Fall 2023
Course listings are subject to change. Please check back regularly for updates and email global.academics@nyu.edu if you have any questions.
- For Abu Dhabi students, please see the Abu Dhabi course equivalencies on this page. Please note this is only applicable to NYU Abu Dhabi degree students.
- For Shanghai students, please see the Shanghai course equivalencies on this page. Please note this is only applicable to NYU Shanghai degree students.
Courses by Department
Refers to course information on the Global Programs website. Individual departments may have their own pages with study abroad course information.
Navigate to a Specific Department
Use the following list of department links to navigate to the section of this page for a specific department's courses.
- Africana Studies
- Anthropology
- Applied Psychology
- College Core Curriculum
- Comparative Literature
- Creative Writing
- Drama
- Experiential Learning for Credit
- Food Studies
- Gallatin School of Individualized Study
- Global Liberal Studies
- Global Public Health
- Metropolitan Studies
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Social and Cultural Analysis
Grammy’s Afrobeats & Hiplife: African Contemporary Music - SCA-UA 9120 - 4 points
With active recording artists as class guests, and visits to selected recording studios, the class explores how multiple artists and musical forms from different continents have continued to influence African popular music. This course starts with a deep dive into the history of recorded music and leads to the current explosion of afrobeats in this region. From Fela to Davido, Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Stoweboy, Wanlov, Fokn Bois, Becca Rema, and more. Classes will be enriched with excursions to recording studios and special events such as a possible masterclass with Universal Music Group on the business of selling African music to the world.The utility of music as an artistic tool of social expression and liberation within the African space is interrogated. With special attention to West Africa and Ghana, latest genres such as Afro beat and their impact on the modern African music scene; as well as the trends, challenges and opportunities presented by technology in the music evolutionary process are critically examined.
Documenting the African City - SCA-UA 9124 or ANTH-UA 9087 - 4 points
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.
Intensive Twi Language Course - SCA-UA GHAN - 4 points
This is a language course designed to provide basic communicative competence in oral and written Twi for beginners. It focuses on the structure of the language as well as the culture of the people. The areas covered include: (i) oral drills; (ii) orthography; (iii) written exercises; (iv)translation from English to Twi and from Twi to English; (v) reading and comprehension; (vi) conversation and narration involving dialogues, greetings, description of day to day activities and bargaining); (vii) Grammar (parts of speech—nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, particles, determiners, tense/aspect, and question forms); (viii) Composition writing.
Methods & Practice: Reporting Accra - An incomparable African Metropolis - JOUR-UA 9202 or SCA-UA 9854
Is journalism on the brink of extinction? Or, is it simply evolving? Indeed, the frontiers of journalism are being extended with the emergence of digital technology. Particularly in Africa, this is a huge challenge. Given these developments, this course intends to examine the changes in the content and context of journalism from an Afrocentric lens. Not only that, the course considers the impact of these changes on the practice, genre, and approaches to journalism in Africa. Set within an African environment, this course focuses on reporting, and employing strong journalistic principles. Thus, students carry out experiments with forms, styles, and subject-matters with a view to understanding journalism in an African environment in a multipolar world. In doing so, the course hones the skills, knowledge, and competences of students in relation to the ethics of an exciting and demanding career. Specifically, this course examines journalism as an art, a craft, and an occupation in contemporary times. Thus, journalistic styles, procedures, techniques of news, information gathering, presentation of news information and opinion in print and electronic media form the foci of this course.
Methods & Practice: Reporting Accra- An incomparable African Metropolis - Syllabus
Documenting the African City - SCA-UA 9124 or ANTH-UA 9087 - 4 points
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.
Community Psychology - APSY-UE 9005 - 4 points
Community psychology focuses on the application of psychological theory, concepts and knowledge to address the needs, concerns and aspirations of communities. Specifically, community psychology is concerned with person environment interactions and the ways in which society impacts on individual and community functioning. Community psychology adopts a collectivist paradigm in understanding behaviour and in applying relevant methods and techniques. This course will introduce students to the field of community psychology with emphasis on theory and methods of community psychology within the context of the psycho-social needs of the Ghanaian society. Topics include: the history of community psychology; doing community research; prevention and health promotion; interventions and program evaluation; community mental health, understanding communities and social and community change.
Registration Priority for CORE and CORE Equivalencies
Registration priority for CORE courses will be given to NYU CAS students. Other students will be able to register as space remains available. Please pay close attention to course notes displayed in Albert.
