Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum

The Core Curriculum forms the center of NYU Shanghai’s globally-oriented liberal arts and sciences education. Through Core courses, students deepen their intellectual engagement with diverse perspectives from the past and present; they gain increased awareness of distinct disciplinary approaches to problem-posing and analysis; and they develop skills to ethically and effectively respond to global challenges.

Core Curriculum Components

Core Component Required Courses
Social and Cultural Foundations Global Perspectives on Society (4 credits)
Perspectives on the Humanities (4 credits) (also fulfills Writing)
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China (2 courses/8 credits total)
Writing Writing as Inquiry (4 credits)
Perspectives on the Humanities (4 credits) (also fulfills Social and Cultural Foundations)
Language Chinese (through Intermediate II or equivalent competency)
or
English for Academic Purposes (8 credits in a two-semester course sequence or equivalent competency)
Mathematics Mathematics course (4 credits)
Science Experimental Discovery in the Natural World course (4 credits)
Science, Technology and Society course (4 credits)
Algorithmic Thinking Algorithmic Thinking course (4 credits)

Social and Cultural Foundations

Courses in the Social and Cultural Foundations sequence will provide students with a thematic framework within which to study influential works of diverse cultures, from the beginnings of history to the present, and from global and interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will reflect on fundamental and enduring questions about what it means to be human and how we as individuals live in society. These courses will teach students to take a global perspective as they read and interpret great works and ideas of the past and present; to ask critical questions, find unstated assumptions, and assess evidence presented in empirical and theoretical scholarship; to deepen their understanding of the history and development of contemporary China; and to communicate complex ideas with clarity.

The Social and Cultural Foundations component includes four required courses:

  • A survey course called Global Perspectives on Society
  • A writing course called Perspectives on the Humanities
  • Two courses from the category Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China

Global Perspectives on Society (GPS)

In this course, we will explore a set of timeless questions about how society is, or should be, organized, based on close examinations of diverse thinkers and writers from different times and different cultures. The questions raised in this course will engage the moral, social, cultural, and political foundations of human relationships, the principles according to which people assemble into societies of different scales, and the bases for interaction among societies in a world of accelerating interdependence. By engaging texts that explore these questions from multiple perspectives, students reflect on several overarching issues, including how different societies have organized their economic and political institutions, how those societies fashion both shared identities and hierarchies of difference, how people experience themselves as “individuals” or as members of a collectivity, how they experience both time and space, and how they engage with human and non-human others both locally and globally. Over the semester, students develop skills that are central to a liberal arts education, including reading carefully and thoughtfully, considering questions from more than one perspective, participating in respectful and serious intellectual explorations of difficult topics, evaluating evidence and arguments, and developing methods of communication that make effective and appropriate use of the ideas of others as they present the students’ own ideas to different audiences and through different media. Each week, students will meet twice as an entire class for lectures and once in smaller discussion sections led by one of New York University Shanghai’s Global Perspectives on Society Postdoctoral Fellows.

Perspectives on the Humanities (PoH)

Perspectives on the Humanities is a content-based writing seminar, which introduces students to the questions asked and methods used by a variety of disciplines in the humanities, including philosophy, history, and literature. In the fall of their second year at NYU Shanghai, students choose from a variety of Perspectives on the Humanities topics. Perspectives on the Humanities is also designed to reinforce and advance the writing and thinking skills learned in the first-year Writing as Inquiry workshop. In addition to satisfying one Social and Cultural Foundations requirement, this course satisfies one of two writing requirements (see Writing).

