Overview
LIU-Brooklyn's Diverse Student Body Comes to Downtown Brooklyn from Manhattan and Other New York Boroughs
Brooklyn, New York, named after Breukelen, Holland, is located near Queens on the western edge of Long Island, and has the highest population of any New York City borough at 2.5 million residents (second largest by area). Although part of New York City, downtown Brooklyn has a distinct culture, unique architectural history, and independent art scene. Many Brooklyn neighborhoods are enclaves for certain ethnic groups and cultures, one reason the downtown Brooklyn campus of Long Island University (LIU-Brooklyn) has a dramatically diverse student body.
Brooklyn has a tremendous variety of cultures, ethnic groups, and racial mixes, and its distinct American culture can be attributed to the cultural influences brought there by immigrants. Downtown Brooklyn is also home to one of the largest Jewish communities outside Israel. As of 2008 the Jewish population in Brooklyn was pegged at 516,000, of which over 35 percent are Orthodox. This community has also contributed greatly to LIU-Brooklyn's diverse student body.
Some 10 minutes from downtown Brooklyn is Manhattan, a major financial, commercial, and cultural hub of America and the world. In addition to being the corporate home for most of the nation's major media firms, Manhattan has innumerable tourist attractions, historic landmarks, universities, and museums. It is also home to the United Nations, the largest central business district in the U.S., the New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ. The center of New York City and the entire New York metropolitan region, Manhattan is also the seat of city government and a disproportionate amount of the area's industry, employment, and entertainment.
LIU-Brooklyn's Master of Media Arts Program Leverages New Media Technologies for Traditional and Digital Media Artists
Both graduate students and working professionals can avail themselves of the Master of Media Arts program at LIU-Brooklyn. Students will attain mastery of the various tools they will need to undertake and thrive in such pursuits as design, writing, creative production, media, and multimedia.
The Master of Media Arts is a truly original, interdisciplinary program that seeks to build "new bridges of understanding" between tradition and modernity. An overriding goal is to narrow the distance between the creation of new media concepts and the application of media technologies and skills that bring them to life, as well as the removal of false barriers between media arts and related (as well as unrelated) fields of study.
Following their completion of foundation studies, students design a unique, personally relevant course of study that focuses on their own interests and the development of the skills that will jump start their careers as media artists. From theory and traditional art forms to the latest in media technologies -- video, TV, film, digital sound design, computer art, etc. -- graduate students will get a comprehensive education as a master of media arts.
Speaking of media artists, the LIU-Brooklyn galleries have a long history of showcasing diverse art works by Caribbean artists, silk portraits by Susan Abrams, and media arts projects from graduate students involved in the Campus Media Arts program. The galleries are vehicles for both established and emerging artists to reach the art community and the community at large with unique statements powered by media technologies.
LIU-Brooklyn's Award-Winning Faculty Members Help Students Turn the Research Facilities into Hatcheries of Ideas and Art
The media arts program boasts faculty members who are not only leading academicians, but working writers, composers, photographers, artists, directors, film producers, printmakers, and journalists. LIU-Brooklyn faculty members have recently displayed at leading galleries worldwide, and several write regular columns of criticism, review, and discussion of film, literature, fine arts, pop art, and multimedia works. Both full-time and adjunct faculty have received local, national, and international awards and recognition for a range of creative works, performances, and audio/visual productions.
In addition to artists and technologists, many faculty members are intimately involved with the academic study of media companies, institutions, legal frameworks, cable TV regulation, and documentary production. Both scholarly and creative research efforts augment the studies undertaken by graduate students working toward careers as writers, archivists, teachers, and museum curators. Research efforts support the curriculum in such creative fields as directing, screenwriting, cinematography, and acting.
The Barbara and Melvin Pasternack Little Theatre is a performing venue, but for students it is also one of the state-of-the-art research facilities aiding them in their education at Long Island University. It is a fully equipped, modern theatre for departmental research and performances. Similarly, the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts is a 320-seat venue with dance and music rehearsal spaces and a unique "glass walled" gallery. Finally, faculty and students work together and independently in a professionally equipped TV studio that provides opportunities for students to perform for the camera. Media production facilities double as research facilities for the students in the media arts program.