Students outside of CAS can find a list of pre-approved CORE equivalents below. Please note this list only includes Cultures & Contexts, Expressive Culture, and Text & Ideas, and may not be exhaustive. Consult your advisor for additional information on staying on track with your CORE requirements while studying away.
Cultures & Contexts Equivalents (approved by Steinhardt and SPS)
- SCA-UA9776 Society, Culture and Modernization in Ghana
- SCA-UA9120 African Popular Music
Expressive Culture Equivalents (approved by Steinhardt and SPS)
- COLIT-UA 9666 African Women Speak
Cultures and Contexts: The Black Atlantic - CORE-UA 9534 - 4 points
This course considers the Black Atlantic as a socio-cultural economic space from the first arrival of Africans in the ‘New World,’ beginning around in the 15th century, through the rise of slavery in the Americas. During this class we will trace the origins and importance of the concept of the Black Atlantic within broad political contexts, paying special attention to the changing social, cultural and economic relations that shaped community formation among people of African descent and laid the foundations for modern political and economic orders. Once we have established those foundations, we will think about the Black Atlantic as a critical site of cultural production. Using the frame of the Atlantic to ask questions about the relationship between culture and political economy. We will explore a range of genres--film, fiction, music, as well as formal scholarship--so as to explore questions of evidence in the context of the real and the imaginary. Topics to be covered include African enslavement and settlement in Africa and the Americas; the development of transatlantic racial capitalism; variations in politics and culture between empires in the Atlantic world; creolization, plantation slavery and slave society; the politics and culture of the enslaved; the Haitian Revolution; slave emancipation; and contemporary black Atlantic politics and racial capitalism.
African Women Playwrights - ITHEA-UT 743 or COLIT-UA 9851 - 4 points
African Women Playwrights is a reading-intensive course that focuses on the structural and narrative diversification of the theatrical texts written by women from the continent in the 20th and 21st century. We’ll critique the plays as both literature and dramatic texts intended for production. What is clearly evident in African women playwrights’ writing is its focus on women’s agency; generational legacies; tensions among tradition, colonialism, and modernism; unresolved issues between tribal and national identities; family relationships; intimacy and commitment; the spiritual conflicts set from among the worlds of rituals, polytheism and monotheism; the challenging coexistence among Christianity, Islam and Judaism; the impact of the global diaspora on African identity; and the intersecting issues of blackness, Africanness and womanhood.
The course will address these various foci through the works of such writers as Andiah Kisia, Sitawa B Muragori (Kenya), Meaza Worku (Ethiopia), Nathalie Etoke, Werewere Liking (Cameroon), Tsitsi Dangarembga, Dania Gurira (Zimbabwe), Fatima Gallaire (Algeria), Penina Mlama, Amadina Lihamba (Tanzania), Ama Ata Aidoo, Efua Sutherland (Ghana), Osonye Tess Onwueme, Julie Okoh (Nigeria), Sindiwe Magona, Malika Ndlovu, Gcina Mhlope (South Africa), Violet Barungi, Assimwe Deborah Kawe (Uganda), Jalila Baccar (Tunisia), and Dalia Basiouny (Egypt).
The foundational critical theories for the course are postcolonialism, feminism, critical race theory, and diasporic studies. By the end of the course, students will also have a core, general knowledge of the continent’s history.
Creative Writing - CRWRI-UA 9815 - 4 points
This is a workshop type course intended for a small group of students, each with a strong aptitude and/or demonstrated talent for creative writing. Our basic objective is to guide students into a more systematic approach to creative writing in any of the main genres, especially fiction and poetry. Each student is expected to engage in critical discussions on samples of their own writing as well as on writing by other members of the class. Our focus shall be on developing a grasp of the rudiments and general mechanics of the writer's craft, while at the same time allowing for a fuller realization of the personal/individual creative impulse and talent. Some class sessions will be devoted to various types of writing exercises, others to the discussion of sample texts, most of it produced by members of the class. Each student will be expected to share his/her work with the class and possibly with a wider audience when possible. At the end of the semester, each student will be expected to have produced a substantial body of creative writing for assessment by the course instructors.