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China (IPC)

By completing two Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China courses, students will be able to identify basic dimensions of China’s current and historical contexts, and they will be able to combine this knowledge with disciplinary theory to analyze past and present issues confronting Chinese society. Through their ability to identify important dimensions of Chinese culture and society and their familiarity with relevant theoretical approaches, students will develop an analytically engaged perspective on their own immediate context in Shanghai and China, in all of its cultural richness, social diversity, and political and economic complexity.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China courses cover a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. They include history, philosophy, culture, art, and literature disciplines that use critical methods and primarily take a comparative and historical approach. They may also engage in both qualitative and quantitative analyses, using a range of analytical, interpretive, and experimental tools from anthropology, economics, sociology, political science, and psychology. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China courses may be taken at any point in a student’s undergraduate experience.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China Courses

CCSF-SHU 123Contemporary Chinese Political Thought4
ECON-SHU 221China’s Financial System4
ECON-SHU 238History of Modern Economic Growth: Exploring China From a Comparative Perspective4
ECON-SHU 239China’s Economic Transition4
GCHN-SHU 101Introduction to Chinese Civilization4
GCHN-SHU 108THE WORLD OF YUNNAN: Culture, History, and Life Along China’s Southwestern Borderlands4
GCHN-SHU 110The Concept of China4
GCHN-SHU 112China Stories: Traditions and Transformations4
GCHN-SHU 133Visualizing Global China4
GCHN-SHU 156History of Chinese Art4
GCHN-SHU 164The History of the Silk Road4
GCHN-SHU 165China and the Islamic World, c.600AD-Present4
GCHN-SHU 177Good Death: China and Comparative Perspectives4
GCHN-SHU 182Crimes, Detectives, and Justice in Chinese Culture4
GCHN-SHU 185China in Ten Soundtracks: The Sonic World of Modern Chinese Culture4
GCHN-SHU 205Hong Kong Cinema4
GCHN-SHU 206Woman in Modern China Through Literature and Media4
GCHN-SHU 20720th-century Chinese Writers in Global Context4
GCHN-SHU 211Chinese Architecture4
GCHN-SHU 225Cultural (Mis)translations: China and the West4
GCHN-SHU 226Queer China4
GCHN-SHU 234Dunhuang and Its Global Connections4
GCHN-SHU 236Immersive Narrative of Chinese Monuments4
GCHN-SHU 243China and the Environment4
GCHN-SHU 246Youth and Consumer Culture in China4
GCHN-SHU 248Animals and Chinese Religion4
GCHN-SHU 250Geographies of China4
GCHN-SHU 255Eat, Pray, Ponder: Chinese Intellectual Culture through the Ages4
GCHN-SHU 264Chinese Migrant and Diasporic Networks4
GCHN-SHU 265Women in China: From May 4th to Me Too & Beyond4
GCHN-SHU 283Reading and Viewing Modern China4
GCHN-SHU 360Reading Medieval China through Dunhuang Manuscripts4
HIST-SHU 145Food in Chinese History4
HIST-SHU 153History of Modern China Since 18404
HIST-SHU 155Chinese American History: From the California Gold Rush to the Cold War4
HIST-SHU 250Tianxia: Traditional China and the World4
HIST-SHU 312China Encounters the World4
HUMN-SHU 366Shanghai Stories4
INTM-SHU 267The Cultivated City4
MCC-SHU 9451The Media in China4
PHIL-SHU 105Introduction to Chinese Philosophy4
PHIL-SHU 110Traditional Chinese Political and Legal Philosophy4
RELS-SHU 9270Religion and Society in China: Ghosts, Gods, Buddhas and Ancestors.4
SCA-SHU 9634Global Connections: Shanghai4
SOCS-SHU 236The Chinese Family4
SOCS-SHU 254Ethnographies of Change in China4
SOCS-SHU 270Social Change in Contemporary China4
SOCS-SHU 275US-China Relations4
SOCS-SHU 278Finding Sociology in Chinese Cities: Shanghai and Hong Kong4
SOCS-SHU 331Politics in China4
SOCS-SHU 341Cross-Strait Relations4
SOCS-SHU 370China's Foreign Policy4
SOCS-SHU 388Chinese Social Stratification in Comparative Perspective4

Writing

NYU Shanghai writing courses serve as an introduction to academic writing and inquiry at the university level. Students learn how to closely read academic, argumentative, and narrative texts; how to provide an interpretation supported by evidence; how to build logical arguments and develop research questions; and how to adapt their writing to different genres and audiences. In these courses, students come to see writing as a process, one that  sharpens their thinking and allows them to pursue the questions that feel most urgent to them. The habits, dispositions, and skills taught in these classes may be transferred to communication in a variety of channels--academic, civic, business, personal, and creative. The capacities for critical analysis and nuanced self-expression developed in Writing Program classes will prove useful whatever a student’s future endeavors.

