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Explore the Unique Course Offerings of NYU Shanghai

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Maxine P

Students at NYU Shanghai live and study in one of the most innovative cities in the world. Shanghai, China’s largest city, is a global hub for business, technology, and art. Faculty at the top of their fields teach unique and varied courses across NYU Shanghai’s 19 majors and 23 minors, offering students numerous opportunities to engage with the city as they expand their knowledge and perspective.

The Future of Fashion and Technology

In the innovative NYU Shanghai course Interactive Fashion, Professor Marcela Godoy immerses students in the future of fashion and technology. Specifically, students learn to use computational design, digital fabrication, and soft robotics to create a garment that reflects societal issues. “Historically, what we wear has been used to express our identity and complex issues related to class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality,” says Godoy. “Now, technology allows us to see our clothing as an extension of our bodies.”

Outside the classroom, students engage with the fashion-forward city of Shanghai during trips to unique locations like the 3D Printing Culture Museum of China. At the end of each semester, students showcase their unique creations during a lively runway show.

Service Learning with Impact

Another dynamic course offered at NYU Shanghai is Language and Power with Professor Marcel Daniels. In this course students travel to centers across Shanghai to teach English to migrant communities. Through experiential learning, they explore the social, cultural, and political factors influencing language usage. At the same time, they use their own cultural and linguistic lenses to contextualize their experience. “This course allows students to perform meaningful service to an underserved population while immediately applying insights from the course content,” says Daniels.

Margaret Czarnik, a Social Science major at NYU Shanghai in the Class of 2026, describes Language and Power as her “most extraordinary educational experience.” The course pushed her outside her comfort zone and cultivated a tight-knit community among her classmates. “After a few lessons, I already felt like I was a part of something bigger,” Margaret says. “We were exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and giving each other advice.” In addition, Margaret uncovered her love of applied linguistics through this experience. “I became so passionate about this field that I presented my final project from the class at the Undergraduate Research Symposium,” she explains.

Movement as a Tool for Exploration, Creativity, and Expression

Students of all experience levels explore the craft of dance creation in Professor Yuting Zhao’s course Choreography and Performance. Throughout the semester, they practice dance combinations and improvisation while creating their own solo and collective works. “Students are invited to think beyond their intellectual world and use their body and movement as a way of understanding and exploring the world,” says Zhao.

For Tate Pan, an NYU Shanghai Class of 2024 graduate who double-majored in Neural Science and Social Science, the Choreography and Performance course was transformative. “Creating art often requires spaces—physical, emotional, and supportive—to move, express vulnerability, and transform it into strength,” says Tate. “This class offers all of that, organically. Despite never considering myself a dancer, this course welcomed me into the world of dance and choreography. It equipped me with tools to express myself creatively through movement.”

Shanghai as the Classroom

In Shanghai Architecture for Chinese Language Learners, Professor Beilei Gu uses Shanghai’s rich architectural heritage as a tool to improve students’ Chinese language skills. Through the class’s innovative integration of language learning and exploration, the vibrant city of Shanghai becomes the classroom.

“During biweekly city walks, students immerse themselves in the city’s architectural landscape,” Gu says. “Our explorations range from the historic elegance of the international area and the quaint old lanes of Yuyuan Road to the iconic skyscrapers of Qiantan and the architectural marvels of the Bund,” she continues. As a result, these experiences allow students to immerse themselves in the local culture and architecture, fostering a deeper connection with the city.

Look behind the scenes at these and several more innovative courses at NYU Shanghai in the video linked above.

Written by Olivia Richter

Baedeker: NYU’s Global Canvas

Posted on March 3, 2025 by Maxine P

Baedeker magazine captured the essence of studying away at NYU’s global sites when it was first launched by students in 2007. After a few years of dormancy, Baedeker has come back strong after Stern Class of 2024 graduate Jonny Rothberg and College of Arts and Science graduate Class of 2024 Shuhe Ma revived the magazine in 2022. The publication now offers a vibrant, multifaceted platform for students, faculty, and alumni to chronicle their experiences abroad, connect with others, and immerse themselves in the spirit of exploration.

With print editions, digital storytelling, and global chapters, the magazine provides student contributors valuable professional experience. Based in New York City, it also has global chapters with their own print editions in Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, and Sydney, with plans to launch another in Abu Dhabi soon.