African Women Playwrights - ITHEA-UT 743 or COLIT-UA 9851 - 4 points
African Women Playwrights is a reading-intensive course that focuses on the structural and narrative diversification of the theatrical texts written by women from the continent in the 20th and 21st century. We’ll critique the plays as both literature and dramatic texts intended for production. What is clearly evident in African women playwrights’ writing is its focus on women’s agency; generational legacies; tensions among tradition, colonialism, and modernism; unresolved issues between tribal and national identities; family relationships; intimacy and commitment; the spiritual conflicts set from among the worlds of rituals, polytheism and monotheism; the challenging coexistence among Christianity, Islam and Judaism; the impact of the global diaspora on African identity; and the intersecting issues of blackness, Africanness and womanhood.
The course will address these various foci through the works of such writers as Andiah Kisia, Sitawa B Muragori (Kenya), Meaza Worku (Ethiopia), Nathalie Etoke, Werewere Liking (Cameroon), Tsitsi Dangarembga, Dania Gurira (Zimbabwe), Fatima Gallaire (Algeria), Penina Mlama, Amadina Lihamba (Tanzania), Ama Ata Aidoo, Efua Sutherland (Ghana), Osonye Tess Onwueme, Julie Okoh (Nigeria), Sindiwe Magona, Malika Ndlovu, Gcina Mhlope (South Africa), Violet Barungi, Assimwe Deborah Kawe (Uganda), Jalila Baccar (Tunisia), and Dalia Basiouny (Egypt).
The foundational critical theories for the course are postcolonialism, feminism, critical race theory, and diasporic studies. By the end of the course, students will also have a core, general knowledge of the continent’s history.
Experiential Learning Seminar - NODEP-UA 9982 or INDIV-UG 9050 - 4 points
Enrollment by permission only. Application required. Contact global.academics@nyu.edu for application information. Course includes weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/ week at approved internship fieldsite.
This course is designed to prepare and support students undertaking an internship at an NGO in Ghana. This weekly seminar will introduce students to key concepts and debates in the field of development studies, as well as provide a space to raise questions and reactions to the internship experience. We will survey foundational and current texts that elaborate theories and functions of development, with a focus on the recent history of social and economic development approaches in Africa. Charting the transition from public to private development institutions, the readings will provide critical insights into rights-based approaches, gender equity and empowerment, sustainability, accountability, and the role of government.
In addition to exploring theoretical frameworks, we will devote significant class time to discussing student experiences at their internships. Students will identify and critically appraise different aspects of their organization: their mission, methodology, programs, relationship with various stakeholders, and philosophy of change. By bringing both academic and practical perspectives to bear on the role civil society plays in capacity-building and improvement of livelihoods, this course offers an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to the questions ‘What is development?’, ‘Who is the subject of development?’ and ‘Does it work?’ These questions cannot be answered by looking at theory or practices in isolation. By reflecting on how theory and practice shape each other, we will explore the rich history of debate and innovation in the field to deepen our understanding of the development context in Ghana.
This course will be the academic component of your internship experience. You will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on your internship as a way to further your academic goals. You will be asked to evaluate various aspects of your internship site, including but not limited to its mission, approach, policies, and the local, regional and international contexts in which it operates. You will also be asked to reflect critically on the state of the contemporary workplace and on ourselves as workers. You will be graded on the academic work produced in this course.
Food, Culture & Globalization: Accra - FOOD-UE 9186 - 2 points
This course is designed to put in perspective the interactions between culture, food systems, migration, and globalization, and how the interactions are impacting on the food security and nutrition of the people. The course will detail the culture and traditions (including changes over the years), food ways, the current food environment in Accra, and the drivers of the nutrition transition. This course will also help students to understand the importance of nutrition sensitive agriculture in food systems, the impacts of urbanization / migration on these, and the influence of government policies on the dynamics. The course also has a field component which includes visits to a traditional ruler (to learn about food culture and festivals), markets (traditional and modern), and fast-food outlets/restaurants.
Experiential Learning Seminar - NODEP-UA 9982 or INDIV-UG 9050 - 4 points
Enrollment by permission only. Application required. Contact global.academics@nyu.edu for application information. Course includes weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/ week at approved internship fieldsite.
This course is designed to prepare and support students undertaking an internship at an NGO in Ghana. This weekly seminar will introduce students to key concepts and debates in the field of development studies, as well as provide a space to raise questions and reactions to the internship experience. We will survey foundational and current texts that elaborate theories and functions of development, with a focus on the recent history of social and economic development approaches in Africa. Charting the transition from public to private development institutions, the readings will provide critical insights into rights-based approaches, gender equity and empowerment, sustainability, accountability, and the role of government.
