English (ENGL-SHU)

This freshman EAP course is designed to help develop your academic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in English. At the same time, as a content-based EAP course, it will aim to help you better understand, discuss, and apply some key concepts from social science and philosophy. Specifically, this course will examine a distinction many have made in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries (and earlier) between two ways of knowing and living that human beings exhibit. These two ways are summed up in the course’s title as 1) Massification (a.k.a. objectification, alienation, dehumanization) and 2) Humanization (a.k.a. authenticity, critical consciousness, liberation). To examine this theme, the course will be further divided into four parts: (1) To begin, we will explore and discuss theories regarding how human beings psychologically & socially construct knowledge/reality. (2) We will then go on to apply these concepts in order to examine a critical feature of our modern world, namely how it is shaped by consumerism/materialism. (3) This will, in turn, lead us to examine the social, environmental, psychological effects consumerism is having on our world and ourselves. (4) This will finally lead us to examine some fundamental, philosophical questions human beings have asked for ages, such as: What is happiness and how can it be attained? How can one live a meaningful life at this time? How can we improve our society (locally, national and globally)? As you engage with this content, you will practice high-level language, communication, and discourse skills required for the university setting, with an emphasis on speaking and listening. The EAP Seminar is designed to model a college classroom—you will engage with the content of the course individually and in small groups; in formal and informal writing and speaking assignments; and by participating in group projects—but there will be additional emphasis on refining and expanding English language skills.

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups, complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and an experiential learning project outside the walls of the university. The courses are designed to help you acquire skills that can be also be transferred to your future professional and personal lives, and to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. The course relies on the mutually enriching interaction between knowing, understanding, thinking and feeling to achieve as comprehensive a sense of urban reality as possible. The course draws on and replicates the lived urban experience in the student’s learning, straddling the Humanities, Social Science and STEM.

In this English for Academic Purposes seminar, we will develop speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills while exploring the relationship between the corporation, or business organization, and the individual. The root of the word “corporation” is “corps” or “body,” and this body has become a complex being in the 21st century. How is it like and not like an individual? What is its obligation to its human parts and what obligation do those human parts have to the whole? In a time of globalization, those human parts are in motion and the borders of the body itself have become more fluid, less narrowly defined. What new models of this “body” are emerging? How is it positioned (or not) to meet the demands of the developing century? Are there parallels to this “body” in nature itself? Who are traditional “insiders” and “outsiders” and how might such roles be reimagined? As we interrogate the role of innovation and creative problem-solving in a business setting, we will apply such principles to our own work in the classroom and evaluate their impact. What lessons can be learned or new models explored? As students engage with this content, they will practice high-level language, communication, and discourse skills required for the university setting, with an emphasis on speaking and listening. The EAP Seminar is designed to model a college classroom—students will engage with the content of the course individually and in small groups; in formal and informal writing and speaking assignments; and by participating in group projects—but there will be additional emphasis on refining and expanding English language skills.

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups, complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and an experiential learning project outside the walls of the university. The courses are designed to help you acquire skills that can be also be transferred to your future professional and personal lives, and to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will explore what some regard as an unprecedented, global crisis humanity now faces, a crisis connected with the influence of consumerism and materialism on modern culture and society. We will further examine what it may mean to live a meaningful life at this time in history, and what some keys to creating a more sustainable and happy future might be.

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups, complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and an experiential learning project outside the walls of the university. The courses are designed to help you acquire skills that can be also be transferred to your future professional and personal lives, and to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will investigate the role of business organizations in what some call the “post-modern period,” or the 21st century. As technology develops and both social and environmental needs evolve, what role does business play in society? What role should it play? What are current business trends in the west? In China? What are current narratives (cultural, historical, personal) about business and how do such narratives shape business practices themselves? In this course, there will be an emphasis on both creative and critical thinking as we ask questions, analyze problems and come up with our own solutions.

