New Courses - Spring 2013

This course offers an introduction to some of the classical and current issues in the anthropology of
Indigenous Australia. The role of anthropology in the representation and governance of Indigenous
life is itself an important subject for anthropological inquiry, considering that Indigenous people of
Australia have long been the objects of interest and imagination by outsiders for their cultural
formulations of kinship, ritual, art, gender, and politics. These representations—in feature films
about them (such as Rabbit-Proof Fence and Australia), New Age Literature (such as Mutant
Message Down Under), or museum exhibitions (such as in the Museum of Sydney or the Australian
Museum—are now also in dialogue with Indigenous forms of cultural production, in genres as
diverse as film, television, drama, dance, and archiving. The course will explore how Aboriginal
people have struggled to reproduce themselves and their traditions on their own terms, asserting
their right to forms of cultural autonomy and self-determination. Through the examination of
ethnographic texts, historical accounts, films, live performances, and an autobiography, we will consider the ways in which Aboriginalities are being challenged and constructed in contemporary
Australia.

Sample Syllabus

This course is a survey of some of the principal themes and issues in the development of Indigenous Art in Australia.  It focuses on some of the regional and historical variations of Aboriginal art in the context of the history of a settler nation, while considering the issues of its circulation and evaluation within contemporary discourses of value. Topics include the cosmological dimensions of the art, its political implications, its relationship to cultural identity, and its aesthetic frameworks.

Sample Syllabus

Introduction to research and theory of human development across the life span. Seminal theories & basic research of individual growth & development are analyzed & critiqued. Emphasis is on the range in human development with discussion of normative & non-normative development. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of understanding the influence of normative & non-normative contexts of development, including the impact of culture, heritage, socioeconomic level, personal health, & safety. Relations between home, school, & community and their impact on development are also explored via readings, lectures, discussions, & weekly observations in the field. Interrogation of implicit folk theories as a foundation for exploration of formal knowledge of human development.

Sample Syllabus

Further analysis of research findings & theories of human development focusing on early childhood, & applied across various institutional contexts. Important issues include: language development, assessment of readiness to learn, separation from the family, peer relationships, aesthetic experiences. Developmentally appropriate consideration of abusive & dangerous environments, & of alcohol, tobacco & drug use will also be included. Direct application of theory & research is made through field-based inquiry & issue-based investigation.

Sample Syllabus

Further analysis of research findings & theories of human development focusing on childhood, & applied across various institutional contexts. Important issues include: numeric competence, assessment of reading problems, gender differences in learning styles. Developmentally appropriate consideration of abusive & dangerous environments, & of alcohol, tobacco, & drug use will also be included. Direct application of theory & research is made through field-based inquiry & issue-based investigation.

Sample Syllabus

This course will likely carry a supplies & studio fee for all non-Steinhardt Studio Art majors. More details will be available soon.

Sound art is perhaps the multidisciplinary art par excellence. Eluding most attempts at tidy classification, sound art can share formal elements and concerns with traditional sculpture, film and video, performance art, conceptual art, architecture, installation, and of course with music. This studio course will explore sound across its many and sometimes contradictory vectors, allowing students intensive work on sounds and their composition, as well as on projects that explore the broad and rich interaction of sound with other disciplines of art.

There are two main tenets of the course. The first is that issues fundamental to sound art engage some of the key problems of modern and contemporary art. Rather than viewing sound as a peripheral practice, we will see how it has been decisive in the narrative of 20th and 21st century art, exciting many of the key debates that carry through to this day. The second principle is that listening, or careful observation, can be primary in the creative process, coming before expression. From John Cage onward, the value of listening, of observation as a primary creative act, has re-attuned many strains of western art (from conceptual, minimal, and land art to media and installation art) to new ideas of process, complexity, and ecology.

This course can be approached from any level of experience. No previous work with sound or with digital media is required, only a willingness to explore the boundaries of art-making that is a natural outgrowth of working with sound as an artistic medium.

