Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum Overview

NYUAD’s Core Curriculum forms the heart of our mission to provide an international student body with an outstanding, expansive education. The Core draws on the diversity and cultural wealth of the world’s traditions and spans the content and methodologies of 21st-century disciplines across the Arts and Humanities, Engineering, Science, and Social Science. It offers Core Competencies that will help graduates address major global challenges, including the pursuit of equality, justice, peace, health, sustainability, and a rich understanding of humanity. It fosters modes of thinking and habits of mind central to well-rounded intellectual development and to global citizenship and leadership.

The NYUAD Core consists of:

  • 1 Core Colloquia and 2 Field Core Colloquia, each of which addresses a significant global challenge from multidisciplinary perspectives
  • 4 Core Competency Courses, one each in:
    • Arts, Design, and Technology
    • Cultural Exploration and Analysis
    • Data and Discovery
    • Structures of Thought and Society

All students are also required to take at least one course designated as filling a Quantitative Reasoning (Q) requirement, one that fills an Experimental Inquiry (E) requirement, and one that fills an Islamic Studies (X) requirement. These will be drawn from courses across the curriculum and may also count toward other requirements, such as the Core, a major, or a minor. For the most up-to-date list of courses that fulfill the Q, E, and X requirements, please consult the NYUAD website.
 
The guiding principles of the Core Curriculum include:

  • Small, discussion-based seminars: 10–18 students
  • Sustained interaction with faculty
  • Global diverse perspectives
  • Big ideas and transformative works of human thought and invention
  • Foundational modes of thinking
  • Significant emphasis on writing and effective communication

All Core courses develop students’ abilities to formulate precise questions and arrive at well-reasoned and effectively communicated conclusions. These skills are essential not only to complement students’ advanced coursework in their majors but also to help them think deeply about themselves and the world we share.

The values central to the Core Curriculum underscore the fact that an NYUAD education consists of much more than preparation for a profession; the Core aims to cultivate habits of mind that allow students to navigate the ethical complexity of a rapidly changing, increasingly global society. We cannot assume we are “global citizens” simply by virtue of living in an international environment. Learning to ask and approach profound questions from a variety of viewpoints and cultivating the ability to exchange views about the major challenges of our time requires practice and deliberate attention. The Core Curriculum offers repeated occasions to develop these skills and habits, which should help prepare students for meaningful lives of intellectual curiosity and civic engagement. Courses in the Core Curriculum are taken for a letter grade and not pass/fail. 

Core Curriculum Courses

Core Curriculum courses vary from year to year. A significant variety in each category is on offer every semester.

Colloquia

Core Colloquia are small, discussion-oriented seminars designed to help students deepen their understanding of significant global challenges, including the pursuit of equality, justice, peace, health, sustainability, and a rich understanding of humanity. Taught by faculty from all divisions, these seminars offer multidisciplinary, global perspectives and substantively engage two or more of the Core Competencies. Core Colloquia explicitly aim to nurture civic awareness fundamental to global citizenship and leadership by developing students’ abilities to grapple with the complex conceptual and ethical dimensions of global issues, to communicate respectfully across cultural difference, and to devise problem-solving strategies. Colloquia are fourteen-week courses taught in Abu Dhabi. Students are required to take one Core Colloquia during the fall or spring semester, and two Field Colloquia during J-Terms. One of which should be taken during the first year. Numerous Colloquia are offered every semester. The courses specified below are offered periodically, typically each year in the semester indicated.

CCOL-UH 1000Mortal and Immortal Questions4
CCOL-UH 1002Indigeneity4
CCOL-UH 1003XFaith in Science, Reason in Revelation4
CCOL-UH 1006EConserving Our Global Heritage through Science4
CCOL-UH 1008Reading the Earth4
CCOL-UH 1010Future of Medicine4
CCOL-UH 1013Colonialism and Postcolonialism4
CCOL-UH 1016QCooperation4
CCOL-UH 1019Extinction4
CCOL-UH 1020Water4
CCOL-UH 1021The Desert4
CCOL-UH 1024QLife in the Universe4
CCOL-UH 1025Human Body4
CCOL-UH 1026Migration4
CCOL-UH 1030War4
CCOL-UH 1031Nature and Human Nature4
CCOL-UH 1032Communication: from bacteria to humans4
CCOL-UH 1034Gender4
CCOL-UH 1035Inequality4
CCOL-UH 1038Prejudice4
CCOL-UH 1040Disability4
CCOL-UH 1042Multi-ethnic Democracy4
CCOL-UH 1045Axes of Evil4
CCOL-UH 1046Women and Leadership4
CCOL-UH 1048Statehood4
CCOL-UH 1049State of the Nation4
CCOL-UH 1052XArt of Revolution4
CCOL-UH 1053Calamity and Creation4
CCOL-UH 1055Oil4
CCOL-UH 1056EQFairness4
CCOL-UH 1058Journeys4
CCOL-UH 1059QQuantified Self4
CCOL-UH 1060What Is Secularism?4
CCOL-UH 1061Water for Life4
CCOL-UH 1065QResentment and Politics4
CCOL-UH 1069Global Language4
CCOL-UH 1070Hindsight4
CCOL-UH 1071Price of Luxury4
CCOL-UH 1072Tolerance4
CCOL-UH 1074Industrial Revolutions and the Future of Work4
CCOL-UH 1075Body Politics4
CCOL-UH 1077Food and Human Population4
CCOL-UH 1079Justice in Times of Transition4
CCOL-UH 1080Learning Languages in a Global Society4
CCOL-UH 1081Migration and Belonging4
CCOL-UH 1082Multispecies Living and the Environmental Crisis4
CCOL-UH 1086Corruption4
CCOL-UH 1088Panacea4
CCOL-UH 1089Drama of Science4
CCOL-UH 1093Caste and Race4
CCOL-UH 1094Fire4
CCOL-UH 1095Emotions4
CCOL-UH 1096Ghosts, Magic, and the Mystical: Understanding the Supernatural4
CCOL-UH 1097The Sacred4
CCOL-UH 1099The Science of Human Connection4
CCOL-UH 1100Negotiation and Consensus Building4
CCOL-UH 1101Incarceration4
CCOL-UH 1102Language and Identity4
CCOL-UH 1103Exclusionary Foundations of Knowledge Production4
CCOL-UH 1104Globalization and its Discontents4
CCOL-UH 1105Nudges and Well-Being4
CCOL-UH 1106Mind, Matter, and Machine4
CCOL-UH 1107Shelter4
CCOL-UH 1108Infinity4
CCOL-UH 1109Identity4
CCOL-UH 1110Poverty and Inequality4
CCOL-UH 111124 Hours in Our Brain4
CCOL-UH 1112Climate and Humanity4
CCOL-UH 1113Encompassing Nature4
CCOL-UH 1114Problem of the Self4
CCOL-UH 1115Beyond Nature-Culture4
CCOL-UH 1116Wireless Revolution4
CCOL-UH 1117Slavery and Freedom4
CCOL-UH 2016JSensing (Sensitive) Archives3

