The Columbia University School of the Arts, also known simply as the School of the Arts or as SoA, is the graduate school of the university that offers programs in the fine arts. It offers the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, Visual Arts, Theatre and Writing, as well as the Master of Arts (MA) degree in Film Studies. It works closely with the Arts Initiative at Columbia University (CUArts) and organizes the Columbia University Film Festival. Founded in 1948, the school is located in Morningside Heights, New York.
A world-renowned film school, the Film Program at Columbia University's School of the Arts in New York City offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees with concentrations in Screenwriting/Directing and Creative Producing. The program also offers a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Film Studies.
The select MFA program accepts only 6% of applicants, having an annual incoming class of 65 out of the 1000+ applicants. The film program accepts 46 out of approximately 700 applicants. It is considered one of the top film schools in the world.
The Theatre Program at Columbia University's School of the Arts in New York City offers Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degrees in Theatre with concentrations in acting, directing, playwriting, dramaturgy, stage management, and theatre management and producing. The Theatre Program also offers a Ph.D. and joint J.D./M.F.A. degree in association with Columbia Law School.
In the Visual Arts Program, students work in the fields of painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, digital media, drawing, performance, and video art.
The program offers degrees in creative writing, with concentrations in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. One of its more notable features are "master classes", four-week courses for writers (as opposed to critical scholars) "designed to stimulate provocative discussions about literary craft and artistic choices". Master Class faculty have recently included Helen Vendler, Jonathan Lethem, Colson Whitehead, James Wood, Richard Ford, Han Ong, Susan Choi, and Jonathan Ames. The writing division also employs prestigious writers as seminar and workshop instructors; these have recently included Zadie Smith, Gary Shteyngart, Nathan Englander, Myla Goldberg, Adam Haslett, Jessica Hagedorn, Phillip Lopate, Marie Howe, Eamon Grennan, Paul LaFarge, David Gates, Francisco Goldman, Darcy Frey, and David Ebershoff.
According to the Proposed Manhattanville Academic Mixed-Use Environmental Impact Statement, Columbia intends to expand, as-of-right, its presence in Manhattanville by adaptively reusing Prentis Hall for the School of the Arts. Columbia currently owns and occupies Prentis Hall, 628–644 West 125th Street, with approximately 91,000 gross square feet (gsf) of academic space. By the 2015 analysis year, Prentis Hall may be enlarged to include an additional floor of approximately 17,000 gsf of additional academic space.
Alice Arlen - screenwriter of Silkwood, The Weight of Water, Then She Found Me
Bogdan Apetri (2006) - screenwriter, film director
Sophie Barthes - screenwriter, film director
Albert Berger - Producer Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine, Cold Mountain
Kathryn Bigelow (1979) - screenwriter, film director, producer and two time Academy Award winner for The Hurt Locker (2009).
Richard Brick (1971) - producer Hangin' with the Homeboys, Caught; Co-Producer Deconstructing Harry, Celebrity, Sweet and Lowdown, Arizona Dream
Liz Chae - screenwriter, film director, documentary director, The Last Mermaids (documentary)
Lisa Cholodenko (1998) - screenwriter and film director, The Kids Are All Right, Laurel Canyon, The L Word
Deborah Chow (2003) - screenwriter, television and film director, The High Cost of Living
Richard Corliss - Time magazine film critic
Cherien Dabis (2004) - filmmaker, screenwriter - The L Word, Amreeka
James Franco (2010) - filmmaker, actor, screenwriter, producer
Nicole Holofcener - film and TV director, screenwriter Please Give, Enough Said, Friends With Money, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under
Courtney Hunt - Academy Award nominated screenwriter and film director, Frozen River, The Whole Truth
Khary Jones - Award-winning screenwriter and film director, Hug
Simon Kinberg - screenwriter Mr. & Mrs. Smith, X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past
Yves Lavandier (1983–85) - screenwriter, director and script doctor
Jennifer Lee (2005) - Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph
John Magary - film director, screenwriter The Mend (film)
James Mangold - film director, screenwriter Girl, Interrupted, Walk the Line, Cop Land
Greg Mottola (1991) - film director, screenwriter Adventureland, Superbad, Paul
Mauro Mueller (2008) - film director, producer, screenwriter Copenhagen, A World for Raúl
Ron Nyswaner (1981) - screenwriter, The Painted Veil
David Pastor (2004) - screenwriter, film director, Carriers
Kimberly Peirce (1996) - director, Boys Don't Cry, Stop-Loss
James Ponsoldt - writer and director of The End of the Tour, The Spectacular Now, and Smashed
Mark Raso (2008) - screenwriter, film director, Copenhagen (2014 film)
Patricia Riggen (2003) - screenwriter, film director, The 33, Girl in Progress, Miracles from Heaven
Beth Schacter (2004) - screenwriter, film director, Normal Adolescent Behavior, Forget Me Nots
Florin Serban (2008) - screenwriter, film director, If I Want to Whistle I Whistle (winner of the Jury Grand Prix & Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlin Film Festival)
