The
State University of New York at Purchase, also
known as Purchase College and SUNY
Purchase, is a public liberal,
visual, and performing arts college in Purchase, New
York
, United
States
, a part of the State University of New York
system. It was founded in 1967 and was designed as a school
that would combine conservatory training in the visual and
performing arts with liberal arts and
sciences programs. It has conservatory programs in
Theatre Arts &
Film,
Music, and
Dance, as well
as schools in the
Humanities, Natural and
Social Sciences, and
Art+
Design. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000
students, and is one of the
Princeton
Review's top 368 American Universities.
Academics
Liberal Arts and Sciences
The School of Humanities and its programs aim to
help students in conceptualizing, interpreting, and imagining the
worlds of human experience in words, in images, and through
historical time. The school has departments and programs in
Art History, Cinema Studies,
Creative Writing, Drama Studies,
History,
Journalism,
Language and
Culture
(including full programs in
French
and
Spanish, with opportunities to
study
Arabic,
Chinese,
German,
Hebrew, and
Italian),
Literature, and
Philosophy. A
Senior
Project is necessary for completion of any of the school's
programs and for designation of a
Bachelor of Arts. The School of Humanities
also holds a graduate program for those seeking a
Master of Arts in
Art History. The Lily Lieb Port Creative Writing
Program is the only major of study outside of the Conservatory
programs that requires a portfolio of work for admission.
The School of Natural and Social Sciences has
programs that aim to give students an understanding of the complex
relationships that exist among scientific systems of inquiry
(economic, mathematical, physical, political, psychological, and
social). The programs aim to teach students to think independently,
communicate effectively, do serious research, and use community
resources. The school has departments in
Anthropology,
Biochemistry,
Biology,
Chemistry,
Economics,
Environmental Studies,
Mathematics/
Computer
Science, 'Media, Society, and the Arts',
Political Science,
Psychology, and
Sociology. The School also holds several
interdisciplinary programs including
New
Media,
Gender Studies, and
Individualized Study. A
Senior
Project is necessary for completion of any of the school's
programs and for designation of a Bachelor of Arts.
The School of the Arts
The Conservatory of Dance sees undergraduate
students enter the Conservatory program in the area of performance.
More specific concentrations are available for application in the
areas of
Ballet or
Modern,
Composition,
or Dance Production. The
Master's
of Fine Arts program in the
Conservatory of
Dance is available for concentration in
Choreography or
Performance/
Teaching.
The Conservatory of Music sees undergraduate
majors participate in programs that include
Performance(
Strings,
Piano,
Brass,
Percussion,
Woodwinds,
Classical
Guitar,
Jazz Studies, and
Voice &
Opera Studies),
Composition, Studio Composition,
and Studio Production. Graduate Programs are also available in all
of these concentrations with the exception of Studio
Production.
The Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film
comprises four departments: Acting, Dramatic Writing, Film, and
Theatre Design/Technology.
Purchase College is one of four schools in
the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, along
with Carnegie
Mellon
, North Carolina School of the
Arts
, and Boston University
. Purchase is one of a handful of colleges
capable of training theatre students at this level and primarily as
undergraduates. The programs are highly selective: the Theater
Design/Technology receives 500 applications, the Dramatic Writing
program receives 200 applications, the
Acting
Program sees 1,200
auditions each year in
nine cities across the country, and the film program receives 1000
to 1200 applications. Among these applications, each year the
Conservatory of
Theatre Arts
& Film accepts 20 Dramatic Writing students, 40
Design/Technology students, 20 Film students, and 16-18 B.F.A
Acting students. Collaboration among the four programs distinguish
this unique training setting at Purchase: Actors, writers, film
makers and designers get to work together in faculty led curriculum
as well as independently on student generated creative work. The
four programs draw a faculty from the highest ranks of professional
theatre. Each
conservatory program
requires a portfolio and/or audition for admission. Outside of the
conservatory programs, the Lily Lieb School of
Creative Writing within the Humanities and
Liberal Arts program is the only one to require the submission of a
portfolio from students for acceptance.
The School of Art+Design holds
Bachelor of Fine Arts and
Master of Fine Arts programs in
Graphic Design,
Painting/
Drawing,
Photography,
Printmaking,
Sculpture.
Undergraduate Students of the School
of Art+Design also have the opportunity to pursue an
interdisciplinary program of
visual arts study/practice.
The School of Liberal Studies and Continuing Education
The School of Liberal Studies and Continuing
Education specializes in offering further education to
working adults and other types of non-traditional college students.
It offers
Bachelor of Arts programs
for students in the area of general
Liberal
Arts, with possibilities to specialize in
Arts,
Communications, and
Legal Studies. These programs are
specifically designed for adults and transfer students who need to
complete their degree within a small amount of time and with a
flexible schedule.
The School also offers
Certificate
Programs in
Arts Management, Early Childhood Development, and
Fundraising & Board
Development.
Culture
Services & Organizations
Purchase
College, with its proximity to New York City
and the variety of arts programs offered to its
students, has a large amount of cultural and counter-cultural
activities. The
Purchase Student Government Association is the
college's student-elected board of executives whom, with their
coordination with the student body, contribute many facets of
campus life.
