Academic Program
Students in Global Liberal Studies (GLS) complete an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum that emphasizes direct engagement with the ideas of the past as well as the challenges of the contemporary world. Core course work in the liberal arts, with a focus on the great works, is infused with global content and involves students in the study of not only Western tradition but also other cultures around the world. Students study the original works of philosophers, scientists, social scientists, historians, musicians, artists, writers, and other great thinkers as they become more active, critical thinkers themselves. Our faculty, who are distinguished scholars and professionals, carefully design courses that relate ideas from multiple fields of inquiry.
The junior year of international study is the centerpiece of the Global Liberal Studies B.A. In the first three semesters, students acquire a broad understanding of the interconnections between world cultures. In the fourth semester, students begin to explore in depth the cultural context and language of the site at which they will study as juniors. The sites available in a given year are carefully selected to coordinate with every aspect of students' four-year courses of study.
All GLS juniors spend a year studying at an NYU International site. GLS will select junior-year global study sites from among NYU's international programs. The sites are selected to insure that all courses and co-curricular programs are available. The sites in a typical year will be located in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
The senior year serves as the capstone of each student's education. Students return to New York for a year of coursework and guided research that integrates the work they undertook during their junior year of international study with the Liberal Studies foundation established in freshman and sophomore year. Careful, individual advising ensures that each student selects courses that relate coherently to each other and to the student's thesis. In effect, the senior year is tailored to meet the goals and aspirations of each student.
GLS Concentrations
GLS upper division courses are organized into six concentrations. After finishing their core courses, GLS students may focus their studies in any of these areas; they are strongly encouraged to pick the majority of their required classes (particularly the Approaches seminar and Senior Colloquium) from a single concentration, but are free to take courses outside their concentration as well. GLS advisors work carefully with students to ensure that they choose a coherent set of courses focused on a concentration to realize their educational goals.
For more detailed information, including course descriptions, syllabi, events, student profiles and contact information, go to our Concentrations site here.
Arts and Literatures
This concentration studies the arts as a means of global conversation, intensively examining artistic works across various media, including, but not limited to, literature, film, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, and performance. It encompasses aesthetic, historicist, political, and ethnographic theory in developing students’ critical understanding of the arts, treating artistic works as expressive objects, as distinctive products of a specific time and place, and as distinctive of their genre, while also examining them as points of cultural contact and transmission and as the means of interaction across time, place, genre, and civilization. Students experience the arts as a means of conceiving ourselves and our place in the world, acquiring a critical lexicon in the interpretation of the arts and developing the ability to examine multiple and diverse modes of representation. Students may have the opportunity to work in multiple languages and explore issues of translation. Arts and Literatures enables an understanding of the ways the arts are shaped by their cultural contexts, and in turn how they shape our world.
Contemporary Culture and Creative Production
How do we read, reflect upon, and shape contemporary culture? This concentration examines people as agents in creating contemporary culture. It synthesizes theory, context, and creativity, exploring a wide range of phenomena on the contemporary cultural landscape. Areas of study span and connect creative writing, literary journalism, film, music, performance, aesthetic theory, social media, technology, architecture and urbanism, advertising, fashion, visual cultures such as photography, interface design and television studies. Approaches to these topics combine scholarly analysis with creative work, so that students both explore and practice the expression of meaning in current world media.
Histories, Philosophies, and Worldviews
In an era of globalization, people encounter political ideologies, versions of history, scientific understandings, and philosophical and religious traditions that are different from their own. How can we critically engage these diverse forms of knowledge and address the conflicts they generate? The Histories, Philosophies, Worldviews concentration examines the ways in which individuals and societies around the globe create knowledge, mediate diversity and contested terrains, and shape the world in pre-modern, modern, and contemporary times.
Identities and Representations
Terms like “us” and “them” imply divisions that must be bridged in a world where people, knowledge, images, and resources move across borders more quickly than ever. Identities and Representations provides the interdisciplinary tools of social and cultural analysis for doing advanced research on the way identities and their representations are formulated, distributed, and deployed around the globe. Guiding questions like “what does identity mean?” and “how is identity legible?” lead to more advanced explorations into the social and cultural uses and ramifications of representations and identities. Students explore from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (diasporic studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, sexuality studies, etc.) the complex relationships between identities, representations of identity, and labels denoting such categories as race, class, gender, nation, dis/ability, citizenship, and sexuality.
Politics, Rights, and Development
Politics, Rights, and Development examines the historical contexts and controversies surrounding social action: power and policy, justice and human rights, and
economic and social development. Questions are addressed in an interdisciplinary manner that combines political, economic, and cultural analysis to pursue topics in international relations;the many forms of imperialism; law, justice, and human rights; ethics and the conduct of war and peace; challenges of democratization, revolution, and social change; industrialization and globalization; and policies of health and the environment. This concentration highlights the role of governments, non-governmental organizations, individuals, and corporations in the effort to achieve sustainable development and social justice.
Science, Technology and Society
We live in a scientific and technological age. Over the past three-hundred years, science and technology have increased in efficacy and speed of development; during the past fifty years in particular, they have focused on transforming human bodies, minds, and relationships more directly. Advances in brain science, computer science, genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology are converging in ways formerly dreamt of in science fiction. The concentration focuses on the reciprocal influences of science, technology, and society, addressing such questions as: How will science and technology change what it means to be human? Do science and technology impact some societies and cultures differently than others? How might social and cultural factors affect science and technology? What is the interplay between the arts and science/technology?