Field Colloquia

Field Colloquia (J-Term courses) are designed as 10-day, highly immersive learning experiences during January or summer (May-June). They intensify the student’s focus, reach beyond the classroom to incorporate experiential learning, and are site-specific, connecting students to the place where they study.

Intellectually linked to their locations, the courses take advantage of local resources; explore the history, culture, economy, and society of the host communities, and often involve collaborative activities with local students and faculty. The courses illuminate the interdependence of local knowledge and global awareness while fostering cross-cultural research and insights into complex global issues.

ACS-UH 1611JXPolitics of Heritage in the Arab World3
ARTH-UH 1117JArt Markets3
BUSOR-UH 1012JDevelopment and Entrepreneurship in Africa3
BUSOR-UH 1106JSports In Cities: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Impact3
BUSOR-UH 1401JGlobal Business Strategy3
CADT-UH 1034JCitizen, Writer: Prague3
CADT-UH 1044JXTradition and Transition in Kerala3
CADT-UH 1046JMake Art Here3
CADT-UH 1057JCan Art Save Lives? The Health Benefits of the Arts and Arts Therapies3
CADT-UH 1060JTheory of the Digital3
CADT-UH 1067JPhotography and Witnessing3
CADT-UH 1070JArts for Transformation: The Case of the Mekong Region3
CADT-UH 1072JReporting (on) Migration3
CADT-UH 1086JEcopoetics: In the Land of the Tiger3
CCEA-UH 1086JXPandemics in Iberian History3
CCEA-UH 1091JNarrating Migration3
CCEA-UH 1103JThe Global Bible3
CCEA-UH 1104JMusic and Society: Fostering Belonging and Becoming3
CCEA-UH 1116JSlow Looking3
CCEA-UH 1118JXReligion and Cultural Encounter at African Crossroads3
CCEA-UH 1120JThe Ancient Monastery of Sir Bani Yas: Exploring Christian Heritage in a Muslim Nation3
CCEA-UH 1134JImaging Arab and Black Lives: What Vernacular Photographs Teach Us3
CCEA-UH 1135JXPost-Ottoman Worlds and Beyond: Memory of the Past and Imagining the Future3
CCOL-UH 2001JAn Ocean Voyage3
CCOL-UH 2002JJust Cash: The Politics, Economics, and Philosophy of Cash Transfer Programs3
CCOL-UH 2003JMande Music and the Black Experience: Oral History, Folklore and Contemporary Connections3
CCOL-UH 2004JSand3
CCOL-UH 2005JArt, Attention, and Environment3
CCOL-UH 2006JCommon Sense3
CCOL-UH 2007JThe Science of Color and Art3
CCOL-UH 2008JWhat is Life?3
CCOL-UH 2009JThe Sensorial City: Food Studies and Urban Ethnography3
CCOL-UH 2010JDisability and Development3
CCOL-UH 2011JCommercial Determinants of Health: A Focus on Globalization3
CCOL-UH 2012JWayfinding: Graphic Design in the Built Environment3
CCOL-UH 2013JDebt and Society3
CCOL-UH 2014JBeing Here3
CCOL-UH 2015JColorism Across Global Lines: Focus Study in Ghana3
CCOL-UH 2017JAfrican Perspectives on Data and Technology3
CCOL-UH 2018JMessage in a Bottle3
CCOL-UH 2019JNetwork Theory and Social Interactions3
CCOL-UH 2020JRibbons of Blue: Urbanization on the Coastal Fringe3
CCOL-UH 2021JThe Silk Road: Ancient and Modern Globalizations3
CCOL-UH 2022JNew Capitals of Contemporary Art: Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Amman3
CCOL-UH 2023JEndangered Languages3
CCOL-UH 2024JGlobal Africa and China3
CCOL-UH 2025JSocial Media and the Governance of Speech3
CCOL-UH 2026JTechnology for Sustainable Development3
CCOL-UH 2027JUnequal Childhoods3
CCOL-UH 2028JMusic, Migration, and Memory3
CCOL-UH 2029JCalifornian Ideology3
CCOL-UH 2030JWhat is Fair in University Admissions?3
CCOL-UH 2031JStrategies for Civic Inclusion3
CCOL-UH 2032JTropical Forests and the Climate Crisis3
CCOL-UH 2033JImmersive Experiences3
CCOL-UH 2034JA Cultural History of Falconry3
CCOL-UH 2035JCreative Robotics & Tech3
CCOL-UH 2036JTone Meister: The Pursuit of Perfect Sound3
CCOL-UH 2037JCulture as a Collective Achievement: Explorations in Italy and UAE3
CCOL-UH 2038JHow to Build a City3
CCOL-UH 2039JThe Shaping of Identity: Past and Future of Egyptological Collections3
CDAD-UH 1020EJQChallenges in Global Health: Wash your hands of it.3
CDAD-UH 1022JQSustainable Development3
CDAD-UH 1060EJResearching Peace3
CDAD-UH 1070JSustainable Urban Transportation Planning for the 21st Century3
CSTS-UH 1025JThe Ghetto3
CSTS-UH 1029JIdea of the University3
CSTS-UH 1030JGlobal Perspectives on Inequality3
CSTS-UH 1033JCulture and Context in Psychology3
CSTS-UH 1041JIdeology3
CSTS-UH 1055JDoes Liberal Democracy Have A Future?3
CSTS-UH 1064JWell-Being and the Design of the Built Environment3
CSTS-UH 1091JDisability, Technology, and Media3
CSTS-UH 1107JTransnational Cities: Abu Dhabi, Paris, Dubai3
CSTS-UH 1108JXFeminist Solidarity, Islam, and Transnational Capital3
CSTS-UH 1109JInternational Peacebuilding and the Role of Education3
CSTS-UH 1110JThe Media, Climate Crisis and other Calamities3
CSTS-UH 1113JLeadership and Innovation3
CSTS-UH 1115JFrom Abu Dhabi to the World: The Journey Toward Inclusion3
CSTS-UH 1120JPurposes of Public Education3
CSTS-UH 1122JSpace Economy and Sustainability3
CSTS-UH 1123JNews. Evidence. Truth?3
CSTS-UH 1135JMedia and Mass Atrocities in Africa3
CSTS-UH 1137J"Black like me?" A Global Exploration of Race, Colorism, and Racial Identity3
CSTS-UH 1138JXGreening Arabian Gulf Cities: Analyzing Interventions for Sustainable Development3
CSTS-UH 1142JXGendering Islam in the Global City3
CSTS-UH 1145JThe Science and Art of Building Peace after Violent Conflict3
CSTS-UH 1146JBehind the Nobel Peace Prize: First-Hand Explorations of Conflict Resolution3
CSTS-UH 1148JBeyond Bigness: The Everyday City3
ECON-UH 1411JQOn the Economics of Cities3
FILMM-UH 1119JSocialism on Screen3
FILMM-UH 1519JCulture and Popular West African Cinema3
FILMM-UH 1913JFieldwork with a Camera: Modes of Documentary Filmmaking3
LAW-UH 1112JRelationship Between Government and Religion3
LAW-UH 2120JLaw in Entrepreneurship3
MCC-UH 1011JMemory and Visual Culture3
MUSIC-UH 1620JAfrican Music and the Global Order of Time3
POLSC-UH 2420JFrom Abraham the Patriarch to the Abraham Accord3
POLSC-UH 2425JThe Age of New Nationalisms3
POLSC-UH 2428JDemocracy In Britain: Crisis and Change in the United Kingdom3
POLSC-UH 3312JQSocial Media and Politics3
SRPP-UH 1619JPhilanthropy Today: How Organized Money Fuels Innovation, Institutions and Movements3
SRPP-UH 1620JThe Himalayas: Geopolitics and Ecology of Melting Mountains3
SRPP-UH 1814JLanguage, Religion, and Ethnicity3
SRPP-UH 1817JBirthing Inequity: Teenage Pregnancy and Covid-19 Public Health Measures in Uganda3
SRPP-UH 2626JKnowledge Mobilization: Bridging Science, Policy, and Practice in Zambia3
THEAT-UH 1125JDramaturgy of Disruption3
WRIT-UH 1003JHistories of - and in - Greece3
WRIT-UH 1004JGlobal Discoveries: From Athena to Athens, Myth - Past and Present3