Required courses: Students must complete two writing courses. Students take Writing as Inquiry, the first-year writing workshop, in the spring of their first year. Students are placed in either Writing I or Writing II; in Writing I, students spend additional time focused on areas of rhetoric, grammar, and style that are relevant to second language learners. Students must complete Writing as Inquiry (receiving a C or higher) before advancing to Perspectives on the Humanities, which is offered in the fall of the sophomore year (Perspectives on the Humanities also satisfies one Social and Cultural Foundations requirement; see “Social and Cultural Foundations”).

Language

Language study is central to NYU’s educational mission to develop well-rounded global citizens. Through language study, students gain the ability to operate effectively in multilingual and multicultural contexts. All NYU Shanghai students will be able to use English and Chinese for a range of communicative aims.

Chinese Language

Core Chinese language courses prepare students to develop the communicative skills and competencies that allow them to engage in interpersonal and intercultural exchanges in the target language. Students will develop a greater cultural awareness of the context in which they study.

Required courses or proficiencies for Chinese: Students are required to successfully complete the intermediate two level of Chinese, or to demonstrate an equivalent competency through a placement exam. They are encouraged to develop as much proficiency in Chinese as their major course of study allows. In the summer before the first year, students who did not attend a Chinese-medium high school will have their Chinese language level assessed and will be placed into the appropriate level course. Engineering and Foundations of Science students are unable to take 4-credit courses in Chinese in their first year because of the course requirements of their major. Therefore, they will be able to complete the Elementary and Intermediate Chinese course requirements by completing two-credit Chinese classes throughout their fall and spring semesters. These two-credit Chinese classes are not open to other major or study-away students. The Chinese language program offers multiple modalities of instruction, including formal intensive coursework during Summer Sessions, online self-study, and co-curricular language coaching with immersion experiences. In order to study away, students must successfully complete Elementary Chinese II with a grade of C or better. To satisfy the language requirement, students must earn a grade of C or better in Intermediate Chinese II or equivalent. In addition, students may demonstrate equivalent proficiency by applying to take and scoring an 80 or higher on a placement exam.

Course Title Credits
CHIN-SHU 101Elementary Chinese I4
CHIN-SHU 102Elementary Chinese II4
CHIN-SHU 201Intermediate Chinese I4
or CHIN-SHU 221 Chinese Immersion Program: Intermediate I
CHIN-SHU 202Intermediate Chinese II4
or CHIN-SHU 222 Chinese Immersion Program: Intermediate II

English for Academic Purposes

Core English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses prepare students who did not attend an English-medium high school to engage communicatively at the high level demanded by the university’s liberal arts context.

Required courses or proficiencies for English: Chinese speakers who did not attend an English-medium high school are required to complete up to 8 credits of EAP in the first two years, following a two-semester course sequence from EAP 100 to EAP 101. EAP 100 must be completed in the first year. Most students will complete a four-credit EAP seminar in the fall term and an EAP 101 seminar in the spring term. A small number of students taking course sequences in the sciences will be eligible to take two two-credit EAP 100 seminars in the first year and to complete EAP 101 in the following year. Academic advisers will notify students if they are eligible for the two-credit seminar. Students must successfully complete EAP 101 before the end of their second year and before they study away. Students who demonstrate exceptionally strong competence on all learning outcomes as they complete EAP 100 may be recommended by faculty for exemption from EAP 101. Exemptions are rare and most students should expect to complete the full eight credits of EAP.