Shuhe Ma (left) and Jonny Rothberg (right)

For Jonny, Baedeker was a catalyst for his decision to study abroad in Florence, where he pursued adventure and embraced the magazine’s mission. “I spent as much time as possible backpacking, so I wasn’t as involved with Baedeker in Florence as I was in New York City,” he says. “But it was always this organism living in my brain, framing my photos for me, pushing me to collect more life essence to tell the staff back in New York City. I would not have done nearly as much or made nearly as many friends if it hadn’t been for Baedeker in the back of my mind.”

The publication’s unique structure—semi-independent chapters at several of NYU’s global sites—ensures that every edition reflects the diverse experiences of students across the world. Each chapter operates as both a creative hub and a supportive community for students adapting to new environments. There are many ways to get involved with the magazine, from submitting a story to helping organize a release party. Anyone in the NYU global network can find belonging and purpose in Baedeker’s collaborative spirit.

The magazine’s influence pushed Jonny in his academic life as well, inspiring him to take more writing and humanities courses to augment what he was learning in his Business major.

“When I started at Stern, I planned to surround myself with only business kids, celebrity finance professors, and the like,” he says. “I remember scorning the very concept of courses like Social Impact or Organizational Communication. Now? When someone asks me what my most important classes were, I would say those two classes.”

For Claire Sohn, a sophomore at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development majoring in Media, Culture, and Communication, the magazine has been a professional springboard. “All of the writing and editorial work I did early on with Baedeker has helped me hone my storytelling skills immensely,” she says. “And I was actually able to get my first internship thanks to Baedeker. This past summer, I was a global brands marketing and publicity intern for Scholastic, and the part of my résumé that piqued my manager’s interest was my work as head of outreach for the magazine.”

Baedeker’s revival embodies the spirit of NYU’s global network—an interconnected community that celebrates exploration, creativity, and personal growth. By documenting the unique experience of studying abroad, the magazine serves as both a platform for storytelling and a bridge between NYU’s campuses and sites worldwide, connecting student experiences and broadening aspirations.

NYU Los Angeles Holds Inaugural Musical Showcase

Posted on February 19, 2025, modified on February 19, 2025 by Katie L

Featuring performances by and interviews of three alumni musicians, the event united students and the music industry to celebrate the program’s fifth anniversary.

Four people pose in front of purple NYU Los Angeles backdrop. Festive balloons are arranged along either side of the subjects.

Jwalt, Nina Sadowsky, Piper Page, and SOLA

SOLA, holding a microphone, sings onstage. A guitar play also appears.

SOLA performs at the NYU LA Musical Showcase.

On November 7, 2024, NYU Los Angeles (NYU LA) held their inaugural Spotlight Musical Showcase at the Preserve in Hollywood in celebration of the global site’s fifth anniversary. The 125 attendees included current students, alumni, and other friends of the program that work in the music industry.

Since 2019, NYU LA has welcomed advanced undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in the entertainment and media industries. While in LA, students engage in rigorous academic coursework taught by industry professionals and undertake a mandatory internship. A series of additional experiential and professional development opportunities support the students as they begin to forge their careers in entertainment, media, music, technology, and broadcasting.

Piper stands at a microphone on stage in front of a group of people. A person plays keyboard behind her.

Piper Page performs at the NYU LA Musical Showcase.

“We felt from the get-go that one of the big gaps in entertainment industry education was not enough connectivity between the education and the realities of the industry,” says Nina Sadowsky, program director at NYU LA. “The heart of our program is the required internship, but we’ve also reached deep into our local base of 16,000 alumni for mentorship and networking. Our Spotlight Musical Showcase was a great way to further engage our alumni while creating an opportunity for our students to make more professional links.”

The Spotlight Musical Showcase featured performances by three NYU alumni, all of whom are now launching their careers:

Jessica “SOLA” Omokheyeke (Steinhardt BM ’23, Music Business)
Piper Page (Steinhardt BM ’23, Music Business)
Justin Carter “Jwalt” Walton (Tisch School of the Arts BFA ’24, Recorded Music)

“I was excited to participate in the Musical Showcase to shed more light on the music part of NYU LA’s program,” says Page, who released her debut album, Based On True Events, in September and recently wrapped up a tour that included stops in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. “I want to highlight that the musicians who come through our program do great things. It was such a well-done event and was well-received by everyone.”

