The Tisch School of the Arts was founded to provide conservatory training in theater and film in the context of a research university.[7] The school created additional departments such as dance, theatre design, and cinema studies within a few years.[8] Following the creation of the undergraduate Department of Drama in 1974, the school expanded to include the Interactive Telecommunications Program, Department of Dramatic Writing, Department of Performance Studies, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, Department of Photography and Imaging, and The Department of Art and Public Policy.[8]
In 1982, the school's second dean, David Oppenheim, solicited a donation[9] from Laurence A. and Preston Robert Tisch that made possible the acquisition and renovation of the location at 721 Broadway where most of the school's programs are housed. In recognition of the generosity of the Tisch family, the school was renamed Tisch School of the Arts in 1982.[10]
The Institute of Performing Arts, including the Art & Public Policy, Dance, Design for Stage & Film, Drama, Graduate Acting, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing, Open Arts, and Performance Studies.
The Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television, including Cinema Studies and its flagship Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) program founded by Howard Besser, the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing, Graduate Film, and Undergraduate Film & Television.
The Institute of Emerging Media, including the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, ITP/IMA, Photography & Imaging, and NYU Game Center.
The school also offers an inter-disciplinary "collaborative arts" program,[2] as well as the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music (founded by Sony Music CEO Clive Davis), one of the few programs in the US to combine musical arts and business strategies in the recording industry.[3] A dual MFA/MBA graduate program is also offered, allowing students to take coursework at both Tisch and NYU's Stern School of Business.[4] It also offers high school programs (the "Tisch Summer High School Program" and "Spring Future Artists Programs") as an outgrowth of the undergraduate classes,[12] and professional courses for the general public as part of a commitment to continuing education in the arts.[13]
Tisch School of the Arts, Asia
NYU's first branch campus abroad was the result of a partnership with Singapore Government agencies under Singapore's Global Schoolhouse program. Tisch Asia was also Singapore's first graduate arts school and offered Master of Fine Arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing, film, and international media producing. Summer programs included professional workshops and non-credit certificate courses.[14][15] The campus opened in fall 2007 on the former Ministry of Education & Republic Polytechnic grounds at 3 Kay Siang Road, Singapore, with the intention to enroll approximately 250 students.[16]
The anticipated enrollment figures were not achieved, financial losses and embezzlement were alleged and Tisch Asia President Pari Sara Shirazi was dismissed from her post by NYU in November 2011.[17] She subsequently lost a lawsuit claiming defamation and breach of contract.[18] The Tisch Asia campus closed in 2014, with polarised recollections, ranging from positive endorsement, to allegations that it had been "an educational scam" in a failed lawsuit brought by three former students.[19][20][21]
COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, which forced NYU to move academic instruction online, many Tisch students demanded a tuition refund, believing that virtual classes did not adequately meet their academic needs as a school for performing, cinematic, and media arts. In one of many pandemic-related emails, the school's dean sent students a video of herself dancing to R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion", intended to raise community spirit.[22] After hearing from students, the dean further clarified that individual schools have no control over tuition and that it was "challenging" for the university to give students their money back at the time.
