Spring 2023

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 unique. Taking advantage of behind-the-scenes access to some of the most prestigious museums in the world and their staff, students explore various approaches to interpreting art and develop tools for appreciating their aesthetic experiences. We 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 affect one’s understanding of the meaning of a work of art.

Expressive Culture: Museums in Washington Field Study - Sample syllabus

This course is not open to NYU Stern students except for students in the BPE Program.

Prerequisites: ECON-UA 1: Intro to Macroeconomics (or equivalent course or AP MACROECONOMICS WITH SCORE OF 4 OR 5) and ECON-UA 2: Intro to Microeconomics (or equivalent course or AP MICROECONOMICS WITH SCORE OF 4 OR 5)

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.

International Economics - Sample Syllabus

Can be counted for SCA-UA Internship credit (government and non-profit placements only).  Can also be counted for Politics major credit (internship with domestic policy focus 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.

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 commitments. If students elect to participate in an internship that exceeds the recommended number of hours, they may be advised to reduce their academic course load. Students are highly encouraged to consult NYU Washington DC staff for assistance with these decisions.

Additional information is available on the NYU Washington DC Internship webpage.

Experiential Learning Seminar - Sample syllabus (PDF)

This course provides a general theoretical survey of the American Constitution, excepting its guarantee of individual rights, such as those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Constitution has endured for over two centuries as a touchstone for defining the U.S. as a sociocultural, economic, and political unit. As a textual and ideational construct, the Constitution continues to profoundly impact the fabric of American identity, political culture, and the socioeconomic actuality of those that reside under the (aegis of the) Constitution.

American Constitution - Sample syllabus (PDF)

This course focuses on America’s role in the world beginning with the Spanish-American War of 1898 and on through the end of the Cold War, to include decisions for intervention in World Wars I and II, peacemaking in the Wilsonian style, internationalism as embodied in the League of Nations and the United Nations, and disarmament negotiations as occurred over naval arms limitation during the inter-war period and with nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Korea and Vietnam, the foreign policy of the Depression Era and of the Marshall Plan, the Open Door in China, and other aspects of United States policy and policymaking will also be illuminated. The course will demonstrate the value of utilizing multiple levels of analysis to understand the driving forces that underlie historical developments. 

American Foreign Policy in the 20th Century - Sample syllabus

Can be counted for SCA-UA Internship credit (government and non-profit placements only).  Can also be counted for Politics major credit (internship with domestic policy focus 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.

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 commitments. If students elect to participate in an internship that exceeds the recommended number of hours, they may be advised to reduce their academic course load. Students are highly encouraged to consult NYU Washington DC staff for assistance with these decisions.

Additional information is available on the NYU Washington DC Internship webpage.

Experiential Learning Seminar - Sample syllabus (PDF)

This will be a hands-on course examining the idea of truth and spin in Washington D.C., politics, governance, journalism, science and society. It will be part overview and lecture on topics central to the course and part active reporting and writing. Spin is the Washington art of taking something and making it seem truth-y even when it’s not quite factual. This is a user’s guide for reporters and non-journalists alike. How to spot and dodge the misleading, the incomplete truth, along with the history and reasoning behind manipulation of facts. Advice from those who practice spin and those who successfully avoid it and what it’s like to be stuck as a victim of spin. To take advantage of the unique Washington location and distinct attitude in the city, students will participate in press conferences and go to public hearings on Capitol Hill in reporting roles and then write news-style articles. Invited guest speakers are from NASA, NOAA, the White House Office of Science Technology and Policy, environmental activist groups, energy lobbyists and Washington media. The intersection of the media with science, politics and economics on the issue of global warming will be a focal point of this course and how it is all spun.

Methods and Practice: Truthiness, Spin, Media & Politics - Sample Syllabus

This course is an introduction to how American constitutional law affects journalists and why that matters. It’s also a course about journalistic ethics and how such professional notions as fairness, objectivity, responsibility, and credibility intersect with law – and how they don’t. Other journalism coursework is about how journalists do things – how to report, write, edit; this course will often be about how they avoid problems.

We will cover the law of the First Amendment, the values our system places on free expression, the imprecision of legal principles and the problem this poses for journalists (and their lawyers), the changing nature of journalism and the changing nature of law in the digital age. This is not a law course as such, but a survey of the protections and restrictions that the legal system places on journalists. And we will be mindful that legal constraints alone do not govern how a good journalist behaves. Careful and honorable and valuable journalism comes not only from mere compliance with civil and criminal requirements, but attention to ethical principles that transcend law or are outside its boundaries.

Journalism Ethics & First Amendment Law - Sample syllabus

This course provides a general theoretical survey of the American Constitution, excepting its guarantee of individual rights, such as those enumerated in the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Constitution has endured for over two centuries as a touchstone for defining the U.S. as a sociocultural, economic, and political unit. As a textual and ideational construct, the Constitution continues to profoundly impact the fabric of American identity, political culture, and the socioeconomic actuality of those that reside under the (aegis of the) Constitution.

