winner for The Hurt Locker (2009).
• John Bowe (1994) - journalist focussing on modern slavery
• Richard Brick (1971) - producer Hangin' with the Homeboys, Caught; Co-Producer Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown, Arizona Dream
• Lisa Cholodenko (1998) - screenwriter and film director, Laurel Canyon, The L Word
• Richard Corliss (1974) - film critic
• Cherien Dabis (2004) - filmmaker, screenwriter - The L Word, Amreeka
• Kiran Desai (1999) - winner of the Booker Prize for her novel The Inheritance of Loss
• Tan Dun (1993) - composer
• Meghan Daum (1996) - writer and journalist
• James Franco - (current) actor
• Philip Gourevitch (1992) - writer and journalist, editor-in-chief of The Paris Review
• Albert Hall (1971) - actor
• Nicole Holofcener - film and TV director, screenwriter Friends With Money, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under
• Tama Janowitz (1986) - writer
• Maureen Johnson (2003) - novelist
• Heidi Julavits - writer
• Simon Kinberg - screenwriter Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand
• Dave King (1999) - novelist
• Benjamin Kunkel - author of Indecision
• Jean Kwok - novelist
• Claire Labine, head writer of Ryan's Hope, One Life to Live, General Hospital, Where The Heart Is, Guiding Light
• Yves Lavandier (1983–85) - screenwriter, director and script doctor
• James Mangold - film director, screenwriter Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line, Cop Land
• Alec Michod (1999) - novelist
• Susan Minot (1983) - novelist and screenwriter
• Rick Moody (1986) - novelist
• Ed Park - novelist and founding editor of The Believer
• Kimberly Peirce - director, Boys Don't Cry, Stop-Loss
• Katha Pollitt (1975) - feminist writer
• Richard Price (1976) - novelist and screenwriter
• Anna Rabinowitz (1990) - poet, librettist
• James Rebhorn (1972) - actor
• Jay Scheib (1997) - theatre director
• Dana Schutz (2002) - painter
• Kathryn Shaw - director, actor, writer
• Banks Violette (2000) - sculptor
• Vendela Vida - novelist and founding editor of The Believer
• Ntshaveni Wa Luruli - film director
• Aaron Woolfolk, M.A. 1998 - film director, screenwriter The Harimaya Bridge

Notable faculty

• Kristin Linklater - renowned vocal instructor
• Anne Bogart - theater director
• Richard Howard - Pulitzer Prize winning poet
• Tom Kalin - screenwriter, film director, and producer
• Ben Marcus - fiction writer
• Gregory Mosher - Tony Award winning theatrical producer
• Mira Nair - director of Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, and Vanity Fair
• Andrei Şerban - theater director
• Anthony Bergman- producer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Friends With Money
• Barbara De Fina- producer Goodfellas, You Can Count on Me, Kundun, The Grifters
• Ira Deutchman- producer The Ballad of Little Joe
• Andy Bienen- screenwriter Boys Don't Cry
• Maggie Greenwald- director, screenwriter The Ballad of Little Joe, Songcatcher, Get a Clue, Wild Fire (film)
• James Schamus- producer The Ice Storm, Brokeback Mountain, Hulk
• Peter Sollett- director, screenwriter Raising Victor Vargas, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
• Michael Hausman- producer Brokeback Mountain, Gangs of New York, The Firm, All the King's Men
• Richard Brick- Co-Producer Sweet and Lowdown, Celebrity, Deconstructing Harry; Producer Hangin' with the Homeboys, "Caught"
• Milos Forman- film director

See also: List of Columbia University people

See also

• Columbia University

References

1. ^ Proposed Manhattanville in West Harlem Rezoning and Academic Mixed-Use Development Environmental Impact Statement Draft Scope of Work

External links

• School of the Arts homepage
• School of the Arts Film Program homepage
• School of the Arts Theatre Arts Program homepage
• School of the Arts Visual Arts Program homepage
• School of the Arts Writing Program homepage
• Columbia University Film Festival
• CUArts
• Our Word: Writers of Color at Columbia University School of the Arts
• Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art
• Columbia University School of the Arts, Research Arts Students - SOA RATS