When speaking of great contemporary patrons of the arts, we often hear someone called “a modern Medici.” What exactly does this phrase mean and how did the family name of the principal banking house of Renaissance Florence become synonymous with the sponsorship of cultural endeavors? This course attempts to answer these questions and others by examining the development of Medici patronage from the emergence of the family as a political force at the dawn of the Renaissance to the establishment of the grand ducal dynasty that reigned for almost two centuries in Florence. The commissions of Cosimo the Elder, Piero the Gouty, Lorenzo the Magnificent, the two Medici Popes (Leo X and Clement VII) and the first three Medic Grand Dukes (Cosimo I, Francesco I and Ferdinando I) are given particular emphasis. Issues such as familial pietas, the power and influence of Medici women and the varying political climate in Florence and Rome are also considered as fundamental to the development of characteristically Medicean patterns of patronage.

The role of the patron in determining the ultimate appearance of works of art and architecture is given primary consideration here. The Medici are therefore considered as a test case for understanding the importance of patronage for the history of Renaissance art. This may be best examined through the Medici’s continued patronage of certain artists over extended periods of time. The works of artists such as Brunelleschi, Michelozzo, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Bandinelli, Vasari and Buontalenti, all of whom produced significant numbers of works under the aegis of the Medici, are therefore the main focus of the lectures, class discussions and site visits. Comparison of Medici modes of patronage with local would-be rivals or imitators and with great foreign patrons will help to provide a measure of what is both characteristic of all Renaissance patrons and what is unique to the Medici themselves.

Sample Syllabus

In this course, students learn how to ‘read’ and interpret the city by analyzing the architecture and the outdoor spaces that the buildings define. We adopt the approach of art history, architectural history,
and urban planning to study the buildings and monuments of Florence from antiquity to the present. On site, students consider buildings in context, and learn how to describe the architectural language used by architects over the centuries. Students learn about the building materials and technologies. They learn how to identify the typology and dynamics of buildings, monuments, and outdoor spaces, and their transformations (in form and function). They experience the coexistence of private and sacred in religious buildings, and of private and public in both residential and civic buildings.

Sample Syllabus

This course is a survey of some of the principal themes and issues in the development of Indigenous Art in Australia.  It focuses on some of the regional and historical variations of Aboriginal art in the context of the history of a settler nation, while considering the issues of its circulation and evaluation within contemporary discourses of value. Topics include the cosmological dimensions of the art, its political implications, its relationship to cultural identity, and its aesthetic frameworks.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: high school chemistry and BIOL-UA 11, Principles of Biology I or equivalent

Students registering for this course must also register for the Laboratory section

This course gives a broad overview of biology from an evolutionary perspective. Students will be introduced to the major biological forms and functions using a comparative approach. Particular emphasis will be given to how biological structures and systems are adapted to life history and ecology. 

Sample Syllabus

Taken in conjunction with the Principles of Biology II Lecture

Laboratory exercises illustrate the basics of experimental biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry as well as the diversity of life forms and organ systems.

Taken in conjuction with BIOL-UA 9012/Principles of Biology II Lecture and Lab.

Evaluates, from the management point of view, marketing as a system for the satisfaction of human wants and as a catalyst of business activity. Deals with the subject at all levels from producer to consumer and emphasizes the planning required for the efficient use of marketing tools in the development and expansion of markets. Concentrates on the principles, functions, and tools of marketing, including quantitative methods. Utilizes cases and projects to develop a problem-solving ability in dealing with specific areas.

Prerequisites: STAT-UB 103 Statistics for Business Control and Regression/Forecasting Analysis (also accepted: STAT-UB 1, ECON-UA 18, or ECON-UA 20), ECON-UB 1 Microeconomics (also accepted: ECON-UA 2 or ECON-UA 5), and ACCT-UB 1 Principles of Financial Accounting.

