More than 430 NYU Abu Dhabi students participated in the summer J-Term courses, with topics spanning from technology and urban planning, to ethical design. The ten-day immersive program challenged students to think critically and act collaboratively, offering an academic experience that was rigorous with local and global relevance.
Through classroom discussions and field trips, students utilize local resources and partnerships to make meaningful connections and impactful solutions to real-world issues. These courses not only reflect the university’s mission to educate global citizens, but also complement the UAE’s declared Year of Community, fostering a sense of community by understanding and promoting long-term impact.
Some of this year’s summer J-Term courses included:
- How to Build a City by Professor Mitchell Joachim in New York.
This course addressed the challenges of sustainable development and of creating a commons in an era of climate change. Students look at the intersection of architectural design between Dubai and Manhattan, and learn how to create community in urban contexts while taking into consideration strategies that include people, culture, and economic dynamics. Urbanization on the Coastal Fringe by Professor John Burt in Belize.
Students explored what it means to reconcile rapid coastal urbanization with the need to preserve our planet’s coastal ecosystems and environments. Using the coast of Belize as a case study and engagements in terrestrial and marine ecosystems throughout the country , students explored how countries try to balance rapidly growing populations while trying to sustain their natural assets for future generations.
New Capitals of Contemporary Art: Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Amman by Professor Salha Reema Fadda.
Through visits to Sharjah Art Foundation, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and cultural sites in Amman, Jordan, students investigated how cultural production shapes national images and develops interdisciplinary research to map new perspectives in contemporary arts.- Disability, Technology, and Media by Professor Mara Mills in Abu Dhabi.
Students reflected on how disability studies can inform better designs by viewing disability as a social phenomenon rather than an individual and medical one. The overarching question in this course was learning how to shift access from a retrofit and a compliance issue to a creative practice, with students designing access for people of determination for the Zayed National Museum on Saadiyat Island.
Technology for Sustainable Development by Professor Sana Odeh in Abu Dhabi and Amman, Jordan.
Students examined how technological innovations can tackle global challenges such as health, climate change, education, refugee crises, and poverty. As an experiential approach to solving real-world problems, students headed to Jordan to examine how sustainable technology development is applied there. Students will understand how Jordan leverages their rich cultural heritage to build a thriving tourist culture, while on the other hand facing both environmental and demographic challenges.Black like Me? A Global Exploration of Race, Colorism, and Racial Identity by Professor Leoandra Onnie Rogers in Abu Dhabi.
Through class discussions, activities, and qualitative interviewing, students reflected on racial structures of a global society “as is” as well as Afro-futurism and “figured worlds” to collectively reimagine who and what we are beyond structures of anti-Black racism. The course looked at how to conduct research, analyze, and interpret data resulting in new ways of knowing themselves, each other, and the world.