The junior year of international study is the centerpiece of the Global Liberal Studies B.A. In the first three semesters, students acquire a broad understanding of the interconnections between world cultures. In the fourth semester, students begin to explore in depth the cultural context and language of the site at which they will study as juniors. The sites available in a given year are carefully selected to coordinate with every aspect of students' four-year courses of study.
All GLS juniors spend a year studying at an NYU International site. GLS will select junior-year global study sites from among NYU's international programs. The sites are selected to insure that all courses and co-curricular programs are available. The sites in a typical year will be located in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
The senior year serves as the capstone of each student's education. Students return to New York for a year of coursework and guided research that integrates the work they undertook during their junior year of international study with the Liberal Studies foundation established in freshman and sophomore year. Careful, individual advising ensures that each student selects courses that relate coherently to each other and to the student's thesis. In effect, the senior year is tailored to meet the goals and aspirations of each student.
GLS Concentrations
GLS upper division courses are organized into six concentrations. After finishing their core courses, GLS students may focus their studies in any of these areas; they are strongly encouraged to pick the majority of their required classes (particularly the Approaches seminar and Senior Colloquium) from a single concentration, but are free to take courses outside their concentration as well. GLS advisors work carefully with students to ensure that they choose a coherent set of courses focused on a concentration to realize their educational goals.
For more detailed information, including course descriptions, syllabi, events, student profiles and contact information, go to our Concentrations site here.
Arts and Literatures
This concentration studies the arts as a means of global conversation, intensively examining artistic works across various media, including, but not limited to, literature, film, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, and performance. It encompasses aesthetic, historicist, political, and ethnographic theory in developing students’ critical understanding of the arts, treating artistic works as expressive objects, as distinctive products of a specific time and place, and as distinctive of their genre, while also examining them as points of cultural contact and transmission and as the means of interaction across time, place, genre, and civilization. Students experience the arts as a means of conceiving ourselves and our place in the world, acquiring a critical lexicon in the interpretation of the arts and developing the ability to examine multiple and diverse modes of representation. Students may have the opportunity to work in multiple languages and explore issues of translation. Arts and Literatures enables an understanding of the ways the arts are shaped by their cultural contexts, and in turn how they shape our world.
Contemporary Culture and Creative Production
How do we read, reflect upon, and shape contemporary culture? This concentration examines people as agents in creating contemporary culture. It synthesizes theory, context, and creativity, exploring a wide range of phenomena on the contemporary cultural landscape. Areas of study span and connect creative writing, literary journalism, film, music, performance, aesthetic theory, social media, technology, architecture and urbanism, advertising, fashion, visual cultures such as photography, interface design and television studies. Approaches to these topics combine scholarly analysis with creative work, so that students both explore and practice the expression of meaning in current world media.
Histories, Philosophies, and Worldviews
In an era of globalization, people encounter political ideologies, versions of history, scientific understandings, and philosophical and religious traditions that are different from their own. How can we critically engage these diverse forms of knowledge and address the conflicts they generate? The Histories, Philosophies, Worldviews concentration examines the ways in which individuals and societies around the globe create knowledge, mediate diversity and contested terrains, and shape the world in pre-modern, modern, and contemporary times.
Identities and Representations
Terms like “us” and “them” imply divisions that must be bridged in a world where people, knowledge, images, and resources move across borders more quickly than ever. Identities and Representations provides the interdisciplinary tools of social and cultural analysis for doing advanced research on the way identities and their representations are formulated, distributed, and deployed around the globe. Guiding questions like “what does identity mean?” and “how is identity legible?” lead to more advanced explorations into the social and cultural uses and ramifications of representations and identities. Students explore from a variety of disciplinary perspectives (diasporic studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, sexuality studies, etc.) the complex relationships between identities, representations of identity, and labels denoting such categories as race, class, gender, nation, dis/ability, citizenship, and sexuality.
Politics, Rights, and Development
Politics, Rights, and Development examines the historical contexts and controversies surrounding social action: power and policy, justice and human rights, and
economic and social development. Questions are addressed in an interdisciplinary manner that combines political, economic, and cultural analysis to pursue topics in international relations;the many forms of imperialism; law, justice, and human rights; ethics and the conduct of war and peace; challenges of democratization, revolution, and social change; industrialization and globalization; and policies of health and the environment. This concentration highlights the role of governments, non-governmental organizations, individuals, and corporations in the effort to achieve sustainable development and social justice.
Science, Technology and Society
We live in a scientific and technological age. Over the past three-hundred years, science and technology have increased in efficacy and speed of development; during the past fifty years in particular, they have focused on transforming human bodies, minds, and relationships more directly. Advances in brain science, computer science, genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology are converging in ways formerly dreamt of in science fiction. The concentration focuses on the reciprocal influences of science, technology, and society, addressing such questions as: How will science and technology change what it means to be human? Do science and technology impact some societies and cultures differently than others? How might social and cultural factors affect science and technology? What is the interplay between the arts and science/technology?