A rigorous course developing the basic concepts and tools of modern finance. Basic concepts of return and risk are explored in detail with a view to understanding how financial markets work and how different kinds of financial instruments are valued. These instruments, including equities, fixed income securities, options, and other derivative securities become vehicles for exploring various financial markets and the utilization of these markets by managers in different kinds of financial institutions to enhance return and manage risk. The course includes a segment on the use and application of computer-based quantitative technology for financial modeling purposes.

Under development.  Course description may change. 

An introduction to the area of financial accounting. Encompasses accounting concepts from the point of view of the corporate investor and business management. Accounting procedures are discussed to facilitate the comprehension of the recording, summarizing, and reporting of business transactions. The basic principles of asset valuation and revenue and cost recognition are presented. Various asset, liability, and capital accounts are studied in detail with emphasis on an analytical and interpretive approach. The area of financial accounting is further analyzed through a discussion of the concepts and underlying financial statement analysis and the exposition of funds flow.

An introduction to the area of financial accounting. Encompasses accounting concepts from the point of view of the corporate investor and business management. Accounting procedures are discussed to facilitate the comprehension of the recording, summarizing, and reporting of business transactions. The basic principles of asset valuation and revenue and cost recognition are presented. Various asset, liability, and capital accounts are studied in detail with emphasis on an analytical and interpretive approach. The area of financial accounting is further analyzed through a discussion of the concepts and underlying financial statement analysis and the exposition of funds flow.

Prerequisite: CHEM-UA 243, Organic Chemistry I or its equivalent

Students registering for this course must also register for the Laboratory section

The aim of the course is to introduce advanced concepts in organic chemistry with particular emphasis on aromatic and carbonyl systems. Some simple aspects of biochemistry including carbohydrates will be discussed. The importance of spectroscopic techniques in organic chemistry will be emphasised.

Sample Syllabus

Taken in conjuction wtih CHEM-UA 9244/Organic Chemistry Lecture and CHEM-UA 9246/Organic Chemistry Lab.

Taken in conjunction with the Organic Chemistry II Lecture

Weekly 41/2 hr. laboratory session. A pre-lab session of 20 minutes will take place at the beginning of each practical class.  Students will acquire the practical skills of Organic Chemistry and will become familiar with organic laboratory procedures and techniques.

Sample Syllabus

This course presents a review of adolescent and young adult developmental theory to provide students with a framework of the psychosocial conflicts involved during this particular moment.  The psychology concepts about adolescence, identity and autonomy are brought to think on a complex way the theories and objectives of positive psychology.  As we survey the contributions that positive psychology has made in helping individuals to create change in their lives, we find elevated self-esteem, improved physical well-being, and an increase in the overall sense of success to be achievable outcomes for college students.  At the conclusion of the course, students are charged with synthesizing this material and creating their own project designed to improve mental health awareness.

Sample Syllabus

Under development, course description may change:

Sleep is something akin to the ocean – it surrounds us, and we could not live without it; yet it remains a mystery, whose secrets we are only now beginning to unfold. Scientific research into sleep and dreams began in earnest about 50 years ago. Since that time, the small and burgeoning field of sleep medicine has taught us a great deal about how and why we sleep. This course will provide students with a comprehensive introduction to sleep and dreams throughout the life cycle. Our study will include a focus on normal sleep behavior and physiology, the evolution of sleep, circadian and biological rhythms, dreams, and the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Through exercises and assignments, students will learn about the importance of sleep for mental and physical well being and how to best establish a healthy sleep routine.

In this class students are encouraged to consider the intersectional environments (natural, urban,
cultural, historical etc.) that they interact with and within, and how their sensibilities differ living away
from home to contemplate how a sense of place can be conveyed through writing.

Sample Syllabus

This course is not open to NYU Stern students.

Prerequisite: ECON-UA 1 (Economic Principals) or ECON-UA 5 (Introduction to Economic Analysis)

There are two parts to this course. In the first part of the course we will study two of the main financial asset markets: bond markets and stock markets. We will study the concept and determination of interest rates; the risk structure and the term structure of interest rates; stock pricing and the efficient markets hypothesis; cross-border arbitrage. We will also analyze financial structure in Argentina and other Latin American banks.