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups, complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and an experimental learning project outside the walls of the university. The courses are designed to help you acquire skills that can be also be transferred to your future professional and personal lives. The thematic, content-based EAP seminar, also aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. The “self” is a natural place to begin. The problem is that this is all-too-often simply taken for granted. What are selves? Are we what we say we are? But what about the way we appear to others? An important constraint on what we may become is our membership in various communities. Students will be presented with a variety of texts (written and visual, including video, audio clips, and print advertising) in order to assist them in forming their opinions about the process of negotiation between self and other in society. Moreover, the concept of ‘negotiation’ itself will be highlighted and explored in this context. Some of the subthemes that will be discussed will be self-concept and identity construction, culture and sub-culture, treatment of minority groups, gender identity, and material and consumer identities.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Through topics such as machine learning, genetic technologies, and autonomous robots, this course investigates ethical concerns associated with emerging scientific and technological innovations. Students will examine differing perspectives on potential human and planetary impacts, the role of scientists and technologists in society, and what role morality and ethics play in creating our shared techno-future. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

Full course title: Where do we go from here? An exploration of Consumerism, Materialism, Alienation & How to Live a Happy and Meaningful Life in the 21st Century. This freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the listening, speaking, reading, writing and critical thinking skills you need to study successfully in an English-speaking university. Since it is a thematic, content-based EAP course, it also aims to assist you to develop and apply your understandings of certain concepts from social science and the humanities that are important to a well-rounded liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will explore what some regard as an unprecedented, global crisis humanity now faces, a crisis arising from the influences of consumerism and materialism on modern society and culture. We will further examine what it may mean to live a meaningful and happy life at this time, and what some keys to creating a happier and more sustainable future might be.

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups, complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and an experiential learning project outside the walls of the university. The courses are designed to help you acquire skills that can be also be transferred to your future professional and personal lives, and to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. The “self” is a natural place to begin. The problem is that this is all-too-often simply taken for granted. What are selves? Are we what we say we are? But what about the way we appear to others? An important constraint on what we may become is our membership in various communities. Students will be presented with a variety of texts (written and visual, including video, audio clips, and print advertising) in order to assist them in forming their opinions about the process of negotiation between self and other in society. Moreover, the concept of ‘negotiation’ itself will be highlighted and explored in this context. Some of the subthemes that will be discussed will be self-concept and identity construction, culture and sub-culture, treatment of minority groups, gender identity, and material and consumer identities.

In this English for Academic Purposes seminar, we will develop speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills while exploring the relationship between the corporation, or business organization, and the individual. As this is a 101-level EAP seminar, students will be expected to show greater control of academic speaking and listening and greater autonomy over the learning process than they did in the 100-level seminar. Students will be expected to facilitate seminar discussions and deliver mid-length presentations. The root of the word “corporation” is “corps” or “body,” and this body has become a complex being in the 21st century. How is it like and not like an individual? What is its obligation to its human parts and what obligation do those human parts have to the whole? In a time of globalization, those human parts are in motion and the borders of the body itself have become more fluid, less narrowly defined. What new models of this “body” are emerging? How is it positioned (or not) to meet the demands of the developing century? Are there parallels to this “body” in nature itself? Who are traditional “insiders” and “outsiders” and how might such roles be reimagined? As we interrogate the role of innovation and creative problem-solving in a business setting, we will apply such principles to our own work in the classroom and evaluate their impact. What lessons can be learned or new models explored? As students engage with this content, they will practice high-level language, communication, and discourse skills required for the university setting, with an emphasis on speaking and listening. The EAP Seminar is designed to model a college classroom—students will engage with the content of the course individually and in small groups; in formal and informal writing and speaking assignments; and by participating in group projects—but there will be additional emphasis on refining and expanding English language skills.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. In this course, you will be given the opportunity to ‘master the skills of cross-cultural effectiveness,’ a central part of the mission of NYU-Shanghai. These are perhaps the most important goals that you can set for yourselves in today’s global world where people from disparate cultures must come together to solve the big problems of the age. In order to become effective in communicating across cultural boundaries, one must first ‘know thyself’ and the way that cultural self is perceived by others. Just as a fish in water is not aware of the water, it is difficult to see the always shifting cultural contexts in which global citizens “swim.” You will increase your ability to recognize ‘intercultural variables’ and disparate ‘communication styles,’ conceptualize and practice intercultural communication and etiquette that is both verbal and non-verbal, and question assumptions you have about communication and culture. You will also be prompted to develop your own set of intercultural values in light of what you have learned. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