Patrick Stettner (1995) - screenwriter, film director, The Business of Strangers
Malia Scotch Marmo - screenwriter, Once Around, Hook, Madeline
Joan Stein (1999) - screenwriter, film director, One Day Crossing (winner of the Student Academy Award)
Chris Teague (2006) - cinematographer, Man, The Second Line, Salt Kiss
Sergio Umansky (2004) - screenwriter, film director, Here Was The Anthem
Ntshaveni Wa Luruli - film director
Beau Willimon - screenwriter, playwright, producer, creator, showrunner and executive producer of House of Cards
Aaron Woolfolk (1998) - film director, screenwriter The Harimaya Bridge
Lauren Wolkstein (2009) - film director, screenwriter
Alex Zamm (1989) - film director, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, Inspector Gadget 2
Sameh Zoabi (2005) - screenwriter, film director, Man without a Cell Phone
Nader Talebzadeh - film director
James Rebhorn (1972) - actor
Kathryn Shaw - director, actor, writer
Albert Hall (1971) - actor
Jay Scheib (1997) - theatre director
Diane Paulus - theater director
Claire Labine, head writer of Ryan's Hope, One Life to Live, General Hospital, Where The Heart Is, Guiding Light
Jonathan Ames (1989) - writer
Jesse Ball (2004) - writer
Mary Jo Bang (1998) - poet
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (1974) - poet
John Bowe (1994) - journalist focussing on modern slavery
Tina Chang (1998) - poet, named Poet Laureate of Brooklyn
Richard Corliss (1974) - film critic
Adam Cushman (2005) - writer, author of Cut
Kiran Desai (1999) - winner of the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for her novel The Inheritance of Loss
Meghan Daum (1996) - writer and journalist
Stephen J. Dubner (1990) - writer, Freakonomics
Emily Fragos (1996) - poet, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award
James Franco (2010) - actor
Matt Gallagher (2013) - writer
Rivka Galchen (2006) - fiction writer, author of Atmospheric Disturbances
Philip Gourevitch (1992) - writer and journalist, editor-in-chief of The Paris Review
Tama Janowitz (1986) - writer
Maureen Johnson (2003) - novelist
Heidi Julavits - writer
Dave King (1999) - novelist
Peter Knobler - writer, editor
Benjamin Kunkel - author of Indecision
Jean Kwok - novelist
Clive Matson (1989) - poet, author of nine collections of poetry including Squish Boots and Chalcedony's Ten Songs
Alec Michod (1999) - novelist
Dinaw Mengestu (2005) - fiction writer, novelist, author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
Susan Minot (1983) - novelist and screenwriter
Rick Moody (1986) - novelist
Ed Park - novelist and founding editor of The Believer
Sigrid Nunez - fiction writer, novelist, author of The Last of Her Kind, Salvation City and Sempre Susan: A Memoir of Susan Sontag
Gregory Orr - poet, author of over 10 collections of poetry including River Inside the River
Katha Pollitt (1975) - feminist writer
Richard Price (1976) - novelist and screenwriter
Beth Raymer (2007) - fiction writer, non-fiction writer author of Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling (turning into the film Lay the Favorite) and novel, 'Sweetheart Deals
Karen Russell (2006) - fiction writer, author of Swamplandia!
Anna Rabinowitz (1990) - poet, librettist
Tracy K. Smith (1997) - poet, won the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry Life On Mars
Wells Tower (2000) - fiction and non-fiction writer, author of Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
Vendela Vida - novelist and founding editor of The Believer
Adam Wilson (2009) - novelist and fiction writer, author of Flatscreen
David Altmejd - artist of sculptural systems
Marc Handelman - painter
Einat Amir (2009) - video and performance artist
Lisi Raskin (2003) - visual artist
Mika Rottenberg - video artist
Dana Schutz (2002) - painter
Banks Violette (2000) - sculptor
Laurie Anderson (1972) - musician
Kenneth Ascher, DMA (1966 CC; 1968 GSAS; 1971 SOA) – jazz pianist, composer
Tan Dun (1993) - composer
Robin Pecknold - frontman of the band Fleet Foxes
Adrienne Rich - poet
Kristin Linklater - renowned vocal instructor
Anne Bogart - theater director
Richard Howard - Pulitzer Prize winning poet
Binnie Kirshenbaum - author
Tom Kalin - screenwriter, film director, and producer
Ramin Bahrani - film director
Ben Marcus - fiction writer
Gregory Mosher - Tony Award-winning theatrical producer
Mira Nair - director of Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, and Vanity Fair
Andrei Şerban - theater director
Anthony Bergman- producer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Friends With Money
Barbara De Fina- producer Goodfellas, You Can Count on Me, Kundun, The Grifters
Ira Deutchman- producer "Kiss Me, Guido", "All I Wanna Do", "Way Past Cool"
Andy Bienen- screenwriter Boys Don't Cry
James Schamus- producer The Ice Storm, Brokeback Mountain, Hulk
Peter Sollett- director, screenwriter Raising Victor Vargas, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Michael Hausman- producer Brokeback Mountain, Gangs of New York, The Firm, All the King's Men
Richard Brick- Co-Producer Sweet and Lowdown, Celebrity, Deconstructing Harry; Producer Hangin' with the Homeboys, "Caught"
Miloš Forman- film director
Rirkrit Tiravanija - artist
Jon Kessler - artist
Sanford Biggers - artist
Thomas Roma - artist
Tomas Vu - artist
Sarah Sze - artist
Kara Walker - artist
Shelly Silver - artist
Mark Dion - artist
Matthew Buckingham - artist
Matthew Ritchie - artist
Dana Schutz - artist
Liam Gillick - artist
Rineke Dijkstra - artist