In the second part of the course we will study the monetary and financial system. We will study how money is created, the tools of monetary policy, the commercial banking industry and its links to monetary policy and the Central Bank, and how monetary policy affects the economy in general. In this part we will also analyze how market failures (such as information asymmetries) and distortionary policies (such as financial repression) may hinder the contribution of financial markets and monetary policy to macroeconomic stability. The roles of state-owned banks in Latin American economies will also be discussed.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisites: Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, & International Economics (NYU ECON-UA 10, ECON-UA 12, & ECON-UA 238) or equivalents.

This course aims at offering a global perspective on development, long term change in the world economy, and the interaction between countries, regulatory systems and firms. Recent developments have changed completely the patterns of development and the relationships between developed and developing/emerging countries.
The focus of the course is on the shift of production to East Asia, on poverty and inequality, on the dynamics of international trade and investment, including changes in production patterns (outsourcing, offshoring, service offshoring), on the relationship between trade and economic growth, trade imbalances and protectionism, and on the impact of technological innovation on international competitiveness.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisites: ECON-UA 1 Economic Principles or ECON-UA 5 Intro to Economic Analysis or equivalents

The financial crisis that hit the global economy since the summer of 2008 is without precedent in post-war economic history. Although its size and extent are exceptional. the crisis has many features in common with similar financial-stress driven recession episodes in the past. However, this time there’s something different, with the crisis being global akin to the events that triggered the Great Depression of the 1930s. This crisis spread quickly and rapidly moved from the US to European countries that show the weakest economic indicators (PIIGS: Portugal, Ireland and Italy, Greece and Spain). This course will focus on the long run causes, consequences and EU responses to the crisis, conditionally on the characteristics of the countries involved. We will focus on the long process of European Integration and discuss whether it may represent a possible solution to the recent crisis.

Prerequisite: Economic Principles I & II (ECON-UA 1 & ECON-UA 2) or equivalents

This course will examine the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, including the hypotheses underlying the origins and propagation of the crisis, and the policy responses that occurred along a variety of dimensions. Topics covered will range from the role of financial institutions (banking and shadow banking) and capital markets, overview of emergency measures taken including monetary and fiscal policy, and regulatory reform both domestic and abroad.

The course will be a combination of lecture, discussion and special meetings with outside participants who have played a role in the financial crisis and policy response.

Sample Syllabus

This course is not open to NYU Stern students.

Prerequisite: Economic Principles I & II (ECON-UA 1 & ECON-UA 2) or equivalents

This course focuses on international trade in goods, services, and capital. It serves as an introduction to international economic issues and as preparation for the department’s more advanced course. The issues discussed include gains from trade and their distribution; analysis of protectionism; strategic trade barriers; the trade deficit; exchange rate determination and government intervention in foreign exchange markets.

Sample Syllabus

This course is an introduction to the literatures of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region, with a focus on indigenous, migrant and diasporic writing. In addition to major texts from Australia and New Zealand, we will also encounter a range of works from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the Pacific islands. Some questions we will tackle include: How have the cultural, historical, and economic processes of colonialism, diaspora and migration connected and shaped this diverse region? How have issues of race and indigeneity been central to various discourses of nationalism? What particular roles have Australia and New Zealand, as sub-imperial powers, played in the region? Finally, what can the latest generation of migrant writing in Australia show us about new forms of interconnections across the globalizing Asia-Pacific? Students in this course will examine novels, poetry, films and theoretical texts to develop critical thinking, reading and writing skills. Along the way, they will gain a solid grounding in the problematics of postcolonialism, race, diaspora, indigeneity, nationalism and multiculturalism.