Course Title Credits
EAP-SHU 100English for Academic Purposes I4
EAP-SHU 101English for Academic Purposes II4

Mathematics

Math core courses are an initiation to the use of mathematics to model and understand natural phenomena. Students are expected to acquire basic computational skills and the understanding of foundational mathematical notions. In addition, students are exposed to proofs and logical operations in mathematics.
 
Students may fulfill their math requirement by taking Precalculus or Great Ideas in Mathematics, by taking other courses designated as fulfilling the Mathematics component, or by placing out of the requirement.

The relevant exam scores which may be used to fulfill the core curriculum mathematics requirement are listed below. No corresponding credit is awarded and test scores cannot be used to fulfill a prerequisite for an upper-level course in that area.

Mathematics Courses & Relavant Exam Scores

HIST-SHU 157Abacuses, Astrolabes, and Quipu: A Global History of Mathematics4
MATH-SHU 9Precalculus4
MATH-SHU 10Quantitative Reasoning: Great Ideas in Mathematics4
AP Examination Score Core Requirement Satisfied
AP Calculus AB or BC Score of 4 or higher Mathematics
IB Mathematics HL Score of 6 or higher Mathematics
A Level Mathematics Score of B or higher Mathematics
NYU Shanghai Placement into Calculus Mathematics

Science

Scientific knowledge and inquiry are central to human society, and science and technology play an increasingly important role in our lives. At the heart of the natural sciences is a quest to understand the universe, the biosphere, and who we humans are. The special feature of science is that its hypotheses can be tested under controlled conditions by appealing to evidence external to the inquirer. Thus, science provides a consistent framework for proposing ideas and testing potential answers to these questions. NYU Shanghai students will become conversant with the fundamental concepts and applications, intellectual methods and analytical techniques that define modern science.

The science component has two required courses:

  1. One lab-based course to fulfill Experimental Discovery in the Natural World; 
  2. One non-laboratory-based course to fulfill Science, Technology, and Society.

In Experimental Discovery in the Natural World (ED) courses, students are introduced to the foundations and frontiers of scientific investigation in the physical and life sciences. Through the laboratory experience, students develop the ability to use experimental methods to understand the world.

In Science, Technology, and Society (STS) courses, students study science and/or technology in their wider context. This may involve thinking about science and technology from a different disciplinary perspective— philosophical, historical, sociological, economic or political, for example. But it may also involve taking science and technology themselves as the focus of scientific investigation, as for example in a course that focuses on the limits of statistical methods, or on formal approaches to the social structure of science. Alternatively, STS courses may examine a single topic from a range of perspectives that include, but are not limited to, scientific and technological perspectives, such as in a course that focuses on environmental politics, global health, bioinformatics, or smart cities. What unites STS courses is a reflective attitude to the nature of science and technology, and taking science and technology themselves as the primary objects of study.

ED and STS courses cover a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches; these courses may be taken at any point in a student’s undergraduate experience.

Students who pursue degrees in some STEM disciplines1 will complete the Science core requirements by fulfilling the requirements in those majors.

The relevant exam scores which may be used to fulfill the Core Curriculum Experimental Discovery in the Natural World requirement are listed below. No corresponding credit is awarded and test scores cannot be used to fulfill a prerequisite for an upper-level course in that area. 