Cities and Urban Consciousness aims to develop students’ speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills while at the same time engendering an intuitive sense of the city. Instead of lectures delivering factual knowledge, the course relies on the mutually enriching interaction between knowing, understanding, thinking and feeling to achieve as comprehensive a sense of urban reality as possible. As this is a 101-level EAP seminar, students will be expected to show greater control of academic speaking and listening and greater autonomy over the learning process than they did in the 100-level seminar. Students will be expected to facilitate seminar discussions and deliver mid-length presentations.The emphasis is on sensibility and communicating sensibility, encouraging the much-neglected ‘unquantifiables’ as a legitimate area of enquiry, as capable of contributing to research as any other. The course draws on and replicates the lived urban experience in the student’s learning, straddling the Humanities, Social Science and STEM. As students engage with this content, they will practice high-level language, communication, and discourse skills required for the university setting. The EAP Seminar is designed to model a college classroom—students will engage with the content of the course individually and in small groups; in formal and informal writing and speaking assignments; and by participating in group projects—but there will be additional emphasis on refining and expanding English language skills.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain mastery over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. It is hoped that these skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal lives. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. In this course, you will achieve this through your developing a critical stance towards the global news media, and through your developing a creative approach to academically commenting on the news. A critical and creative response to the media, as with all liberal arts sensibilities, cannot be developed solely through lectures or learning simple factual knowledge. In fact, one of the first things you will learn on this course is that there is much more to learning than just knowledge. The format of the course draws directly on material from live news media, together with a small number of academic studies. In other words, you will learn on this course at the same time as you explore the media. While, like any other, this course is concerned with knowledge, skill and understanding, its clear focus and emphasis are on becoming a competent and confident judge of world affairs. You will learn to see current events with new eyes, hear it with new ears and respond to it with a new heart.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain mastery over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. It is hoped that these skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal lives. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will explore the concept of global citizenship, what may be some distinguishing features of this period of human history, and what some implications may be for individuals wishing to be responsible global citizens at this time. To take on this vast topic within the limits of a one-semester course, we will briefly touch on such global issues as poverty & socio-economic development, environment crisis, human rights & social inequalities, and the persistence of violent conflicts. We will examine the systemic interconnections and causes of these challenges and consider what kinds of actions conscientious global citizens can take, individually and in groups organized at the grass roots, to address these problems and promote positive social change in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. What is the nature of “home”? Is it a place, a community or a state of mind? This course will explore the concept of “leaving home” from a psychological, historical, economic, cultural and literary perspective. Why do people leave home and what is it that they seek when they do? When do people leave home by choice and not by choice? How does the concept of “home” change from culture to culture and over historical time? How do new “homes” shape the people who have sought them and vice versa? Related issues of family and immigration/migration will also be explored, from all of the perspectives described above. Also, we will look into the experience of the “other.” When is “otherness” an uncomfortable consequence of leaving home and when is it deliberately sought? We will also explore homelessness and its ramifications, as well as, if time permits, private efforts towards space travel –is “home” our planet, and what does it mean when we want to leave? Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. The pervasiveness of our ever-changing media and communication landscapes offer both innovation and complication for the content and interpretation of our messages. Using the framework of the “public sphere”, virtual realms of social life where society’s problems are open for discussion, we will consider how various digital platforms (news feeds, blogs, chat groups, social media platforms, etc.) control our worldview and influence our evolving selves. Additionally, we will examine how distinctive identities (gender, social class, race, nationality, sexuality) are formed, developed, and expressed via networks (online and in person). Across the semester, you will conduct an investigation of how the concepts of identity (personal) and community (collective) are integrated into the digitally mediated culture. After being introduced to rhetorical theories and concepts, you will be asked to apply them to the analysis and exploration of a variety of online platforms, technologies, and communities. Overall, through this course, learners will gain a better understanding of the power of mass digital communication and how to use it while navigating through various networks. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain conrol over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. We will inquire into the multidimensional aspects of sustainable development, focusing on the tools, metrics and practical pathways the world is currently exploring. In addition, we will investigate various success indicators for sustainable development. (Un)Sustainability views sustainable development solutions in the context of a range of subfields in addition to sustainability itself, including climate change and political action, and will afford learners the opportunity to carry out a team-based project in relation to the issues posed by this rich interdisciplinary terrain. This course encourages you to consider your role as a responsible 21st century global citizen and promotes analytical and reflective thinking on this role as it relates to global sustainability, including the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in 2015. The SDG’s are a collection of 17 global goals covering social and economic development issues including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender, equality, water, sanitation, energy, urbanization, environment and social justice. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

