Self-Designed Honors (BA)

Program Description

Students at NYU Shanghai can apply to craft and complete a Self-Designed Honors major, rather than one of the existing majors at the campus. This major enables a small number of very capable and highly motivated students to pursue a plan of study that brings together courses from more than one NYU department or program. During their sophomore year, students compose their academic plan for the major in consultation with their two faculty advisers for their self-designed program of study as well as with the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. Their two faculty advisors have to be from different majors and one has to be from a relevant department in New York if more than three of the required classes are from a major that exists in New York but not in Shanghai. 

This NYU Shanghai major serves students who can realize their interdisciplinary goals within the NYU’s global network, drawing on courses from any of the study away sites and degree-granting campuses. The honors major has prerequisites for entry (3.75 GPA; students must maintain a 3.65 GPA to remain in the major) and entails a heavy commitment to honors-level work, including independent research under faculty supervision. Applications are due by 1 April of a student's sophomore year. Proposals are only reviewed once a year and only for current sophomores. For more information, see Self-Designed Honors Major.

Admissions

New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU.  For additional information about undergraduate admissions, including application requirements, see How to Apply. 

 

Program Requirements

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Core Courses
Social and Cultural Foundations
CCSF-SHU 101L	Global Perspectives on Society	4
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on China (Two Courses)		8
Writing
WRIT-SHU 102	Writing as Inquiry	4
WRIT-SHU 201	Perspectives on the Humanities	4
Language 1
Language Courses		8-16
Mathematics
MATH-SHU 131	Calculus 2	4
Algorithmic Thinking
Algorithmic Thinking Course		4
Science
Experimental Discovery in the Natural World Course		4
Science, Technology and Society Course		4
Major Requirements and General Electives
Approved Major and Elective Courses		76-84
Total Credits		128

¹

Students who did not attend a Chinese-medium high school fulfill the Core language requirement by demonstrating proficiency of the Chinese language through the Intermediate level.  Chinese speakers who did not attend an English-medium high school fulfill the Core language requirement through completion of EAP-SHU 100 English for Academic Purposes I and EAP-SHU 101 English for Academic Purposes II .  Additional information can be found on the NYU Shanghai Core Curriculum page.

Sample Plan of Study

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this program:

1.  All students learn how to forge their various and sometimes disparate intellectual and/or artistic interests into an individualized program of inquiry and learning that comprises their major demonstrating breadth, depth, and coherence.
2. Students gain proficiency in oral and written communication. They learn to write clear and well-developed analytical prose that reflects careful and complex thinking.
3. Students learn the critical analysis of ideas, themes and texts from major historical, cultural, scientific and philosophical traditions.
4. Students learn to become active learners in the classroom, and to probe the relationship between the material they study in the classroom and the world's outside of it - in the city and in the world beyond, in the domain of work beyond the classroom, and in the professions they seek to enter.
5.  Students learn to approach their own lines of inquiry with creativity and rigor, which transcend traditional disciplinary and professional categories and via the conception and execution of individualized and innovative projects.

Policies

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

NYU Shanghai Policies

Additional academic policies can be found on the NYU Shanghai Academic Policies page.