Arts, Design, and Technology

Art, Design, and Technology courses include a creative component and teach students to think critically and work creatively toward innovations in arts practice, design and engineering, creative writing, data visualization, programming, and performance. Numerous Arts, Design, and Technology courses are offered every term. The courses specified below are offered periodically, typically each year in the semester indicated.”

ANTH-UH 2113Memoir and Ethnography: Understanding Culture Through First-Person Narrative4
ARTH-UH 2721Art and Architecture: Reinventing the City4
ARTH-UH 2726City to Studio: Transforming Urban Research4
ARTH-UH 2825Advanced Lighting and Production Techniques4
CADT-UH 1001Manus et Machina4
CADT-UH 1005Creativity and Innovation4
CADT-UH 1008EQTouch4
CADT-UH 1013EQLanguage of Computers4
CADT-UH 1014EJQHeuristics4
CADT-UH 1016EUtilitas, Venustas, Firmitas4
CADT-UH 1020Wayfinding: Graphic Design in the Built Environment4
CADT-UH 1021Art of Narrative Science4
CADT-UH 1024What Is Music?4
CADT-UH 1026Human Value4
CADT-UH 1027Memoir and Anti-Memoir: Experiments in Text and Image4
CADT-UH 1029Inspiration, Art, and the Examined Life4
CADT-UH 1033Bioinspiration4
CADT-UH 1034JCitizen, Writer: Prague3
CADT-UH 1037XMachines in Islamic Civilization4
CADT-UH 1038Autonomous and Social Robots4
CADT-UH 1039Photo Album4
CADT-UH 1040Ethics of the Image4
CADT-UH 1044JXTradition and Transition in Kerala3
CADT-UH 1045Plastic Fantastic4
CADT-UH 1046JMake Art Here3
CADT-UH 1048Reinventing the Wheel4
CADT-UH 1049EMaterial World4
CADT-UH 1051Performing Online4
CADT-UH 1052Silence4
CADT-UH 1053Designing Health4
CADT-UH 1055JWhat is Autofiction?4
CADT-UH 1057JCan Art Save Lives? The Health Benefits of the Arts and Arts Therapies3
CADT-UH 1058JHow to Write from Life4
CADT-UH 1059JLearning from the Living Room: Architecture, Art, and Social Justice4
CADT-UH 1060JTheory of the Digital3
CADT-UH 1061The Body Archive4
CADT-UH 1062Contextual Innovation in Society4
CADT-UH 1063Foodways for the Anthropocene4
CADT-UH 1064JScent and the City4
CADT-UH 1066JSound, Technology, and Emotions4
CADT-UH 1067JPhotography and Witnessing3
CADT-UH 1068JHow to Build a City: From Dubai to Manhattan4
CADT-UH 1070JArts for Transformation: The Case of the Mekong Region3
CADT-UH 1072JReporting (on) Migration3
CADT-UH 1073JUser Experience Design: Identifying and Solving for Human Needs4
CADT-UH 1074Creative Robotics and Tech4
CADT-UH 1075JDocumenting the Climate Crisis from the Inside Out4
CADT-UH 1076JCreating4
CADT-UH 1077Site Specificity4
CADT-UH 1078Voice4
CADT-UH 1079EHave a Seat4
CADT-UH 1080JArt and Climate Change: Can, Should, How?4
CADT-UH 1081JThe Camera as a Tool for Drama4
CADT-UH 1084JWalking and Writing the African City: Accra4
CADT-UH 1085JHip-Hop, the Cosmos and Artificial Intelligence4
CADT-UH 1086JEcopoetics: In the Land of the Tiger3
CADT-UH 1087JCuration for Participation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC)4
CADT-UH 1088JPlace Writing4
CADT-UH 1089JPaper Art: History & Practice4
CADT-UH 1090JEthical Storytelling: Producing Narratives of Latino Migration and Mental Health4
CADT-UH 1091The Photographic Essay: The Power of Visual Storytelling4
CADT-UH 1092Starting With Self4
CADT-UH 1093Gamified Learning4
CCEA-UH 1092Reaching for the Stars4
CCEA-UH 1126JWorld Dance and Global Perspectives4
CCEA-UH 1138Eco-Art and Ecomedia4
CCOL-UH 2012JWayfinding: Graphic Design in the Built Environment3
CCOL-UH 2018JMessage in a Bottle3
CCOL-UH 2026JTechnology for Sustainable Development3
CCOL-UH 2035JCreative Robotics & Tech3
CCOL-UH 2036JTone Meister: The Pursuit of Perfect Sound3
CCOL-UH 2038JHow to Build a City3
CDAD-UH 1037Cyberwarfare4
CDAD-UH 1061JDigital Intimacies in and Beyond the Gulf4
CDAD-UH 1063Digital Archive4
IM-UH 1012Communication and Technology4
LITCW-UH 1506Today We Wrote Nothing4
LITCW-UH 1508Shame and Shamelessness: The Craft of Confessional Writing4
LITCW-UH 1509The City and the Writer: New York City and Abu Dhabi4
MUSIC-UH 1618XMusic and Identity in Trade4

Cultural Exploration and Analysis

Cultural Exploration and Analysis courses pursue understanding and appreciation of diverse cultural forms and perspectives, and foster the ability to navigate differences to establish cross-cultural understanding. J-Term courses in Cultural Exploration and Analysis often focus on a deep engagement with multiple cultures in a single global site. Numerous Cultural Exploration and Analysis courses are offered each term. The courses specified below are offered periodically, typically each year win the semester indicated.