The freshman English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. While the primary emphasis is on speaking and listening, you will also practice reading and writing. You will engage with content individually and in groups. In the fall semester, you will complete a variety of communicative tasks, reflective writing assignments and the planning and preparation for an experiential learning project that will be carried out in the spring semester. The course is designed to help you acquire skills that also can be transferred to your future professional and personal lives. The thematic, content-based EAP seminar also aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. These course outcomes will be met through engagement with authentic readings and videos on the ways in which the public engages with science and the role of scientists in society. You can expect to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the ways in which the public receives and influences scientific research and discovery. The spring semester will be a continuation of this theme and with further development of language, communication, and critical thinking goals.

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will explore contemporary issues in global public health through a central theme of ‘the greater good’, a concern for the collective, in issues such as climate change, food security, and population control. It is easy for such challenges to remain abstract, and to imagine teams of experts in far-away places working to address them, and this distance tends to blur the role of the individual. We will examine the tension between individual choice and collective good, between local action and global impact, which runs through a number of global public health topics and manifests across the world in different ways. Additionally, the course will ask you to view these topics with a critical eye through an interdisciplinary lens, applying insights from environmental science, public policy, business, and health. Overall, learners will consider questions such as who stands to benefit from global health policies and initiatives, what is at stake in specific global health issues, and how such issues are being explored globally and locally, just beyond the walls of the classroom in Shanghai. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)

This 101-level English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course is designed to help you continue to develop the high-level language, communication, and critical thinking skills you need to be successful in an English-speaking university. At the 101 level students are encouraged to gain control over facilitation of group discussions as well as the other academic communicative skills introduced at the 100-level. These academic skills can also be transferred to future professional and personal endeavors. As in the 100-level course, the thematic, content-based EAP seminar, aims to help you cultivate an interest in issues that cross disciplines, an important part of a well-rounded, liberal arts education. Specifically, this course will investigate the world of money and the ideas and practices of the global financial system. Using a daily financial column, as well as other videos, talks, lectures, podcasts, and readings, we will examine what money is and explore current issues in the financial world. Specifically, this course will investigate the historical uses and roles of money in a macro sense; the roles technology has played and will play in the financial world; and what the roles and purposes of the financial sector are, and how we evaluate and regulate what it does and how it affects our world. Concurrent with our study of the hows and whys of finance, we will also critically address moral and ethical issues around global finance, and how it affects the people and societies of the world. Overall, through this course, learners will broaden their understanding of finance and develop the tools and skills to critically think about and evaluate money stuff in the world. Pre-requisite: ENGL-SHU 100 (cannot take same topic/instructor as 100)