January Term Courses
The January Term offers a special kind of learning experience, different from the approach during the Fall and Spring semesters. Students take one course full-time for approximately three weeks. The courses are designed as immersive experiences: they intensify the student's focus, reach beyond the classroom to incorporate experiential learning, and are often site-specific, connecting students to the place where they study. Taking a single course during the January Term gives students more time for concentrated reflection on a dedicated topic than is the case during the semester when students must split their time between several courses. The intensity of the shared experience also forges an unusually strong bond between the students and their professor. Although the January Term is short, it has great impact because of its immersive character and linkage of intellectual and experiential learning.
The January Term includes options to study at NYU's Global Network University (GNU) sites around the world. Intellectually linked to their locations, the courses take advantage of local resources, explore the history, culture, economy, and society of the host cities, and involve co-curricular visits. In 2011-12, NYUAD students may choose from courses in Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, New York, and Shanghai.
Global network courses will illuminate the interdependence of local knowledge and global awareness, and mobilize NYU's global network to foster cross-cultural research and insights into complex, global issues. Some January courses will be taught over time at multiple sites in order to consider global issues in a specific location and context. Professor Volk taught State and Fate of Earth in Abu Dhabi in January 2011 and will teach it in Shanghai in January 2012, and we anticipate that in future years, Critical Issues in Social Entrepreneurship and Post-Catastrophe Reconstruction taught this year in Abu Dhabi will travel to other GNU sites and link to local resources. Longitudinal research projects in conjunction with the global network courses allow students to contribute local data and perspectives to a long-term comparative study.
January courses are taught by renowned scholars, writers, artists, journalists, and policy analysts as well as distinguished professors from NYU and NYUAD. A distinctive feature of January Term are the pre-professional courses taught by faculty from NYU's professional schools. In 2011-12, professors from the NYU School of Law, the Silver School of Social Work, the Stern School of Business, and the Tisch School of the Arts will teach January courses.
While first-year students are required to take a January course, upper classmen may fulfill the January Term requirement in two other ways, if they demonstrate that these alternatives help them advance their academic goals. With approval of their mentor and the Office of Global Education, upper-class students may enroll in an NYU summer session course or pursue a Directed Study Course. NYU has two 6-week summer sessions, one largely in June, the other largely in July. Most courses are taught in New York, but some GNU sites also offer summer courses. The NYU summer sessions include courses not available at NYUAD and may enable students to work with a particular professor, deepen their knowledge, or study a subject not covered in the NYUAD curriculum. Students may also apply to take a Directed Study Course in January or during the summer. In the third and fourth years in particular, Directed Study offers an opportunity to pursue research related to a Capstone Project.
Two January Terms may be taken away from Abu Dhabi. Questions about January Term should be directed to the Office of Global Education, which coordinates the program.