Sample Syllabus

How do we read ‘nature’? Is there a ‘natural’ way to understand the ‘real’? This course explores issues in the textual mapping of relationships between the environmental, the ecological and the semiotic. It assumes that however 'natural' nature itself may be, the human understanding of it is necessarily constructed. We trace the origins and development of key tropes in ecological philosophy: including wilderness, pastoral, pollution and apocalypse. Principle texts in this course include American and Australian novels, films and documentaries, read alongside supplementary sources in literary, audio and artistic mediums. We ask how literature—one of the richest arenas for the practice of human imagination—does, has, or could shape environmental thought and action. How does the non-human world enter into literature? What are the historical and structural obstacles to admitting different forms of consciousness into text? What literary genres and styles are called forth by the huge ecological challenges of our times?

Sample Syllabus

This course is expected for Spring 2013, but is currently pending approval of the CAS Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

With the focus on urban ecology this course examines Berlin’s urban planning approaches and their history, asking whether and how, the city’s built form, biophysical processes, and social life are intertwined and ‘sustainable’. The course offers an extensive survey of theory and method drawn from the fields of ‘urban’ ecology, geography, and anthropology, as well as site visits to several facets of Berlin’s ‘green’ past and present. By combining the experience of site visits with a careful study of contemporary urban ecology, we will consider how contests over environmental knowledge, socio-cultural ideology, and discourse shape human engagement with urban nature. The main questions are: how have Berlin’s ‘green’ features developed in relation to economic, socio-cultural, and political processes? How do sustainable projects change Berlin, and how are they experienced and shaped by different social groups? This is a reading-intensive 6-credit course that meets for 3,5 hours per week.

Sample Syllabus

European cities are generally more sustainable in terms of resources and
waste management than their American counterparts. The ecological
footprint, that is, the proportion of material and energy consumed for the
daily needs of a single person, ranks a third to 50% less, while the quality of
life rates higher. This difference derives partly from the culture and density
coming from the pre-industrial origins of European cities and partly from a
conscientious effort by politicians and administrators to encourage
alternatives to reduce greenhouse gases.

On completion of this course, students should:
• A comparative knowledge of the issues and ethics of sustainability
• A critical purview of urbanism in 20th-21st-century Europe
• active research on the application of sustainable policies

Sample Syllabus

Over half of the human population lives within 100 km of a coast and coastlines contain more than two-thirds of the world’s largest cities. As a result, the world’s natural coastal environments have been substantially modified to suit human needs. This course will use the built and natural  environments of coastal cities as laboratories to examine the environmental and cological implications of urban development in coastal areas. Using data from multiple coastal cities, student teams will use field-based studies and Geographic Information System (GIS) data to examine patterns and processes operating in coastal cities. This course uses the local terrestrial, marine, and built environments as a laboratory to address these issues, and team projects requiring field work form a core component of the learning experience. As part of the Global Network University initiative this course will be offered simultaneously in multiple locations and students will collaborate with their counterparts on other campuses.

Watch the video & read more about Where The City Meets The Sea

With its vast array of institutions dedicated to distinct cultural groupings and its formation inextricably linked to the halls of power, the museum culture in our nation’s capitol is uniquely Washington D.C. Taking advantage of behind-the-scenes access to some of the most prestigious museums in the world and their staff, students will explore various approaches to interpreting art and develop tools for appreciating their aesthetic experiences. We will also look critically at the ways in which museums—through their policies, programs, exhibitions, and architecture—can define regional or national values, shape cultural attitudes, inform social and political views, and even effect one’s understanding of the meaning of a work of art.

Starting our class at The Phillips Collection, America’s first museum of modern art, we will visit other pioneering private and public museums both old and new. At each stop, we will have the opportunity to meet with staff members actively involved in different activities in that museum. We will explore the art, learn about the inner workings of the exhibition process, and investigate the diverse educational missions these museums fulfill. Against the backdrop of the Capitol Building where legislation is made influencing museums on the National Mall and beyond, we will examine the political sides of this cultural history and the unusual array of institutions that have been legislated into existence, specifically museums dedicated to defined constituencies such as women, Native Americans, and African Americans.

