In 1919, the »New School for Social Research« was founded by a group of pacifist-minded intellectuals, most of whom had previously taught at Columbia University and had been censored by its president. The censorship became the impetus for the re-founding of a university. In the style of the German Volkhochschule and with close ties to Europe, a »University in Exile« was established within the university, where around 180 emigrated European academics worked until 1945.
In 1926, the New School for Social Research offered the first course in cinema as a form of art and the first course in psychoanalysis (taught by a student of Sigmund Freud). After the defeat of France in June 1940, a number of distinguished French social scientists also joined, such as the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, the linguist Roman Jakobson and the political scientist Henri Bonnet.

Re-foundation of an academic institution after censorship and emigration:
»[...] to create a new kind of academic institution, one where faculty and students would be free to honestly and directly address the problems facing societies in the 20th century. Their vision was to bring together scholars and citizens interested in questioning, debating, and discussing the most important issues of the day.« (see https://www.newschool.edu/about/history/)

Since 1997 the school has borne the name »New School University«, since 2005 the current name »The New School«. The university today consists of 5 colleges with courses that continue the founders' interest in social sciences, international affairs, humanities, history and philosophy, as well as art, design, management and performing arts.

Charles A. Beard, Thorstein Veblen, James Harvey Robinson, Wesley Clair Mitchell, John Dewey, Alvin Johnson