Aligned with the University's mission to educate global citizens, J-term integrates travel as an educational tool alongside a diverse group of academic guides, including researchers, faculty, scholars, writers, and leaders. 

Here are five highlights from courses that have seen students travel the globe in pursuit of unique educational experiences: 

Women and Gender - Global Leadership Models ReImagined 

UAE and South Africa

The course “Women and Gender - Global Leadership Models ReImagined” delved into definitions, histories, and emerging theories about women leaders globally. 

The trio teaching the course were all women leading in the fields of IDBEA and education: NYU’s inaugural Senior Vice President for Global Inclusion and Strategic Innovation, Lisa M Coleman; NYUAD’s Executive Director of Inclusion and Equity Fatiah Touray, and Professor of Higher Education Teboho Moja, who serves as NYU Steinhardt’s Department Chair of Administration, Leadership, and Technology.

In the course, students considered the role of women across nations with a specific focus on the UAE and South Africa. By engaging with various speakers and texts from different geographical locations and intellectual traditions, students explored several questions around how has the role of women and women's leadership shifted? 

In doing so, students gained a nuanced understanding of the contrasting and emerging definitions of woman, gender, and leadership in relation to emerging and practical policy and leadership implications and global interconnectedness.

Building Peace and Restoring Societies after Violent Conflict

Bosnia

In this J-term course, where students traveled to Bosnia to explore the impact of collective violence and peacebuilding activities, students were asked a key question: How do societies build peace after violent conflict?

Taught by NYU Steinhardt Associate Professor of Psychology and Social Intervention Rezarta Bilali, “Building Peace and Restoring Societies after Violent Conflict” allowed students to explore the science and art of building peace in the aftermath of collective violence. 

Fieldwork took students to Bosnia where they interacted with practitioners to critically assess how peacebuilding strategies have worked in Bosnia. 

“This was the most intensive, involved, beautiful, and exhausting teaching experience I have had. Different from other teaching that I do now, I also learned a lot myself,” said Bilali “I have been so touched reading their daily reflections!” said Bilali.

When the Moors Ruled in Europe

Madrid

In this course students learned about the history of coexistence between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in the Iberian peninsula and its diasporic legacies in the broader Mediterranean world.

Students first examined the medieval concept of convivencia, or cultures of coexistence, and explored how it transformed cities such as Toledo, Córdoba and Granada into leading European centers of knowledge. Next, they looked at port cities such as Palermo, Livorno and Tunis that emerged as spaces of religious tolerance after the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from Iberia at the dawn of the modern era. 

“In an era of increasing xenophobia and intolerance, what might we learn from past experiences of multiculturalism?” asked professors Luis Ramos and Kyle Joseph Wanberg, who taught the course. 

Students engaged in this central question through class discussions and site visits in Spain. Similarly, students critically examined Spain’s cultures of medieval convivencia as a means of grappling with questions of migration, cultural transmission and interfaith dialogue in the modern world. 

Curation for Participation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content

Shanghai

NYU Shanghai Assistant Arts Professor of Interactive Media+Business Yanyue Yuan challenged students to explore new trends in museum curation and audience participation in a world of Generative AI. 

Yuan asked students two essential questions: What is the essence of curation, both within and beyond the traditional museum setting? How can we curate with a focus on active audience participation in the age of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC)? 

This course introduced students to the core principles of participatory curation, enriched by insights derived from both research and practical applications. 

Students worked in groups to redesign the main exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Glass and document their collaborative efforts in a curatorial portfolio. 

Alongside this course project, students engaged in immersive field trips to local museums and cultural institutions, developing skills in ideation, conceptualization, prototyping, gathering user feedback, and integrating Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) in curatorial projects.

Global Business Strategy

UAE and Kenya

The course aimed to enrich students’ understanding of variations in the institutional, and resource contexts of nations and the impact of these variations on national economic growth.

Led by NYU Stern’s Clinical Professor of Marketing Sunder Narayanan, students went on a visit to Nairobi, Kenya, during which they were able to observe directly how the institutions and resources there impact how business is done there compared to in other countries.  

While in Kenya, students had the opportunity to explore the host country and participate in presentations and discussions with local experts.  They also conducted market research to help them formulate a market entry strategy for their project report.