The goals of this course are: 1) to expose students to varied methodologies of art interpretation with the aim of developing a critical command of the tools for understanding and appreciating the art on display; 2) to encourage students to engage critically with primary artifacts from diverse cultures and reflect on the manner in which they are presented in different museum contexts; 3) to provide students with opportunities for studying the historical and changing notion of the museum and the role these institutions play in our society in the construction of national and cultural identity; 4) for students to learn to navigate with confidence and critical insight through the museum landscape in D.C. 5) for students to develop and demonstrate increasingly sophisticated expertise in critical reading and writing about the issues explored throughout the semester.

Sample Syllabus

Students enrolling in this course will be required to purchase property insurance. The plan costs approximately $130 and covers personal student property in addition to the film equipment students will be using in this course. Instructions on purchasing insurance will be provided after enrollment.

Fundamentals of Filmmaking combines storytelling, research, and cutting-edge filmmaking technology. Students will be encouraged to ask engaging questions and delve into investigations of the region's social, cultural and political realities, and in the process, make a series of short documentary videos. Through the viewing of recent documentary films, to meeting with filmmakers, students will be introduced to a variety of documentary methodologies.

Students will work in Production Crews. They will choose their own projects for their documentary short films. Each crew will research, produce, shoot and edit its project.

Note: Students may not register for both this course and Comparative Modern Societies due to content overlap.

Germany’s profound influence on Modern European history and culture is felt nowhere as visibly as in Berlin. This interdisciplinary course analyzes the city’s contributions to culture––in literature, memoir, music, film and painting––and its politics in the wider context of European trends. The course provides a comprehensive survey of Modern Berlin history and examines how artists reflected on those changing times. Special topics include: Christopher Isherwood’s fictionalized memoirs during the Weimar Years, the Nazi Aesthetic during the Berlin 1936 Olympics as constructed by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, the photo-realist reflections of painter Gerhard Richter on terrorism in Berlin in the 1970s, and Germany’s literary reassessment of guilt and victimhood following reunification. Readings and lectures are supplemented with walking tours of Berlin and its museums, to look at traces of historical, social and cultural change in situ; how memory, history and place interact over time in specific locations.

Sample Syllabus

In this class students are encouraged to consider the intersectional environments (natural, urban,
cultural, historical etc.) that they interact with and within, and how their sensibilities differ living away
from home to contemplate how a sense of place can be conveyed through writing.

Sample Syllabus

Can also be counted for SCA-UA Internship credit (government and non-profit placements only)

The seminar is designed to complement the internship fieldwork experience. In it we explore many different aspects of your internship site. The goal is to finish the semester with an in-depth understanding of the company or organization, including its approach, its policies, and the context in which it operates. We will also discuss more generally the state of the contemporary workplace and ourselves as workers. Finally, you will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on the internship experience and as a way to refine your own personal and professional goals.

Please note: Students who secure an internship through or with the assistance of NYU Washington, DC must confirm their spot in the program and enroll in the internship class in order to accept the internship. Students are required to pursue a minimum of 10 hours/ week in their internships to earn course credit. NYU Washington, DC advises that students pursue  no more than 20 hrs/ week in internship committments. If students elect to participate in an internship that exceeds the recommended number of hours, they may be advised to reduce their academic courseload. Students are highly encouraged to consult NYU Washington DC staff for assistance with these decisions.

Sample Syllabus

Note: Students may not register for both this course and Comparative Modern Societies due to content overlap.

Germany’s profound influence on Modern European history and culture is felt nowhere as visibly as in Berlin. This interdisciplinary course analyzes the city’s contributions to culture––in literature, memoir, music, film and painting––and its politics in the wider context of European trends. The course provides a comprehensive survey of Modern Berlin history and examines how artists reflected on those changing times. Special topics include: Christopher Isherwood’s fictionalized memoirs during the Weimar Years, the Nazi Aesthetic during the Berlin 1936 Olympics as constructed by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, the photo-realist reflections of painter Gerhard Richter on terrorism in Berlin in the 1970s, and Germany’s literary reassessment of guilt and victimhood following reunification. Readings and lectures are supplemented with walking tours of Berlin and its museums, to look at traces of historical, social and cultural change in situ; how memory, history and place interact over time in specific locations.

