Fall 2021
Courses on this list are subject to change. Additional courses may be added as study away program is confirmed. Courses listed under "Available for All Students" are open to study away or remote students to register for. Note that remote courses must be taken 100% synchronously (log in during the listed meeting pattern). Courses listed under "Study Away Courses" are only available for study away students at the location.
A full list of Fall 2021 global site courses will be available on a google sheet soon to make it easier to filter and look for specific courses.
- 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.
Available for All Students
Advertising and Consumer Society - MCC-UE 9015 - 4 points
The course will include an introduction of the influential sociological theory of consumerism by Zygmunt Bauman. Other theories (see the syllabus bellow) will be presented as well. After the presentation of the mentioned theories, we will concentrate on their application to the Central European environment, which will be discussed in the context of globalization. The main aim is to show the relationship between the advertisement and the society in the current phase of society’s development, which can be characterized as a mutual discussion, but a discussion of unequal partners.
In this context we will discuss the impact of current mechanisms of consumer society, which through the advertisement influences issues like i.e.: gender, politics, art, national identity, ethnic relations and democracy. We will also discuss chosen types of advertisement messages, how they influence the viewer and which ethical problems arise from such an influence.
Collective Identity in a Totalitarian Regime - SOC-UA 9970 - 4 points
This course examines the totalitarian oppression from the point of view of ordinary citizens in communist Czechoslovakia. It focuses on the construction of collective mentality through everyday official/public and unofficial/private activities, including mass parades, ceremonies and performances, work relations, children’s education, housing schemes or collective vacationing. The goal of the seminar is to demonstrate the consequences of life in an oppressive regime: suppression of fundamental forms of civic interaction, such as independent public communication, and distortion of moral and behavioral norms. At the end of the semester, students will be able to evaluate the main theoretical concepts and historical events of totalitarianism against the background of specific activities, problems and aspirations of the people directly affected by life in a totalitarian system, the citizens of communist Czechoslovakia.
Collective Identity in a Totalitarian Regime - Sample syllabus
From “Gypsies” to “Roma”: Ethnic Politics in a Global Prague - ANTH-UA 9200 - 4 points
The course will introduce students to the development of Romany politics and culture from a persecuted minority through to the emergence of Romany organizations with an emphasis on Central and Eastern Europe. The aim is to challenge any essentializing view on Roma as either a people outside or/and without society or as perennial victims of oppression. Two main approaches have dominated the teaching of Romany issues: a culturalist/ethnic approach, which stresses Romany cultures, and an economistic approach, which stresses ´poverty.´ This course will challenge mono-causal and a-historic explanations for the social situation of Roma and will stimulate students to think about Roma in a critical holistic way that brings into consideration the societies they live in. Building on a diverse selection of empirical material, ranging from ethnographic, historical and sociological case studies to artistic representations of Roma, the course will present the Roma “as good to think” for our comprehension of current social issues. The course is divided into three interconnected thematic blocks – 1. Identity, community and culture, 2. Power, the State and social stratification, 3. History, memory and politics of representation – which will allow to cover much of the current debates on the plight of European Roma as well as a grasp of social theories on marginality.
History in the Headlines - HIST-UA 9070 - 2 credits
What do you know about the Czech Republic and Central Europe, and what do you really need to know? And why is a capital city known for its beautiful architecture also famous for fantastic stories about people turning into giant bugs? Conquered by the Nazis and then assimilated into the Soviet bloc, the Czech lands have a complicated relationship with the past (communism), new alliances in the present (the US), and anxieties about the future (migration and the EU), all while preserving a special kind of relaxed irony as a defining cultural feature. This course will teach you about your host country’s role in the world and why you made the right choices to come here.
Introduction to Marketing - MKTG-UB 9001 - 4 points
This course evaluates marketing as a system for the satisfaction of human wants and a catalyst of business activity. It presents a comprehensive framework that includes a) researching and analyzing customers, company, competition, and the marketing environment, b) identifying and targeting attractive segments with strategic positioning, and c) making product, pricing, communication, and distribution decisions. Cases and examples are utilized to develop problem-solving abilities.
Life Science: Brain and Behavior - CORE-UA 9306 - 4 points
The relationship of the brain to behavior, beginning with the basic elements that make up the nervous system and how electrical and chemical signals in the brain work to effect behavior. Using this foundation, we examine how the brain learns and how it creates new behaviors, together with the brain mechanisms that are involved in sensory experience, movement, hunger and thirst, sexual behaviors, the experience of emotions, perception and cognition, memory and the brain's plasticity. Other key topics include whether certain behavioral disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can be accounted for by changes in the function of the brain, and how drugs can alter behavior and brain function.
Life Science: Brain and Behavior - Sample Syllabus
Organizational Communication and its Social Context - SOIM-UB 9065 - 4 points
This course is only open to Stern students.
Prerequisite: Requires sophomore and above standing
Curriculum. Business and its Publics examines the relationships between corporations and society, particularly the social issues that arise from business operations. This course focuses on how companies communicate with multiple audiences: their various stakeholders. Students will learn business communication principles and have multiple opportunities to apply them to specific oral and written assignments, with the objective of enhancing your ability to write, present, and speak as a business professional. Practical applications will include 1) creating persuasive presentations and documents; 2) practicing team leadership and communication; and 3) effective management of time, tasks and deliverables.
Organizational Communication and its Social Context - Sample syllabus
Social Media Practicum- MCC-UE 9032 - 4 points
This course will examine “social media” from a cultural perspective, with a focus on how media technologies figure in practices of everyday life and in the construction of social relationships and identities. This course is based closely on one offered in New York by Professor Laura Portwood-Stacer, but we will examine many of the issues in the context of Central and Eastern Europe and compare the “Western” experience of social media with the situation in the post communist world.
Although many of our readings will deal with Social Network Sites (SNSs), we will attempt to form an expansive definition of what constitutes “social media.” We will also work from an expansive definition of “technology,” considering the term in a cultural sense to include various practices and tools used to communicate in everyday life. The course will also look closely at the impact of social media on journalism and activism, including a dissection of the recent debates on the power of social media to transform these fields.
Study Away Courses
Available to study away students only.
Experiential Learning
Please take a look at the internship webpage for more information about experiential learning and the Experiential Learning seminar.