The New School - Program in Public and Urban Policy - Overview
Combining Success with Integrity
Milano was established in 1964 as an institute within The New School. The overarching goal of the center was to examine the complexities, dynamics, and organization of New York City as a metropolitan entity. Milano was the first research and educational center in the United States dedicated to the study and analysis of a single city as an urban entity.
Today Milano encompasses several departments, including public and urban policy, environmental policy and sustainability management, nonprofit management, organizational change management, and urban policy analysis and management. Milano is committed to experiential learning leading to innovative, practical, and principled professional development.
Beginning in the first semester, students undertake hands-on work with people, organizations, or local communities in need.
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Public and Urban Policy (PhD)
Milano's public and urban policy program focuses on training students to creatively develop solutions for contemporary urban and public problems and issues.
Milano's PhD program seeks to provide students with an understanding of the complex intellectual and theoretical framework of contemporary public policy, while also emphasizing the real-life procedures and issues related to planning processes and strategies.
Issues given particular attention include health care, education, economic development, employment and training, the nonprofit sector, immigration and housing, leadership, social policy, and community development. All of these issues are examined in an international context.
Noted Scholars and Experienced Professional Faculty Members
Milano's full-time faculty includes American and international scholars who are specialists in their chosen fields. The visiting lecturer and adjunct faculty positions are filled by individuals who are innovators and managers of numerous prominent companies and organizations, including the CEO of Interstate Biofuels LLC, a Broadway theatrical producer, a retired national staff member of the Girl Scouts of America, and the senior deputy executive director of Amnesty International USA.
Customizable Curriculum
Doctoral students are required to complete 60 hours of coursework, qualifying examinations, and a dissertation.
Six core courses are required of all students in the program: Political Economy and Public Policy Analysis I and II; a foundation course in a social science (usually economics, sociology, anthropology, or political science); Qualitative Research Methods; Quantitative Research Methods; and a dissertation seminar.
Students complete their coursework with electives chosen in consultation with their academic advisers. This emphasis on electives encourages students to customize their courses of study to fit their individual needs and interests. These electives can be fulfilled either within the department or in other departments in The New School.
The qualifying examinations have three parts: a take-home examination, an analytical policy paper, and an oral defense of both works. Besides expecting a high degree of scholarly excellence, the department encourages each student to focus his or her research on a specific contemporary urban issue. All dissertations are required to reflect original research efforts and critical analysis skills.
Internships and Student Projects
Milano's Career Services Office facilitates contacts into New York's vast array of organizations and companies. Many alumni maintain close ties to Milano through the Career Services Office, helping students arrange interviews and other networking opportunities. Others make their organizations available as participants in a variety of student-client projects pursued in the context of specific courses.
Internships play a role in the student experience and are required of students who are new to their particular field of study. Recent internships have been pursued at a broad range of organizations and companies, including: research internship on an STD project, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; change management internship, Lucent Technologies; internship in immigration and justice, Vera Institute; and leadership and management internship, Merrill Lynch Investment Banking.
New York City, The New School's Urban Classroom
New York City provides a unique environment for students to study both the creative products and the functional mechanisms of a large urban center. Besides offering a rich array of learning experiences for those in the artistic and design fields, the city is home to a wide array of prominent nonprofit and civil service organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Americans for the Arts, and the United Nations. In this ever-changing, rich context, Milano students learn, grow, and make connections in their professional fields.