Purchase College is home to many other services, clubs and
organizations for its students, including but not limited to:
- The Student Center, a student funded and operated facility that
was opened in 2003 by the Purchase Student Government Association.
Since its opening, the Student Center has featured free-use
billiards tables, ping pong tables, a growing videogame arcade, air
hockey, foosball, board games, two concert venues (the main Student
Center stage, and Whitson's Memorial Greeting Hall), and a film
screening area. In later updates to the center, computers with
wireless internet access and a student art gallery were added. The
school's devotion to the Student Center project was solidified by a
major recent renovation done on the exterior of the building. It is
referred to commonly among students as "The Stood"('st(y)oōd).
- PTV,
the college's own television which is cablecast on channel 69 on
campus. The station is entirely funded and run by students. In
addition to the TV station, the school also has a student-run radio
station, WPSR, which broadcasts on 1610 am, and is simulcast on the
internet.
- The
Brick is a PSGA funded online newspaper source for Purchase
College. They are updated almost daily and have been up and running
since 2007. In addition to written articles there are videos and
photos from all around campus. The Brick also features voxpops,
which entails interviewing students on campus about current
issues.
- The Purchase
Independent, a student-run weekly news publication.
- The
Submission, a student-run interdisciplinary journal of
creativity, started in 2004 by Katie Reilly, John Howard, Salina
Sanchez, Steve Sajdak, and Miguel Jimenez.
- WPSR
1610, the college's radio
station.
- The Co-op, a student-run space for lounging and programming
that serves a selection vegan foods and
fair-trade coffees and teas.
- GLBTU (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Union), Purchase
College's oldest and largest student organization is noted for
running many popular events on campus (Such as Fall Ball) and
holding informative discussions each week.
Events
The College holds several key event:
- The Culture Shock
festival, a two-day music
festival that is the most-attended program at the school. The
weekend festival, typically held in April, showcases the talents of
musical acts and performance artists. Some notable performers
include: Ween,Dan
Deacon, Regina Spektor, Deerhoof, Animal
Collective, GZA, Cat
Power, Blonde Redhead, Bouncing Souls, Ghostface Killah, Ted
Leo, Biz Markie, Kool Keith, Slick Rick,
Destiny's Child, Drake and Dead
Prez. Culture Shock is funded by the student body's mandatory
activity fee and is organized by the Purchase Student Government
Association.
- Fall Fest, a musical event held every fall in
the college's student center.
- Fall Ball, an event that celebrates Purchase College's strong LGBT culture, where drag
queens and drag kings compete on
stage for the year's crown.
- Purchase Wide Open, usually occurring in April
is a combination of Alumni Homecoming and Family Day. A series of
Visual and Performing Arts, Sciences and Humanities events that
enables both the on and off campus community to share in what
Purchase College has to offer. Most events are free; shows held at
the Performing Arts Center (PAC) usually require advance ticket
purchase.
Other Aspects of Campus Life
The Neuberger
Museum of Art, the eighth largest
university museum in the nation, houses a
permanent collection of 6,000 works of art and features a full
schedule of exhibitions, lectures, films and inter-media events.
The museum has 12 changes of exhibitions each year in addition to
ongoing exhibitions from the permanent collections. The Neuberger
Museum of Art offers insights into 20th century masters,
mid-career, and emerging artists, as well as exposure to the
country's only permanent exhibition of
African art.
The Performing
Arts Center, a five-theater complex that houses more than 100
professional and student performances each year.
Campus
The Performing Arts Center as viewed
from the campus plaza
The site
chosen for the campus was a 500 acre (2 km²) estate,
Strathglass Farm, in the middle of Westchester County
, 40 minutes from Manhattan
by car and about an hour by public
transportation. It was originally the property of Thomas
Thomas, a
Revolutionary war
soldier, whose family and slave cemetery still remains on the
campus. In order to transform the former cattle farm into a college
for thousands of students, SUNY engaged some of the most prominent
American architects to design the campus (Paul Rudolph, Phillip
Johnson, John Burgee, and Robert Venturi.)
Edward Larrabee Barnes created the
master plan, and nine distinguished architectural firms designed
specific buildings. Buildings on the campus are located in the
center of the property, and are isolated from the surrounding
community by wooded areas around the perimeter of the property.
The
college is adjacent to the Westchester County Airport
, and is across the street from PepsiCo's world headquarters. The campus is not
within walking distance to any commercial area, but maintains an
hourly shuttle bus system to and from White Plains,
New York
.
The buildings and open spaces of the campus are visually
distinctive models of late modernist architecture. The Visual Arts
Building has of studios, exhibition spaces, workshops and labs. The
Dance Building was the first in America created specifically for
the training of dancers.
The Music Building has
two recital halls, 75 practice rooms, 80 Steinway &
Sons
pianos, and professional recording studios. The Studio
Composition program was one of the first in the country, and the
faculty and student showcase
Purchase
Records has earned 3
Grammy
nominations for its 5 releases. The Film Conservatory is housed
within the lower level of the Music Building.
Various parts of the Campus are currently undergoing renovation.
The new Student Services building opened in 2006, providing
one-stop-shopping for most administrative services. The 'mall', or
main campus plaza, is currently undergoing renovations to improve
its aesthetics, create communal spaces, and to reduce flooding when
it rains.
Notable alumni
References
External links
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