New York College Teaches Theft, Calls It Sociology

Sociology examines social life, change, and the causes and effects of human behavior. Sociologists study the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, as well as the interactions among individuals within these contexts.

However, The New School in Manhattan, a four-year private university, gives students attending the university’s Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts a very liberal slant on what they refer to as sociology. Students there can “Learn to Steal.”

The underlying intention of this class is accusatory. Targeting capitalism by portraying it as a “seminar that explores the politics, ethics, and aesthetics of theft in a world where accumulation is sacred, dispossession is routine, and the line between private property and public good is drawn in blood. Students will critically examine what it means to steal—from whom, for whom, and why—through site visits and fieldwork in places where capital is hoarded and value is contested: corporate storefronts, grocery chains, museums, libraries, banks, and cultural institutions.”

“We will ask: Is it possible to steal back what was already stolen? What does theft look like under capitalism, colonialism, and in everyday life? When is theft survival, protest, or care—and when is it violence, appropriation, or harm? Readings will span critical theory, political economy, abolitionist thought, and radical histories of expropriation and redistribution. Students will produce field journals, collective mappings, and speculative strategies for redistributing wealth, knowledge, and beauty. This is not a course in petty crime; it is a study in moral ambiguity, radical ethics, and imaginative justice.”

Note the subversive way they denigrate not only capitalism but Western Culture. The statements that are made and the questions that are asked are all leading.

The last line is a summation of the desired impression they hope to achieve with the course.

By stating, “This is not a course in petty crime; it is a study in moral ambiguity, radical ethics, and imaginative justice.” They want the students to perceive that the crimes are massive, not petty. Moral ambiguity suggests the culture has difficulty defining and separating right from wrong. At the same time, radical ethics and imaginative justice portray the culture as using the end to justify the means in the accumulation of land, wealth, and other resources.

The course is taught by Assistant Professor of Sociology Cresa Pugh. Part of her profile reads:

 “Her research examines the social legacies of imperialism in postcolonial Africa and Southeast Asia, cultural heritage and museums, and violence.”

This is not a sociology course; it would be more accurately described as a course in Oikophobia. Oikophobia refers to the aversion to, or hatred of, one’s own culture, civilization, or homeland. This often manifests as self-criticism and a tendency to favor other cultures. The term was coined by philosopher Roger Scruton and is seen as a psycho-political pathology, standing in contrast to xenophobia. While this aversion can be a temporary stage during adolescence, it may also develop into a lifelong condition, particularly among intellectuals and in civilizations that are in decline.

Liberal Democrats hate what America and Western Culture stand for. So indoctrinating college students with the idea that many things we hold as precious, whether they be ideals or physical objects, were stolen, tarnishes their perceptions of our country and our values.

Is it any wonder that people are questioning the practical value of higher education? According to a 2025 Gallup poll, 23 percent of Americans express very little or no confidence in it, while another 33 percent have only “some” confidence. Even more concerning, a March survey by Indeed found that more than half of Zoomer graduates consider their degrees to be a waste of money.

This class is worth four credits, meaning the cost to be indoctrinated with hate will run around $10,000. A full four-year tuition at the New School in Manhattan will set you back over $60,000.

But hey, there are other institutions of “lower” learning you can attend to waste your time and money.

Yale’s course “Bad Bunny: Musical Aesthetics and Politics” now fulfills the school’s Humanities and Arts requirements.

Columbia University offers a course that studies empires through the lens of the HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Meanwhile, Princeton University provides a course titled “Gaming Blackness: The Anthropology of Video Games and Race.” This course uses gameplay for an experiential exploration of video games in a global context, examining how these games utilize concepts of race and highlight the intersections of class, gender, and sexuality.

It’s ironic that the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts would conceive of a class to teach students the theory of theft, when that’s exactly what the institution itself is doing by providing worthless classes and charging a fortune to attend them.

Then again, “there’s no honor among thieves,” so why not rob those who believe you’re teaching them the principles of the craft?