ACS-UH 2410XParadise Lost: Muslims, Christians and Jews in Al-Andalus4
ANTH-UH 1102XAnthropology of and as Media4
ANTH-UH 1103Sense and Senses4
ANTH-UH 2113Memoir and Ethnography: Understanding Culture Through First-Person Narrative4
ANTH-UH 2114XListening to Islam4
AW-UH 1118Archaeology, Arabia and the Bible4
CADT-UH 1026Human Value4
CCEA-UH 1000JIdea of the Portrait4
CCEA-UH 1003Collecting4
CCEA-UH 1007Abstraction4
CCEA-UH 1009XA Thousand and One Nights4
CCEA-UH 1010Imagined Cities4
CCEA-UH 1011Law and the Imagination4
CCEA-UH 1014Money and the Good Life4
CCEA-UH 1017On Violence4
CCEA-UH 1021JJazz in New York4
CCEA-UH 1022JFascism, Antifascism, and the Aesthetics of Propaganda: The Spanish Civil War4
CCEA-UH 1023Dis/Abilities in Musical Contexts4
CCEA-UH 1037Listening4
CCEA-UH 1046Rogue Fictions: Tales of Tricksters, Outlaws, and Outsiders4
CCEA-UH 1053The Hero4
CCEA-UH 1055Global Shakespeare4
CCEA-UH 1056Tragedy4
CCEA-UH 1061Memory4
CCEA-UH 1062Everything Is a Remix4
CCEA-UH 1063Literary Translation4
CCEA-UH 1068JCity of Encounters: Literatures of Indigeneity, Migration and Settlement4
CCEA-UH 1069Cultural Appropriation4
CCEA-UH 1074Race, Racialization and Narration4
CCEA-UH 1078XRepresenting the Middle East: Issues in the Politics of Culture4
CCEA-UH 1079JArt, Education and Barbarism in Berlin4
CCEA-UH 1080JXFood, Culture, and Politics4
CCEA-UH 1082Literature of Migration4
CCEA-UH 1083Cultural History of Falconry4
CCEA-UH 1085Cinematic Imagination: Music, Media, and Modernity4
CCEA-UH 1086JXPandemics in Iberian History3
CCEA-UH 1088JI, Thou, Us, & ꝏ in Arts Literatures and Films4
CCEA-UH 1089JGardens of Eden4
CCEA-UH 1090Un/Making History4
CCEA-UH 1091JNarrating Migration3
CCEA-UH 1092Reaching for the Stars4
CCEA-UH 1093JAttention4
CCEA-UH 1094XOrientalisms4
CCEA-UH 1095JXArabia Felix, the Imagined Land of 'Happiness'4
CCEA-UH 1095XArabia Felix, the Imagined Land of 'Happiness'4
CCEA-UH 1096Global Scents: All the Perfumes of Arabia4
CCEA-UH 1097Music: Conflict, Protest, and Peace4
CCEA-UH 1098Immersive Experiences4
CCEA-UH 1099JTheatre and Immigration4
CCEA-UH 1102Culture and Citizenship4
CCEA-UH 1103JThe Global Bible3
CCEA-UH 1104JMusic and Society: Fostering Belonging and Becoming3
CCEA-UH 1107Once Upon a Time: Folk and Fairy Tales Reconsidered4
CCEA-UH 1108JMemorial4
CCEA-UH 1109JMediterranean Foodways: Cuisine, Culture, Sustainability4
CCEA-UH 1110Faith and Finance: From Renaissance Fortuna to the Futures Market4
CCEA-UH 1111JAnthropology of Tourism4
CCEA-UH 1112Fashion, Culture & the Body4
CCEA-UH 1113Expressive Culture: Film4
CCEA-UH 1114XSexualities of the Middle East: A Cultural History4
CCEA-UH 1115Languages of Israel4
CCEA-UH 1116JSlow Looking3
CCEA-UH 1118JXReligion and Cultural Encounter at African Crossroads3
CCEA-UH 1119JLaw, Film, and Society4
CCEA-UH 1120JThe Ancient Monastery of Sir Bani Yas: Exploring Christian Heritage in a Muslim Nation3
CCEA-UH 1121JEthnography and Experience4
CCEA-UH 1122JParis Noir: The African American Presence in Paris4
CCEA-UH 1123Noise in Literature4
CCEA-UH 1124The Age of Images4
CCEA-UH 1125Nation and Narration4
CCEA-UH 1126JWorld Dance and Global Perspectives4
CCEA-UH 1127JIslands and the World4
CCEA-UH 1128JXLoss and Nostalgia: Mourning Al Andalus4
CCEA-UH 1129JThe Present in the Past: Interrogating Traditional Performing Arts in Kerala4
CCEA-UH 1130JA City's Essence: London, Past, Present and Future4
CCEA-UH 1131JXWhen the Moors Ruled in Europe: Medieval Convivencia and its Cultural Legacies4
CCEA-UH 1132JAfricans in Europe: History, Memory, and Cultural Belonging4
CCEA-UH 1133JAll Power to the Imagination: Surrealism and the Magical Prague4
CCEA-UH 1134JImaging Arab and Black Lives: What Vernacular Photographs Teach Us3
CCEA-UH 1135JXPost-Ottoman Worlds and Beyond: Memory of the Past and Imagining the Future3
CCEA-UH 1136Encountering the Other4
CCEA-UH 1137Stories of Our Bodies4
CCEA-UH 1138Eco-Art and Ecomedia4
CCOL-UH 2003JMande Music and the Black Experience: Oral History, Folklore and Contemporary Connections3
CCOL-UH 2005JArt, Attention, and Environment3
CCOL-UH 2009JThe Sensorial City: Food Studies and Urban Ethnography3
CCOL-UH 2016JSensing (Sensitive) Archives3
CCOL-UH 2021JThe Silk Road: Ancient and Modern Globalizations3
CCOL-UH 2022JNew Capitals of Contemporary Art: Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Amman3
CCOL-UH 2033JImmersive Experiences3
CCOL-UH 2034JA Cultural History of Falconry3
CSTS-UH 1029JIdea of the University3
CSTS-UH 1091JDisability, Technology, and Media3
CSTS-UH 1101Cultures & Contexts: The Black Atlantic4
HERST-UH 1100World Heritage Sites & Universal Collections4
LITCW-UH 1160XGlobal Women Writing4
LITCW-UH 1506Today We Wrote Nothing4
LITCW-UH 1508Shame and Shamelessness: The Craft of Confessional Writing4
LITCW-UH 1509The City and the Writer: New York City and Abu Dhabi4
LITCW-UH 2315XPostcolonial Turn4
LITCW-UH 2341Asian and Arab Diaspora in the Arts4
MUSIC-UH 1617XPopular Music in the Arab World4
MUSIC-UH 1618XMusic and Identity in Trade4
MUSIC-UH 2665Global Jazz4
THEAT-UH 1521Women Who Kill4

Data and Discovery

Data and Discovery courses develop the ability to use experimental and quantitative methods to understand the world. Numerous Data and Discovery courses are offered every term. The courses specified below are offered periodically, typically each year in the semester indicated.

