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Our Impact

In the City, of the World

NYU Steinhardt's one-of-a-kind integration of education, communication, health, and the arts puts us at the heart of a movement: education for social change.

Our mission is to advance knowledge, creativity, and innovation at the crossroads of culture, education, and human development. 

NYU Steinhardt was founded in 1890 as the first school of education at an American university. Its creation was groundbreaking; it allowed female teachers to get a university education at a time when women didn’t yet have the right to vote.

Among the School’s first students were teachers and administrators of all races and ethnicities, who took the ideals of higher education from their classrooms out into New York City’s diverse communities. It was the mission of our founders to give both teachers and students tools for social and economic mobility.

Today, NYU Steinhardt is a diverse, dynamic, uniquely interdisciplinary school devoted to a holistic understanding of people and human development across the lifespan. Here, members of our community study art, music, culture, media and communications, health and wellness, education, and more. Each day, we foster equity by supporting the research, scholarship, and practices that advance the education, health, and well-being of people and communities worldwide.

At its best, education can offer a solution to pressing social problems and enrich the world we live in. We thank you for joining us in this movement and invite you to accompany us as we continue in our mission.

 

— Jack H. Knott, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean

Social Impact

How Music Can Help Heal Trauma and Connect Communities

As part of the UN’s Healing Arts Week, Steinhardt hosted a symposium exploring the ways music, art, theater, and dance can improve health and well-being. Director of Music Therapy Ken Aigen explains music's healing power.

Nutrition and Food Studies Research Benefits New York Communities

This is the second in a series of articles highlighting how Nutrition and Food Studies faculty are combining research insights and applied expertise to bring positive change to New York City.

Heddy Lahmann Leads International Youth Musicians in Cultural Exchange

700+ students participated in cultural exchange and peacebuilding workshops as part of Carnegie Hall’s World Orchestra Week (WOW!) Festival.

Faculty Thought Leadership

Rezarta Bilali Finds Social Messaging in Soap Operas Can Prevent Violence

An analysis of experiments with radio and TV dramas across the world show the positive effects of narrative interventions in shaping norms and raising awareness of social issues.

Educators and Parents Reveal Culture of Fear, Censorship, and Loss of Learning Opportunities in the Wake of Florida Policies

A new study finds that “education restriction” policies ​​reduce opportunities and support offered in public schools, even without parents’ knowledge.

African Journalists Reporting on Africa

A new book by Media, Culture, and Communication Assistant Professor j. Siguru Wahutu speaks with, and looks at the reportage of, African journalists depicting their own continent.

Recent Outreach

Students, staff, and faculty from across NYU Steinhardt came together to support the New York City community and beyond. 

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Bodega owners and customers were included in a peer-reviewed article on attitudes toward online grocery shopping co-authored by an NYU Steinhardt professor.
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Evaluation for Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative across New York was co-conducted by NYU Steinhardt and Grossman researchers and funded by two NY foundations.
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NYU Steinhardt students conducted speech-language intervention for patients with Huntington's Disease at an NYU Health Care Center.
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Free counseling sessions offered to food and beverage workers through NYU Steinhardt's Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing.
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Occupational Therapy Department volunteers acted as guides for a wheelchair skating course at the Wheeling Forward Adaptive Skate Clinic in NYC.
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Older adults at risk for Type 2 diabetes enrolled in a prevention program conducted by NYU Steinhardt and NYU Langone professors.