Experimental Discovery in the Natural World Courses and Relevant Exams

BIOL-SHU 5Nutrition, Fitness and Health4
BIOL-SHU 21Foundations of Biology I3
BIOL-SHU 123Foundations of Biology Lab2
CCEX-SHU 1Principles of Life-From Cells to Organisms2
CCEX-SHU 3Explore the Cell: from Gene to Protein2
CCEX-SHU 115Experiments in Food Science4
CCEX-SHU 120Biology for a Changing World4
CCEX-SHU 122Perception and the Brain4
CCEX-SHU 136Human Genetics: Genes in Human Health & Disease4
CCEX-SHU 137Human Genetics: Genes in Human Health & Disease Lab2
CCEX-SHU 170While You Were Sleeping4
CCEX-SHU 203Energy and the Environment4
CCEX-SHU 214How Things Work4
CENG-SHU 201Digital Logic4
CHEM-SHU 125Foundations of Chemistry I3
CHEM-SHU 127Foundations of Chemistry I Lab2
EENG-SHU 251Circuits4
INTM-SHU 130Working with Electrons4
INTM-SHU 222Introduction to Robotics4
INTM-SHU 244Bio-Inspired Robot Systems4
PHYS-SHU 11General Physics I3
PHYS-SHU 71Foundations of Physics Lab I2
PHYS-SHU 91Foundations of Physics I Honors3
PSYC-SHU 101Introduction to Psychology4
AP Examination Score Core Requirement Satisfied
A Level Psychology Score of B or higher fulfills core; score of A fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Psychology Score of 4 or higher fulfills core; score of 5 fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
IB Psychology HL (Higher Level) Score of 6 or higher fulfills core; score of 7 fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Physics C- Mech or AP Physics C– E&M Score of 4 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
IB Biology HL, Chemistry HL, or Physics HL Score of 6 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
A Level Biology, Chemistry, or Physics Score of B or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Physics 1 & 2 (must have both), Chemistry, or Biology Score of 4 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)

Science, Technology, and Society Courses

BIOL-SHU 30Genetics4
BIOL-SHU 261Genomics and Bioinformatics4
CCST-SHU 133Water Energy Food Nexus4
CCST-SHU 142Environment Connections: Water, Waste, and Wellness4
CENG-SHU 352Emerging Technologies for Smart Cities4
ECON-SHU 232Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Money4
GCHN-SHU 216Psychology and Modernity in China4
GCHN-SHU 243China and the Environment4
HIST-SHU 157Abacuses, Astrolabes, and Quipu: A Global History of Mathematics4
HIST-SHU 205History of Modern Medicine4
HIST-SHU 225The Global Space Age4
HIST-SHU 239New York: History of the City and its People4
HIST-SHU 305When Science Goes Wrong4
HIST-SHU 310The Birth of Psychology4
HIST-SHU 330Popular Culture and the Scientific Revolution4
HUMN-SHU 110What is Science and Technology Studies4
INTM-SHU 124Emerging Technologies & Computational Arts4
INTM-SHU 195After Us: Post-human Media4
INTM-SHU 294History of Human Computer Interaction4
MATH-SHU 5Chance4
NEUR-SHU 10Free Will and the Brain4
NEUR-SHU 130Introduction to Linguistics: The Science of Human Language4
NEUR-SHU 131Neural Bases of Speech and Language4
PHIL-SHU 90Philosophy of Science4
PHIL-SHU 91Philosophy of Biology4
PHIL-SHU 130Philosophy of Technology: Thinking Machines4
PHIL-SHU 230Philsophy of Physics4
PSYC-SHU 329Parenting and Culture4
PSYC-SHU 344Psychology of Human-Machine Communication and Relationships4
PSYC-SHU 360Evolutionary Psychology4
SOCS-SHU 135Environment and Society4
SOCS-SHU 170Introduction to Global Health4
SOCS-SHU 199Global Transportation4
SOCS-SHU 204Environmental System Science4
SOCS-SHU 208Cities at Crossroads: Environmental Challenges and Opportunities in Cities4
SOCS-SHU 224Climate Change and Society4
SOCS-SHU 306Pestilence: Critical Perspectives in Global Health4
SOCS-SHU 328Sexuality in the Digital Age4
SOCS-SHU 332Global Mental Health4
SOCS-SHU 333Global Environmental Politics4
SOCS-SHU 334Legal Psychology4
1

Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Neural Science, Computer Systems Engineering, Electrical Systems, Engineering, Math, or Honors Math.