CADT-UH 1013EQLanguage of Computers4
CCOL-UH 2001JAn Ocean Voyage3
CCOL-UH 2006JCommon Sense3
CCOL-UH 2020JRibbons of Blue: Urbanization on the Coastal Fringe3
CDAD-UH 1001QData4
CDAD-UH 1002QSpace4
CDAD-UH 1004EMicrobes4
CDAD-UH 1005EJQForensic Science: Guilty or Not Guilty?4
CDAD-UH 1005EQForensic Science: Guilty or Not Guilty?4
CDAD-UH 1007EQThe Mind4
CDAD-UH 1008EQSeven Wonders of the Invisible World4
CDAD-UH 1009EJQBehavior4
CDAD-UH 1010EQDiversity4
CDAD-UH 1013EJStem Cells: Immortality and Regeneration4
CDAD-UH 1016EQWhere the City Meets the Sea: Studies in Coastal Urban Environments4
CDAD-UH 1017EQSymmetry4
CDAD-UH 1019QHeat and the Universe4
CDAD-UH 1020EJQChallenges in Global Health: Wash your hands of it.3
CDAD-UH 1022JQSustainable Development3
CDAD-UH 1024QReading Like a Computer4
CDAD-UH 1026EJQWater, Energy, Food Nexus4
CDAD-UH 1027E5000 Years of Notable Lives: Measuring Influence across Cultures4
CDAD-UH 1032QStability4
CDAD-UH 1033EQData and Human Space4
CDAD-UH 1034QNumbers, Models, and Chaos4
CDAD-UH 1037Cyberwarfare4
CDAD-UH 1039EQSearch4
CDAD-UH 1041EQDecisions and the Brain4
CDAD-UH 1043EQData and Society4
CDAD-UH 1044QHuman-Centered Data Science4
CDAD-UH 1045EQScience of Food & Cooking4
CDAD-UH 1046EQInfectious Diseases: Preventing and Stopping Epidemics4
CDAD-UH 1048QMicrobial Self: Microbes and Identity4
CDAD-UH 1049EQRandom Walks in Science4
CDAD-UH 1052JQPerspectives on Neurodiversity4
CDAD-UH 1053EJQThe Multilingual City: Linguistic Diversity in the UAE and Beyond4
CDAD-UH 1056JSexual and Reproductive Health: A Case Study of Uganda4
CDAD-UH 1057JBioarchaeological Perspectives on Death: A Case Study in Medieval Italy4
CDAD-UH 1058EJQData, Discovery, and Decision-Making in Public Health4
CDAD-UH 1060EJResearching Peace3
CDAD-UH 1061JDigital Intimacies in and Beyond the Gulf4
CDAD-UH 1062EJThe Evolution of Animal Form and Behavior4
CDAD-UH 1063Digital Archive4
CDAD-UH 1064Sustainable Supply Chains4
CDAD-UH 1065EWhat is Life?4
CDAD-UH 1065EJWhat Is Life?4
CDAD-UH 1066EJFermentation4
CDAD-UH 1067QEpidemiology for Global Health4
CDAD-UH 1069EQClimate Change4
CDAD-UH 1070JSustainable Urban Transportation Planning for the 21st Century3
CDAD-UH 1071EQStereotyping4
CDAD-UH 1072QNothing4
CDAD-UH 1073QScience of Complexity4
CDAD-UH 1074EQScience of Martial Arts4
CDAD-UH 1075EQQuantum Computing for Everyone: Embracing the Quantum Revolution4
CDAD-UH 1076EJSeascapes Under Siege4
CDAD-UH 1077Chemophobia4
CSTS-UH 1021EQBoundaries4
CSTS-UH 1102QHealth & Society in a Global Context4
POLSC-UH 3312JQSocial Media and Politics3

Structures of Thought and Society

Structures of Thought and Society courses allow students to examine past, current, and potential future global frameworks for thinking, social organization, and behavior. Numerous Structures of Thought and Society courses are offered each term, typically each year in the semester indicated.