In addition to exploring theoretical frameworks, we will devote significant class time to discussing student experiences at their internships. Students will identify and critically appraise different aspects of their organization: their mission, methodology, programs, relationship with various stakeholders, and philosophy of change. By bringing both academic and practical perspectives to bear on the role civil society plays in capacity-building and improvement of livelihoods, this course offers an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to the questions ‘What is development?’, ‘Who is the subject of development?’ and ‘Does it work?’ These questions cannot be answered by looking at theory or practices in isolation. By reflecting on how theory and practice shape each other, we will explore the rich history of debate and innovation in the field to deepen our understanding of the development context in Ghana.
This course will be the academic component of your internship experience. You will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on your internship as a way to further your academic goals. You will be asked to evaluate various aspects of your internship site, including but not limited to its mission, approach, policies, and the local, regional and international contexts in which it operates. You will also be asked to reflect critically on the state of the contemporary workplace and on ourselves as workers. You will be graded on the academic work produced in this course.
West African Fashion: Concepts, History, and Utility - IDSEM-UG 9051 - 4 points
This course presents a unique opportunity for a deep inquiry into the key concepts that underpin the creative forces behind fashion in the West African Sub-region and interrogates the impact of conquest, the trans-Saharan trade, and other salient contemporary factors such as globalization and social media on this reality. This interdisciplinary course will look at how African culture, spirituality, place, and the need for self-expression are woven into the production and consumption processes. The co-curricular programming for the class will see students visiting key fashion conceptualists, selected fashion houses, and traditional accessory production units among others.
West African Fashion: Concepts, History, and Utility - Sample Syllabus coming soon
City as Text - CAT-UF 9301 - 4 points
Open to all students.
"City as Text” is a rigorous, 4-credit seminar designed to introduce students to the study away environment through an intensive academic program of cultural preparation and local immersion. Through scholarly and journalistic readings from interdisciplinary perspectives, students develop a nuanced understanding of the local, regional, national, and global forces that bring shape to the character of the city. Multiple class sessions take place in locations around the city, such as ports, markets, industrial centers, parks, pedestrian zones, and other points of interest, where students apply direct observation to examine critically formed questions of place, space and identity. Students draw on the city as a primary resource for academic research and critical inquiry and they produce innovative research projects (digital or print) that reflect on the city at the crossroads of local and global identity.
Registration Priority for Global Public Health
Registration priority for Global Public Health (GPH) courses will be given to NYU GPH majors. Other students will be able to register as space remains available. Please pay close attention to course notes displayed in Albert.
Experiential Learning
GPH majors and minors interested in fulfilling the Experiential Learning requirement, may apply to participate in the academic internship program.
Epidemiology for Global Health - UGPH-GU 9030 - 4 points
Epidemiology is the science that studies the distribution and determinants of health and illness in human populations. It is intimately related to public health and policy making, as it provides elemental “information for action”. This course is designed to introduce students to the history, basic principles and methods of epidemiology.
Topics covered in this course are history, background and different perspectives of epidemiology, measures of disease frequency; measures of association; epidemiologic study designs; public health surveillance; outbreak investigations; assessment of causality; and relationship between epidemiology and public health policies. In addition, students are expected to develop skills to critically read, interpret and evaluate health information from published epidemiological studies and mass media sources.
Methods & Practice: Reporting Accra - An incomparable African Metropolis - JOUR-UA 9202 or SCA-UA 9854
Is journalism on the brink of extinction? Or, is it simply evolving? Indeed, the frontiers of journalism are being extended with the emergence of digital technology. Particularly in Africa, this is a huge challenge. Given these developments, this course intends to examine the changes in the content and context of journalism from an Afrocentric lens. Not only that, the course considers the impact of these changes on the practice, genre, and approaches to journalism in Africa. Set within an African environment, this course focuses on reporting, and employing strong journalistic principles. Thus, students carry out experiments with forms, styles, and subject-matters with a view to understanding journalism in an African environment in a multipolar world. In doing so, the course hones the skills, knowledge, and competences of students in relation to the ethics of an exciting and demanding career. Specifically, this course examines journalism as an art, a craft, and an occupation in contemporary times. Thus, journalistic styles, procedures, techniques of news, information gathering, presentation of news information and opinion in print and electronic media form the foci of this course.
Methods & Practice: Reporting Accra- An incomparable African Metropolis - Syllabus
Documenting the African City - SCA-UA 9124 or ANTH-UA 9087 - 4 points
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.