Algorithmic Thinking

In Algorithmic Thinking (AT) courses, students acquire an understanding of the nature of computation, by studying the formal or mathematical properties of computation, by applying the concrete forms computation has taken, either historically or in the present, or by learning how to program. Students also will learn to critically engage with computation, by studying at least one context in which computation is embedded, whether historical, social, political, philosophical, mathematical or creative.

AT courses cover a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches; the AT course may be taken at any point in a student’s undergraduate experience.

The relevant exam scores which may be used to fulfill the Core Curriculum Algorithmic Thinking requirement are listed below. No corresponding credit is awarded.

Algorithmic Thinking Courses & Relevant Exams

BUSF-SHU 210Business Analytics4
CSCI-SHU 11Introduction to Computer Programming4
CSCI-SHU 101Introduction to Computer and Data Science4
INTM-SHU 101Interaction Lab4
INTM-SHU 103Creative Coding Lab4
INTM-SHU 204Critical Data and Visualization4
MATH-SHU 252Numerical Analysis4
PHIL-SHU 70Logic4
AP Examination Score Core Requirement Satisfied
AP Computer Science Score of 4 or higher Algorithmic Thinking
IB HL (Higher Level) Computer Science Score of 6 or higher Algorithmic Thinking
NYU Shanghai Placement into Introduction to Computer Science Algorithmic Thinking

Core Curriculum Program Learning Outcomes 

Critical Thinking

The ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate complex problems and arguments objectively using a wide range of methodologies.

Communication

The ability to communicate effectively in a range of written and spoken genres, using a variety of media, across a variety of disciplines. 

Information Literacy

Possession of information literacy skills needed to access, evaluate, and utilize information effectively and ethically.

Algorithmic Thinking

Ability to understand and apply the underlying principles of computer programming, including input, output, variables, repetitive loops, and decision structures.

Scientific Literacy

The ability to apply scientific methods of inquiry, such as deductive and inductive methods to define problems, formulate testable hypotheses derived logically from alternative explanations, and design tests to evaluate these hypotheses.

Quantitative Literacy

The ability to recognize and interpret mathematical models, to use multiple mathematical methods to solve problems, and to understand how mathematical models are created to explain or predict phenomena.

Self-Directed Learning

Possession of independent learning skills that will enable the student to begin assignments and projects, to see them through until completion, and to submit high-quality work reflective of careful preparation and review.

Global Perspective

A global perspective that reflects an understanding of and ability to engage with various social, ethical, and personal values in a cross-cultural environment.

Exam Scores At-A-Glance

The following exam scores may be used to fulfill Core Curriculum requirements. No corresponding credit is awarded and test scores cannot be used to fulfill a prerequisite for an upper-level course in that area.  

Core curriculum requirement can be fulfilled by these exams (though no credit is given)

AP Examination Score Core Requirement Satisfied
AP Calculus AB or BC Score of 4 or higher Mathematics
IB Mathematics HL Score of 6 or higher Mathematics
A Level Mathematics Score of B or higher Mathematics
NYU Shanghai Placement into Calculus Mathematics
AP Psychology Score of 4 or higher fulfills core; score of 5 fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
IB Psychology HL (Higher Level) Score of 6 or higher fulfills core; score of 7 fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
A Level Psychology Score of B or higher fulfills core; score of A fulfills core and course equivalency for PSYCH-SHU 101 Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Physics C- Mech OR AP Physics C– E&M Score of 4 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Physics 1 & 2 (must have both) Chemistry, or Biology Score of 4 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
IB Biology HL, Chemistry HL, or Physics HL Score of 6 or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
A Level Biology, Chemistry, or Physics Score of B or higher Experimental Discovery (ED)
AP Computer Science Score of 4 or higher Algorithmic Thinking (AT)
IB Computer Science HL Score of 6 or higher Algorithmic Thinking (AT)
NYU Shanghai Placement into Introduction to Computer Science Algorithmic Thinking (AT)