ACS-UH 1412XRace and Ethnicity in the Histories of the Middle East and Africa4
ACS-UH 1611JXPolitics of Heritage in the Arab World3
ACS-UH 2615XArab Genders and Sexualities4
ANTH-UH 1102XAnthropology of and as Media4
ANTH-UH 1103Sense and Senses4
ANTH-UH 2116Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East4
CADT-UH 1044JXTradition and Transition in Kerala3
CADT-UH 1060JTheory of the Digital3
CADT-UH 1063Foodways for the Anthropocene4
CADT-UH 1072JReporting (on) Migration3
CCEA-UH 1069Cultural Appropriation4
CCEA-UH 1086JXPandemics in Iberian History3
CCEA-UH 1090Un/Making History4
CCEA-UH 1091JNarrating Migration3
CCEA-UH 1104JMusic and Society: Fostering Belonging and Becoming3
CCEA-UH 1118JXReligion and Cultural Encounter at African Crossroads3
CCEA-UH 1119JLaw, Film, and Society4
CCEA-UH 1135JXPost-Ottoman Worlds and Beyond: Memory of the Past and Imagining the Future3
CCOL-UH 2002JJust Cash: The Politics, Economics, and Philosophy of Cash Transfer Programs3
CCOL-UH 2010JDisability and Development3
CCOL-UH 2011JCommercial Determinants of Health: A Focus on Globalization3
CCOL-UH 2013JDebt and Society3
CCOL-UH 2015JColorism Across Global Lines: Focus Study in Ghana3
CCOL-UH 2017JAfrican Perspectives on Data and Technology3
CCOL-UH 2019JNetwork Theory and Social Interactions3
CCOL-UH 2024JGlobal Africa and China3
CCOL-UH 2025JSocial Media and the Governance of Speech3
CCOL-UH 2027JUnequal Childhoods3
CCOL-UH 2028JMusic, Migration, and Memory3
CCOL-UH 2029JCalifornian Ideology3
CCOL-UH 2030JWhat is Fair in University Admissions?3
CCOL-UH 2031JStrategies for Civic Inclusion3
CDAD-UH 1020EJQChallenges in Global Health: Wash your hands of it.3
CDAD-UH 1039EQSearch4
CDAD-UH 1046EQInfectious Diseases: Preventing and Stopping Epidemics4
CDAD-UH 1060EJResearching Peace3
CDAD-UH 1067QEpidemiology for Global Health4
CDAD-UH 1070JSustainable Urban Transportation Planning for the 21st Century3
CSTS-UH 1004JScience in Flux: The Galilean Revolution4
CSTS-UH 1006Thinking4
CSTS-UH 1007QChance4
CSTS-UH 1008Birth of Science4
CSTS-UH 1009Theory of Everything4
CSTS-UH 1010Astronomy & Cosmology: From Big Bang to Multiverse4
CSTS-UH 1012Wealth of Nations4
CSTS-UH 1015Legitimacy4
CSTS-UH 1016Ideas of the Sacred4
CSTS-UH 1017Revolutions and Social Change4
CSTS-UH 1021EQBoundaries4
CSTS-UH 1024JSovereignty4
CSTS-UH 1025JThe Ghetto3
CSTS-UH 1029JIdea of the University3
CSTS-UH 1030JGlobal Perspectives on Inequality3
CSTS-UH 1031Why Is It So Hard to Do Good?4
CSTS-UH 1033JCulture and Context in Psychology3
CSTS-UH 1036Progress in Science4
CSTS-UH 1041JIdeology3
CSTS-UH 1043Great Divergence4
CSTS-UH 1049Concepts and Categories: How We Structure the World4
CSTS-UH 1052XHistory and the Environment: The Middle East4
CSTS-UH 1053Understanding Urbanization4
CSTS-UH 1053JUnderstanding Urbanization4
CSTS-UH 1055JDoes Liberal Democracy Have A Future?3
CSTS-UH 1059XUrban Violence: The Middle East4
CSTS-UH 1060Religion and Philosophy4
CSTS-UH 1064JWell-Being and the Design of the Built Environment3
CSTS-UH 1067Moving Target4
CSTS-UH 1074Refugees, Law and Crises4
CSTS-UH 1076What's Property (For?)4
CSTS-UH 1077Law and Politics4
CSTS-UH 1084JArt and Science of Parenting: Impact on Education, Health, and Mental Health4
CSTS-UH 1086JNation and Empire4
CSTS-UH 1087Future of Education4
CSTS-UH 1088Thinking Big About the Ancient World4
CSTS-UH 1089JMigration: Crisis or Norm?4
CSTS-UH 1090JWhere Did We Come From?4
CSTS-UH 1091JDisability, Technology, and Media3
CSTS-UH 1094Space Diplomacy4
CSTS-UH 1095JSpace and the Future of Humankind4
CSTS-UH 1096JClimate/Change4
CSTS-UH 1097Justice4
CSTS-UH 1098High Performance: Mindset and Habits4