American Constitution - Sample syllabus (PDF)

The "Arab Spring" unleashed a new dynamic across the Middle East - one in which Arab public opinion has emerged as a factor requiring the attention of political leadership. This is true not only for Arab governments, but for decision-makers and analysts in the West.

The goal of this course will be to examine the role public opinion is playing in shaping on-going developments in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, the relationships between several Arab states and Iran and Turkey, and efforts to achieve a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We will explore the use of up-to-date polling in all these countries to better understand how Arabs: see themselves, view their governments, prioritize their political concerns, and get and use information. We will also examine the misconceptions about Arabs that have long shaped policies that the West has adopted toward the Arab World - leading to the deep divide that defines our current relationship with that region.

Politics of the Near and Middle East - Sample syllabus (PDF)

Course description and syllabus will be based on the course below. Exact description and syllabus will differ slightly.

This course will provide a broad and dynamic introduction of the American political system and public policy. The course will 1) investigate the dynamics, ideas, values, and traditions that support American politics and the policy process 2) examine the actions of citizens and voters that make that influence public policy 3) study the institutions and actors that comprise the American political system, particularly, the three major branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) and the fourth estate (the media) and how policy and constitutional tensions involve political and moral choices (4) explore the critical role played by political communications (i.e. language, strategy, research, social media, digital tech) throughout our political and policy process. The course will place critical emphasis on the “DC advantage”, leveraging our location in the nation’s capital by studying our topics through the unique lens of proximity and applied practice. While this class will study various theoretical academic issues, it will also attend closely to how these theories play out in practice. Students will be challenged to think critically and to execute, at times, real-world examples relevant to the policy and political process. The ultimate goal of the course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the American political system and overview of public policy in a constitutional democracy that includes a robust theoretical and practical foundation.

The Politics of Public Policy - Sample Syllabus (PDF)

This course is only open to students accepted into the Global Leadership Program  

The Meaning of Leadership is a multi-disciplinary, experiential course that explores the nature of leadership in our 21st century global society and the capacities required to contribute effectively. For too long, we’ve imagined leadership as belonging to a select few. In every sector, we’ve focused our support and attention on individual leaders, and yet, the rapid transformation of our workplaces and communities requires a new and more expansive approach. Whether it’s addressing issues like climate change and income inequality or generating breakthrough innovations in science and technology, tackling today’s challenges requires capable and responsive leaders, as well as broadly distributed leadership that is ethical, inclusive and collaborative. The purpose of this course is to expose you to the trends, both practical and theoretical, that are driving this shift and to prepare you to more effectively exercise leadership in your own life and meaningfully contribute to work on complex challenges across a variety of sectors.

This course will be the academic component of your internship or other experiential learning engagement. You will analyze contemporary leadership frameworks and develop your perspective on what it means for leadership to be ethical, inclusive, and collaborative. You will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on your experience to further your academic and professional goals. You will be asked to evaluate various aspects of your internship or experiential learning site, including but not limited to its mission, approach, policies, leadership culture and the local, regional and international contexts in which it operates. You will also be asked to reflect critically on the roles you take and your application of class learning in your internship or experiential learning placement throughout the semester. Hands-on course activities such as simulations, team projects and peer-to-peer consultancies will support you in developing self-awareness and critical leadership skills. You will be graded on the academic work produced in this course.

The Meaning of Leadership - Sample syllabus

This course is only open to students accepted into the Global Leadership Program  

The Meaning of Leadership is a multi-disciplinary, experiential course that explores the nature of leadership in our 21st century global society and the capacities required to contribute effectively. For too long, we’ve imagined leadership as belonging to a select few. In every sector, we’ve focused our support and attention on individual leaders, and yet, the rapid transformation of our workplaces and communities requires a new and more expansive approach. Whether it’s addressing issues like climate change and income inequality or generating breakthrough innovations in science and technology, tackling today’s challenges requires capable and responsive leaders, as well as broadly distributed leadership that is ethical, inclusive and collaborative. The purpose of this course is to expose you to the trends, both practical and theoretical, that are driving this shift and to prepare you to more effectively exercise leadership in your own life and meaningfully contribute to work on complex challenges across a variety of sectors.

This course will be the academic component of your internship or other experiential learning engagement. You will analyze contemporary leadership frameworks and develop your perspective on what it means for leadership to be ethical, inclusive, and collaborative. You will use the seminar to reflect critically and analytically on your experience to further your academic and professional goals. You will be asked to evaluate various aspects of your internship or experiential learning site, including but not limited to its mission, approach, policies, leadership culture and the local, regional and international contexts in which it operates. You will also be asked to reflect critically on the roles you take and your application of class learning in your internship or experiential learning placement throughout the semester. Hands-on course activities such as simulations, team projects and peer-to-peer consultancies will support you in developing self-awareness and critical leadership skills. You will be graded on the academic work produced in this course.

The Meaning of Leadership - Sample syllabus