THE GENERAL STUDIES PROGRAM: Vision and Identity

The General Studies Program creates the ethos of a small liberal arts college while providing students access to the range and depth of resources at one of the world’s leading metropolitan research universities.

GSP offers a rigorous two-year course of study in the liberal arts in a small-class setting that facilitates students’ written and oral participation.  GSP fosters close contact between faculty and students in and out of the classroom, and all students are advised by faculty and professional advisors from the beginning of their studies.  GSP faculty are distinguished scholars, artists, and professionals who have made a profound commitment to undergraduate teaching, and they bring enthusiasm and dedication to their classrooms.  Students study the original works of philosophers, scientists, social scientists, historians, musicians, artists, writers, and other thinkers. Through an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes direct engagement with the great works and ideas of the past as well as the challenges of the contemporary world, GSP helps students become more active, critical thinkers.

GSP’s small classes and individual attention place students in the forefront of the learning experience. GSP faculty engender a collaborative learning community, mentoring students in independent inquiry as they make connections across the disciplines through discussion and through intensive writing embedded in all classes.  GSP is a pioneer in the use of instructional technology to support the goals of liberal education.  Faculty design classes that combine ideas, materials and methodologies from multiple fields of inquiry, encouraging conversations across disciplinary boundaries.  In first-year core classes, students acquire a broad knowledge base in western and world cultures, and they begin to make critical and imaginative connections that foster independent intellectual inquiry. In sophomore seminars, faculty mentor students as writers and scholars through extended study and independent projects while they begin their majors in the baccalaureate schools of the university.  GSP’s collaborative scholarly community extends beyond New York:  GSP has three unique international freshman programs and an array of study-abroad opportunities through summer and sophomore year study abroad.  At each site, students draw upon cultural resources that transform the city into a learning laboratory.  Students leave the program with a richer understanding of the world and the tools to contribute to its future.

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