CSTS-UH 1099Global Media Seminar: Latin America4
CSTS-UH 1101Cultures & Contexts: The Black Atlantic4
CSTS-UH 1102QHealth & Society in a Global Context4
CSTS-UH 1103What Is Technology?4
CSTS-UH 1104Organizations4
CSTS-UH 1105JEnvironmental Governance4
CSTS-UH 1106JPandemic World History4
CSTS-UH 1107JTransnational Cities: Abu Dhabi, Paris, Dubai3
CSTS-UH 1108JXFeminist Solidarity, Islam, and Transnational Capital3
CSTS-UH 1109JInternational Peacebuilding and the Role of Education3
CSTS-UH 1110JThe Media, Climate Crisis and other Calamities3
CSTS-UH 1111JDisability Justice and Radical Inclusion4
CSTS-UH 1112JFrom the Renaissance to Artificial Intelligence: Cities, Innovation, and Building the Future4
CSTS-UH 1113JLeadership and Innovation3
CSTS-UH 1115JFrom Abu Dhabi to the World: The Journey Toward Inclusion3
CSTS-UH 1116JIdentities4
CSTS-UH 1117JFood Security in Communities of Color4
CSTS-UH 1118JScarcity, Inequality, and Ethics4
CSTS-UH 1119J"Race", Genomics, and Society4
CSTS-UH 1120JPurposes of Public Education3
CSTS-UH 1121JHot World: Climate and Design4
CSTS-UH 1122JSpace Economy and Sustainability3
CSTS-UH 1123JNews. Evidence. Truth?3
CSTS-UH 1125XLaw and Empire4
CSTS-UH 1126Gender, Violence, and Political Participation4
CSTS-UH 1127Responsible Capitalism4
CSTS-UH 1128AI, Automation, and the Future of Work4
CSTS-UH 1129Environment & Politics4
CSTS-UH 1130Nuclear Energy4
CSTS-UH 1131Gender & Governance4
CSTS-UH 1132JXMovement, Border Crossings, and Race4
CSTS-UH 1133JCare Across Borders: Migration and Domestic Work4
CSTS-UH 1134JHealth and Society4
CSTS-UH 1135JMedia and Mass Atrocities in Africa3
CSTS-UH 1136JWomen and Gender - Global Leadership Models ReImagined4
CSTS-UH 1137J"Black like me?" A Global Exploration of Race, Colorism, and Racial Identity3
CSTS-UH 1138JXGreening Arabian Gulf Cities: Analyzing Interventions for Sustainable Development3
CSTS-UH 1139JNanometer for Everyday Life4
CSTS-UH 1141JEthnographies of the Hyphen: Contested Cityscapes between Jaffa and Tel-Aviv4
CSTS-UH 1142JXGendering Islam in the Global City3
CSTS-UH 1143JGlobal Education Inequalities and Policies4
CSTS-UH 1144JRace & Media4
CSTS-UH 1145JThe Science and Art of Building Peace after Violent Conflict3
CSTS-UH 1146JBehind the Nobel Peace Prize: First-Hand Explorations of Conflict Resolution3
CSTS-UH 1148JBeyond Bigness: The Everyday City3
CSTS-UH 1149International Business, Law, and Sustainability4
HIST-UH 2010History and Globalization4
HIST-UH 2121Genocide in a Global Perspective4
HIST-UH 3112Asian Borderlands4
LAW-UH 1112Relationship Between Government and Religion4
LAW-UH 1112JRelationship Between Government and Religion3
LAW-UH 2134Animal Law & Policy4
LITCW-UH 2333Translation and Colonization4
PHIL-UH 1110The Meaning of Life4
PHIL-UH 1115Fear of Knowledge4
POLSC-UH 1114War on Terrorism4
POLSC-UH 2317Identity and Culture in Politics4
POLSC-UH 2323JSuffering and Politics4
SOCSC-UH 1313Perspectives on Democracy4
SRPP-UH 1413XSocial Change and Development in the Arab World4
SRPP-UH 1815JDiversity, Inclusion and Tolerance?: Contemplations on 21st Century Identity Formation4
SRPP-UH 2410Gender and Society4
SRPP-UH 2618Welfare States in Comparative Perspective4
SRPP-UH 2620Education and Society4
SRPP-UH 2623JCultures of Addiction: A Bio-Social View4

Writing Program

The development of strong writing skills throughout a student’s academic career is an important objective of an NYUAD education. The Writing Program has designed a curriculum to meet the needs of individual students through a blend of writing courses and one-on-one consultations in the Writing Center.