Introduction to Global Issues in Nutrition: The African Perspective - NUTR-UE 9187 - 4 points
The course is designed to enhance students’ awareness of the multifaceted nature of nutrition problems across the globe and the need for holistic approaches to methods to address them including research. The course will review the UNICEF malnutrition structure within the context of livelihood frameworks to demonstrate the linkages between health, nutrition and agriculture. Food security issues and impacts on nutrition and developmental issues will be discussed. The course will also discuss the trends of globalization and the nutritional implications. The fact that the intensity and effects of globalization are experienced differently across different nations, social classes, cultures, and genders will be stressed. The course will further review key concepts and debates regarding nutrition transition, infant and young child feeding, women, aging and health.
Introduction to Global Issues: The African Perspective - Sample Syllabus
Documenting the African City - SCA-UA 9124 or ANTH-UA 9087 - 4 points
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.
Grammy’s Afrobeats & Hiplife: African Contemporary Music - SCA-UA 9120 - 4 points
With active recording artists as class guests, and visits to selected recording studios, the class explores how multiple artists and musical forms from different continents have continued to influence African popular music. This course starts with a deep dive into the history of recorded music and leads to the current explosion of afrobeats in this region. From Fela to Davido, Shatta Wale, Burna Boy, Wizkid, Stoweboy, Wanlov, Fokn Bois, Becca Rema, and more. Classes will be enriched with excursions to recording studios and special events such as a possible masterclass with Universal Music Group on the business of selling African music to the world.The utility of music as an artistic tool of social expression and liberation within the African space is interrogated. With special attention to West Africa and Ghana, latest genres such as Afro beat and their impact on the modern African music scene; as well as the trends, challenges and opportunities presented by technology in the music evolutionary process are critically examined.
Intensive Twi Language Course - SCA-UA GHAN - 4 points
This is a language course designed to provide basic communicative competence in oral and written Twi for beginners. It focuses on the structure of the language as well as the culture of the people. The areas covered include: (i) oral drills; (ii) orthography; (iii) written exercises; (iv)translation from English to Twi and from Twi to English; (v) reading and comprehension; (vi) conversation and narration involving dialogues, greetings, description of day to day activities and bargaining); (vii) Grammar (parts of speech—nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, particles, determiners, tense/aspect, and question forms); (viii) Composition writing.
The University of Ghana-Legon
The NYU Accra program was created within a larger community of universities and scholars and has deeply integrated itself within the culture of Accra. NYU Accra enjoys a strong multicultural exchange with scholars and students at our partner university in Accra; the University of Ghana-Legon. Many students compliment their studies at the NYU academic center by enrolling directly in one or two courses at our University of Ghana-Legon.
Widely recognized as one of the top institutions of higher education in West Africa, the University of Ghana-Legon, based on the Oxbridge model (reflecting Ghana’s former status as a British colony), is the country’s flagship university. Home to some of West Africa’s foremost scholars, it offers hundreds of courses and a full range of academic programs with particular strengths in African studies, the social sciences, and the performing arts.
Note: Direct enrollment opportunities with local universities are currently suspended for Fall 2023.
Courses offered at the University of Ghana-Legon (Fall) - TBA - 1 - 3 points
Current courses and syllabi will only be available upon arrival at NYU Accra. Credits and course equivalency, if any, are to be determined in consultation with student's departmental advisor. Any course expected to count for major/minor credit should be pre-approved by student's advisor. (Students are encouraged to obtain a written record of approval for their records.)
Actual fall course listings from all departments will only be available upon arrival. Students may find the sample course lists provided below useful in discussing their planned semester abroad with their advisor.
Archeology, Dance, Economics, Geography, History, Linguistics, Music, Nutrition, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Social Work, Sociology, Theatre
Online/Remote-Taught Courses available to Study Away Students
Students may compliment their local course load by enrolling in an online or remote-taught course. Some of NYU's online courses can be found using the Instruction Mode filter in the Albert Course Search. Please keep in mind that you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits of courses at your study away site (remote-taught/online courses do not count towards the 12 credit minimum requirement). Note, online/remote taught courses are not scheduled on the same session as the courses offered by the study away site, add/drop dates and other academic deadlines will vary. Please refer to Albert course notes for more details. Online/remote taught course commitments should not interfere with student attendance in local classes and required program activities (including orientation).