Courses - First Year Program

Writing Sequence

The Writing Sequence forms the foundation of a student’s writing career and shares important writing-intensive values with all other areas of Liberal Studies. Writing provides students with an important method for organizing and expressing their thoughts, and it helps them develop and enhance their critical, analytical, and interpretive skills.

The two-semester Writing sequence advances the global emphasis of LS by engaging students in reading, analyzing, and interpreting works throughout the English-speaking world and, in translation, beyond it; in the classroom, instructors deal with the attendant issues of geography, political and social difference, and translation. Students also produce original work based on research and the incorporation of dialogue with other writers and thinkers.

Writing as Exploration (formerly Writing I) - Fall Semester - 4 points

Writing as Exploration has two main objectives: first, to develop the students’ self-confidence and fluency by engaging them in the use of writing to express, explore, and develop ideas through a variety of forms, including informal writing (free writing, journal writing, etc.); second, to engage them in practicing the same kinds of critical and analytical skills they will use throughout their two years in Liberal Studies’s writing intensive program. The class is conducted as a workshop. Students produce a wide range of writing, both in and out of class, which forms the basis for classroom activities. All papers go through multiple drafts, often with input from peers as well as the instructor.

Writing as Critical Inquiry (formerly Writing II) - Spring Semester - 4 points

In Writing as Critical Inquiry, students develop their skills in analysis and argumentation, by exploring the ways in which the ideas of others can be incorporated into their own writing. Students read and discuss longer, more challenging texts; in their own writing, students are expected to incorporate a broad range of primary and secondary sources to develop and support their increasingly complex ideas. Students are familiarized with a wide variety of possible resources at the library and should be comfortable with the mechanics and conventions of the academic research essay. The course continues to encourage in-class participation, collaborative learning, and workshop presentations.

Arts and Cultures and Global Works and Society

Based on the study of great works from antiquity to the Enlightenment, these complementary, two-semester sequences comprise a large-scale cultural history. In Arts and Cultures Sequence, you study literature, art history, and music, while in Global Works and Society Sequence you focus on philosophy, religion, political and social theory, and history. The sequences also provide an introduction to skills in critical analysis and synthetic thinking that are essential to successful study in all academic disciplines.

Arts and Cultures across Antiquity (formerly Cultural Foundations I) - Fall Semester - 4 points

This course focuses on the world's great traditions in literature, music, and the visual and performing arts from the most ancient civilizations to the Middle Ages. It familiarizes students with the earliest foundations of the world's major cultural traditions and the connections between these cultures. The course includes such literary works as The Odyssey, The Ramayana, and the Shih Ching; students personally encounter foundational achievements of visual art in museums as well as learning about them in art history texts.

Global Works and Society: Antiquity (formerly Social Foundations I) - Fall Semester - 4 points

This course focuses on the world’s great traditions in philosophy, theology, history, and political science from the most ancient civilizations up to the Middle Ages. It familiarizes students with the earliest foundations of the world’s major discourses about the nature of human identity and society through a comparative study of seminal texts. The course includes such works as The Analects, Bhagavad Gita, and the Republic of Plato.

Arts and Cultures towards the Crossroads (formerly Cultural Foundations II) - Spring Semester - 4 points

This course focuses on the world's great traditions in literature, music, and the visual and performing arts from the Middle Ages into the Enlightenment. It familiarizes students with the exchanges between the major world cultural traditions of the pre-modern era. The course includes such literary works as Journey to the West, Dante's Commedia, and the poetry of Rumi; in addition it continues the study of original works of art and introduces students to musical masterworks of the era.

Global Works and Society in a Changing World (formerly Social Foundations II) - Spring Semester - 4 points

This course focuses on the world's great traditions in philosophy, theology, history, and political science from the Middle Ages into the Enlightenment. It familiarizes students with the major world discourses about the nature of human identity and society of the pre-modern era through a comparative study of seminal texts. The course includes such works as The Koran, The Prince, and The Conquest of New Spain.

Spanish Language Courses

In addition to their Liberal Studies coursework, all students are required to take one course in Spanish language each semester. Placement is finalized upon testing during orientation.

Students are not expected to have taken Spanish coursework prior to their arrival in Madrid. In fact, many students begin with Intensive Elementary Spanish in the fall semester. That said, even the most proficient students should expect to take a Spanish language course in both the fall and the spring semesters.

All Liberal Studies coursework (The Writing Sequence, Arts and Culture, Global Works and Society) is conducted in English.

Intensive Elementary Spanish - Fall Semester - 6 points

Intensive Elementary Spanish, SPAN-UA 9010, is an accelerated 6-credit course that combines Spanish for Beginners I and II. This course focuses on the development of communication language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four skills will be approached and practiced in order to help students immerse and interact in a Spanish language context. Grammar will be taught through a communicative approach; classroom activities will integrate the language skills mentioned above. Classes will be conducted in Spanish. There will be emphasis on verbal practice, which will be carried out beyond the sentence level. Use and understanding of basic grammatical terminology will also be a necessary component of the course.

Intensive Intermediate Spanish - Spring Semester - 6 points

Completes the CORE language requirement for NYU students. Prerequisite for NYU students: SPAN-UA 2 or SPAN-UA 10 and passing grade on qualifying exam.

Promotes proficiency in reading and writing as well as oral performance. Completes the equivalent of a year's intermediate course in one semester.