All students must complete a semester-long writing seminar in their first year. The First-Year Writing Seminar (FYWS) introduces students to the reading, writing, oral expression, and critical thinking skills essential to a liberal arts education.

The First-Year Writing Seminar lays a foundation for continued practice in university-level thinking and writing. In addition to taking the First-Year Writing Seminar, all NYUAD students will receive extensive writing and communication practice in Core courses and will come to learn that each discipline has its own conventions for advanced writing in specific fields.

Students are invited to complete a self-directed Writing Diagnostic and Survey prior to course registration. The diagnostic experience of reading, writing, and reflecting on the writing process will help students, in collaboration with their advisors, strategize when to take the FYWS to maximize the impact of the course on their learning. For instance, students who feel they need more time to practice college-level writing may choose to take the Writing Seminar in the fall of their first year, while students who feel more prepared may wait to take their FYWS in the spring semester of their first year.

The First-Year Writing Seminar

Each FYWS is designed around a topic that serves as a vehicle for academic inquiry. The seminar uses thematically organized content to foster student inquiry and intellectual engagement, and to model excellence in thinking and writing. Students engage with a variety of texts, learn how to analyze ideas and express complex arguments, and complete assignments that range from shorter reviews and editorials to longer persuasive analytical essays. Each written essay is the result of a progression of structured exercises with an emphasis on drafting and revision strategies. Students work collaboratively, learning to offer appropriate and constructive feedback through class discussion, peer workshops, tutorials, and one-on-one writing conferences with faculty.

To ensure a unified and consistent experience for students, all sections of the First-Year Writing Seminar share a set of common goals. Students will be introduced to rhetorical knowledge; critical thinking, reading, and composing skills; a range of composing and communication processes; and an awareness of disciplinary conventions. In the First-Year Writing Seminar students learn to:

  • Read and analyze a range of complex written, visual, empirical or performative texts.
  • Conceptualize and express complex claims based in evidence.
  • Document sources according to scholarly conventions.
  • Write for a scholarly audience.
  • Attend to style, grammar, and proper usage in academic English.

All First-Year Writing Seminars ask students to write three essays of increasing complexity (in draft and final form) over the course of the term, culminating in an inquiry-driven research paper and oral presentation. Courses typically begin by working on the art of close analysis of texts and ideas related to the course themes. In the second paper students use a variety of sources to make evidence-driven arguments. In the last portion of the class, students conduct library research on a topic that interests them and then write a research paper that makes an argument supported by evidence drawn from the sources they have gathered and analyzed. Finally, all students will make oral presentations about their work at various stages of their research and writing process.

WRIT-UH 1100FYWS: Taste, Culture & the Self4
WRIT-UH 1108FYWS: Writers on Writing4
WRIT-UH 1110FYWS: Power and Ethics in Photography4
WRIT-UH 1113FYWS: Saving Strangers: Debates about Humanitarian Intervention4
WRIT-UH 1116FYWS: The Politics of Spectacle4
WRIT-UH 1119FYWS: Living Cities4
WRIT-UH 1123FYWS: Scientific Knowledge4
WRIT-UH 1124FYWS: Slavery After Slavery4
WRIT-UH 1125FYWS: Graphic Violence4
WRIT-UH 1126XFYWS: Understanding Postcolonial Feminisms4
WRIT-UH 1127FYWS: Real and Imagined: Women’s Writing Across Worlds4
WRIT-UH 1128FYWS: Memory, History, and Forgetting4
WRIT-UH 1129FYWS: The World of Babel: Translation Before the Modern Age4
WRIT-UH 1131FYWS: Writing About the Languages We Speak4
WRIT-UH 1132FYWS: Protest Art4
WRIT-UH 1134FYWS: The Last Straw: The Effects of Environmental Change Throughout Time4
WRIT-UH 1135FYWS: Non-Violence4
WRIT-UH 1136FYWS: Movement & Meaning4
WRIT-UH 1137FYWS: Resilience at the Margins4
WRIT-UH 1138FYWS: Elsewhere4
WRIT-UH 1139FYWS: Exploring Our Linguistic Identities4
WRIT-UH 1140FYWS: Racisms and Race4
WRIT-UH 1141FYWS: Understanding Photography4
WRIT-UH 1142FYWS: Genders and Falconry4
WRIT-UH 1143FYWS: Reacting to the Past: Evidence-Based Public Health4
WRIT-UH 1144FYWS: Nonsense4
WRIT-UH 1145FYWS: Pirates, Traffickers and Enslavers4

Physical Education

The mission of the NYUAD Physical Education Program is to provide students with lifelong guidance and skills to allow them to become the best versions of themselves physically, mentally, socially and cognitively. The Physical Education program is designed to assist students to:

  • Gain the ability and knowledge to enjoy physical activity
  • Develop confidence and understanding in their own unique physical abilities
  • Embrace the understanding that one doesn’t have to be athletic to be physically active.
  • Understand the importance and benefits of becoming physically active for a lifetime.

The NYUAD Physical Education Program provides a wide variety of classes covering all levels of interest and ability. PE programming takes place either at the university’s world-class athletic facilities or off campus in a location in Abu Dhabi city. Students are required to complete two 7-week Physical Education classes before graduation and every PE class taken appears on the official student transcripts starting from 2021. Students can also earn PE credit by participating in intercollegiate sports. Students interested in joining an intercollegiate team should contact nyuad.athletics@nyu.edu to request information before team rosters are set for the competitive season. All Physical Education classes are non-credit and graded on a pass/fail basis.

CDAD-UH 1074EQScience of Martial Arts4
PHYED-UH 1001Foundations of Fitness0
PHYED-UH 1002Beginner Swimming0
PHYED-UH 1003Intermediate Swimming0
PHYED-UH 1004Women's Foundations of Middle Eastern Dance0
PHYED-UH 1006Hip Hop0
PHYED-UH 1066WO Wall Climbing0
PHYED-UH 1068SNAP Basketball0
PHYED-UH 1069Futsal0
PHYED-UH 1070Mindfulness0