Sample Syllabus

Experiential Learning II includes both classroom instruction and community experience (whenever practicable, individual community experience). the principle goal of Experiential Learning II is immersion in the current and historical character of the site.

The objective of the course is threefold. First (weeks 1-3), it exposes students to the relationships between food, class and gender and to the extent to which food is part of our symbolic system and mode of thought. This discussion introduces students to the main issues in food studies and provides them with a theoretical ground for the course.

Second, (weeks 4-7), we will look at the ways in which food has been used to support the Zionist ideology and the formation of the Jewish nation-state. Lectures focus on the ways in which women have been involuntarily recruited into the process of nation building via food practices. Additionally, I address the various immigrant communities in Israel that, although encouraged to change their food habits, have kept their foodways at the level of the home. We will analyze the ways in which immigrants change their domestic foods and the reasons for the changes. Our discussion will question the social, political and economic circumstances that have pushed immigrants to use food as a means of making a living and the changes their dishes have undergone in aim of appealing to a wide array of consumers. Moreover, in order to understand the relationship between ideology, migration and ethnicity in Israel, we will look at the role food and feeding have played in the formation and protection of the ideology of the traditional kibbutz, as opposed to the new kibbutz. Finally, we shall look at various Israeli open-air food markets and their contribution to the preservation of ethnic hierarchies in Israeli society. We will conclude the second part of the course with a field trip to the “Mahane Yehuda food market” in Jerusalem (week 8) and an in-class short midterm followed by a movie on week nine.

The third part of the course (weeks 10-14) looks at social and political processes that have affected Middle Eastern cuisines. Our discussion on food and colonialism will elaborate on issues such as the identity of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and the role food occupies in creating a distinctive national identity. Also we shall look at the modernization of the Middle East and its effect on local diets. We will conclude the course by analyzing the consequences of globalization on local diets and the way in which certain Middle Eastern foods have gone global.

Sample Syllabus of course as taught in NYC.

The course will illustrate the fundamental steps that marked the development of science and technology from the ancient world to the affirmation of modern science during the Scientific Revolution.

Sample Syllabus

Next to many archives covering past centuries, Florence also hosts one of the most important archives for the study of contemporary history, namely the archive on the European Union. It is organizationally and academically linked to the European University Institute (EUI), also located in Florence, a top-level interdisciplinary graduate institute and think tank.

An archive on the EU represents a welcome challenge for history students, since it is not completely clear "what the EU is". It is neither a state in the traditional sense, nor is it limited to being an international organization. Whereas most forms of stateness in Europe and in the rest of the democratic world can be considered more or less stable, the EU is still a political actor in the making - and there is evidence that it will remain a moving target for historians, political scientists, law experts and economists for still many years to come. Thus, different from other archives, the archive on the EU does not contain documents and information on a historical process which is already completed, but which is and will still be ongoing.

Sample Syllabus

What is the role of the family in Italy? Italy is well-known for being a family centered society.
What are the causes and consequences of this phenomenon? Since the 1960s, the family has
undergone a series of changes, due to the women’s movement, decrease of marriages, fall of
birthrate, etc. Is the family loosing its centrality in Italy? According to some scholars, the family
is still one of the few shared values in Italy. The course will investigate the social function of the
family in Italy, from the political unification of the country to the present. We will also analyze
ideas of femininity and masculinity conveyed by the media and their connections to the idea
of Italianness. The imagined Italian community was constructed on the site of the female body
which was meant to epitomize a series of values such as fertility, health, prosperity, purity,
tradition, etc. The course will also map the condition of women and LGBT people in Italy today.

