Graduate Programs

The Graduate Programs in Humanities and the Arts at the City College of New York provide professional credentials, academic training to proceed to Ph.D. and other advanced graduate programs, and intellectual and creative growth.  Our graduate students and graduate alumni publish novels, poetry, and journalism; perform and compose jazz; teach Spanish; write history; curate museums; exhibit in galleries; direct films; and create the media images that shape our culture.

Seminars, workshops, internships, and opportunities for self-directed independent work are hallmarks of our graduate programs.  Students are mentored by accomplished faculty who are leaders in their fields and practicing professionals, and who are also passionate educators.  Located in historic Hamilton Heights in Harlem, City College is proud of its legacy of providing access to excellence for generations of New Yorkers and for those who come to this metropolis from across the country and around the world, seeking its unparalleled cultural and intellectual opportunities.   Our graduate programs include students of all ages, many of whom pursue their studies while working full- or part-time jobs.

As a graduate student in Humanities and the Arts at City College, you become part of an illustrious history.  City College’s graduate program in Creative Writing was the first of its kind in the country.  It was here that Mina Shaughnessy pioneered the field of basic writing, empowering with the written word populations who previously had not had access to higher education.  Chakaia Booker honed her innovative craft and vision as a sculptor in our studios, and Pulitzer-Prize-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos was inspired by faculty including Susan Sontag and Donald Barthelme.

We remain in the forefronts of our fields.  The journals Fiction, Review, and Basic Writing e-Journal are based at City College.  Our faculty exhibit at the Whitney Biennial, the Tate Modern (London), the Saatchi Gallery (London), and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, among other venues.  They hold research fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Students have recently exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the MoMA PS 1 Print Shop.  They have garnered Fulbright Scholarships, Gold Pencil awards and LAGRANT Foundation Scholarships.  They have proceeded to PhD study at Harvard, Berkeley, Cornell, Stanford, Brown, NYU, and the University of Michigan.  They have landed jobs at The New York Times, the NAACP, Young and Rubicam, and Vox Media.

Students in our graduate programs enjoy job preparation and mentoring for applying to PhD programs, the opportunity to share their scholarship or creative work in interdisciplinary forums, and access to events such as the annual Mario Vargas Llosa Lecture, lectures, readings, performances, and exhibits.