Sample Syllabus

The course is a voyage through the fascinating and complex history and culture of the
Italian South, from the first half of the Nineteenth Century to the present day. Adopting
an interdisciplinary approach we will explore the rich patrimony of southern history, as
well as the violence of a society with neither rules nor justice.

Sample Syllabus

This course covers China’s history from 1700 to the late 20th century. It has a gender angle, which discusses Chinese women’s issues, their role and engagement within the historical period. The course first explores the High Qing era, the Manchu court and the talented women poet tradition; then follows chronologically the politically unstable late Qing with the disappearance of the talented women. By introducing the Republican dreams, the course will move forward to discuss the creation of “new women” and the problematic “modern girls.” Westernization, urbanization, and colonialism are large themes that run through the above focuses. The course also calls our attention to women in the Communist revolution, starting from the Yan’an period, to the early P.R.C, till the Cultural Revolution and the Opening Policy era.

The course focuses on Boccaccio's Decameron and explores the transformations of the comic in late Medieval and Renaissance collections of novelle. The cultural and social history of laughter (Bakhtin) from the European Middle Ages and the transformations of the narrative comic genres constitute the main frameworks of analysis for this course. Special attention shall be given to the cultural and linguistic "polyphony” of the novel with its mixture of extra literary codes (popular, courtly, legal, historical, religious, "scientific" etc.). The notion of "civilization of manners" ( Norbert Elias) and the social and linguistic process of transformation of literary and socio-cultural forms of rhetorics, around the time of the publication of The Courtier, shall be also addressed in detail. The course is conducted in English and required readings are in translation.

Sample Syllabus

Note: Students accepted to this course must indicate on their visa survey that they want a Tier-4 General Student Visa; you will not be permitted to intern (paid or unpaid) in the UK without a Tier-4 visa. A Tier-4 visa costs a minimum of £289 GBP (approximately $500 USD), plus any applicable shipping and expedite fees. (*Does not apply to students traveling on EEA or Swiss passports.)

This 4 credit course includes a weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/week at an approved internship fieldsite. Internship placements are made by EUSA, an organization partnering with NYU London. EUSA provides internship placements in a wide range of organizations. Industry sectors include:

• Business, Finance & Economics
• Healthcare, Social Issues & Education
• Television, Film & Journalism
• Communications
• Arts & Culture
• Politics & NGOs
  

The seminar portion of the course explores many different aspects of your internship site. The goal is to finish the semester with an in-depth understanding of the company or organization, including its approach, its policies, and the context in which it operates. We will also discuss more generally the state of the contemporary workplace and ourselves as workers. Finally, you will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on the internship experience and as a way to refine your own personal and professional goals.

Can also be counted for SCA-UA Internship credit (government and non-profit placements only)

The seminar is designed to complement the internship fieldwork experience. In it we explore many different aspects of your internship site. The goal is to finish the semester with an in-depth understanding of the company or organization, including its approach, its policies, and the context in which it operates. We will also discuss more generally the state of the contemporary workplace and ourselves as workers. Finally, you will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on the internship experience and as a way to refine your own personal and professional goals.

Please note: Students who secure an internship through or with the assistance of NYU Washington, DC must confirm their spot in the program and enroll in the internship class in order to accept the internship. Students are required to pursue a minimum of 10 hours/ week in their internships to earn course credit. NYU Washington, DC advises that students pursue  no more than 20 hrs/ week in internship committments. If students elect to participate in an internship that exceeds the recommended number of hours, they may be advised to reduce their academic courseload. Students are highly encouraged to consult NYU Washington DC staff for assistance with these decisions.

Sample Syllabus

In this hybrid reading / writing class, we will explore environmental journalism from an Australian perspective. Each week we will read and discuss work that explores this journalistic tradition, its forms and its themes and the place it takes in the new media world. Drawing our inspiration from great writers, we will find our own stories, our own voices and learn to tell our own tales.

Sample Syllabus