Susan Dodes and SOLA hold microphones and sit in director-style chairs.

Susan Dodes interviews SOLA.

“I was so impressed by the outstanding performances and achievements of our alums,” said Jack H. Knott, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of NYU Steinhardt, who attended the Musical Showcase. “These graduates of our Music Business program are a testament to the program’s unique education and hands-on experience, which empower our students to achieve success in the highly competitive music industry.”

In addition to the performances, the alumni were interviewed on stage by special guests, including Susan Dodes, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at Steinhardt and celebrated music executive, and Marcie Allen, strategic branding powerhouse and current NYU LA faculty. Page chose to be interviewed by Noah Broxmeyer, director of creator and content marketing at Capitol Music Group and an alum of Gallatin and NYU LA.

Noah Broxmeyer and Piper Page hold microphones and sit in director-style chairs.

Noah Broxmeyer interviews Piper Page.

“We talked about what it was like for me to roll out an album as an independent artist and doing everything myself, which really resonated with the students who talked to me after the event concluded,” says Page, who is an active recording artist and songwriter while working as a marketing coordinator for Reservoir, an independent music company in New York City. “It’s more and more common for people to launch their music careers while holding other jobs, and I wanted to show them that it’s possible.”

The Musical Showcase was well-received by all attendees, and Sadowsky hopes to annualize this event, as well as perhaps expand it to other areas of the program.

“If people want to work in film, music, gaming, or tech, they need to know LA and the ecosystem here,” says Sadowsky. “Events like this provide connectivity that benefits the school, the students, the alumni, and the industry representatives.”

Repurposed with permission from NYU Steinhardt News

Artists Find Inspiration Through Inaugural Residency Programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai

Posted on December 2, 2024, modified on December 2, 2024 by Maxine P

Nester kneels with headphones on on the edge of a boat. A dolphin fin can be seen in the water in the distance.

Nester recording dolphins in the Arabian Gulf

Artists in residence enrich a university community by bringing new ideas and inspiring new questions, and that’s exactly what the inaugural artists in residence at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai did this past year in the sites’ programs.

NYU has long hosted artists in residence, but a global expansion allows the community to flourish in unexpected ways. “It’s understanding what people do, what their work involves, and then hopefully coming up with something together that we can explore that opens up both of our minds,” Sam Nester, the inaugural artist in residence at NYU Abu Dhabi, says. Nester, a trumpet player, composer, and sound artist who grew up in Australia, didn’t come in with a scientific background—but that was the point. As an artist he could learn from the scientists and vice versa. “The creative process is just like the scientific process,” he says. “There’s lots of learning and questions.”

Sam Nester

During Nester’s residency, he worked with the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology to turn human genomes into sound, and partnered with scientists like Dr. John Burt, PhD, to place microphones in the Arabian Gulf—one of the warmest bodies of water in the world—to record the sounds of dying coral reefs onto plastic “vinyl” plucked from the ocean. “We’re tracking the changes of those sounds,” he says, explaining that “changes in acoustic properties might help us understand what happens with biodiversity with heat stress.”

Not only do artists in residence foster a sense of innovation and creativity on campus, but they work in various roles, and can also help students think outside the box. Lei, a Shanghai native, was NYU Shanghai’s inaugural artist in residence, along with Dennis de Bel, an artistic researcher, educator, and radio amateur.

Lei taught for the first time during his residency, and while the University had originally proposed he complete a project by himself, Lei decided to slowly involve his students. He created a wall installation of wooden musical instruments that experimented with how we experience sound, and he let his students join in the performance when he exhibited them. He also curated exhibitions for his students to display their own work. “We need this kind of courage to do something new,” says Lei, who has a background in music, engineering, and the visual arts. “So I played that kind of role [to encourage students], but they also supported me because it was the first time I’ve taught.”

A group of people holding and looking at Lei's wooden instruments

The NYU Shanghai community got to engage with Lei’s wooden musical instruments at the final exhibition.

Lei says ultimately, the final project was less important than the relationships he cultivated with his colleagues, students, and the Shanghai community—especially everyone who came out for the final exhibition. “We shared that moment together, and I think that was the most beautiful part,” he says. Nester echoes those sentiments. “One of the things that was very special about this residency…is that I’ve also made some really wonderful friends and colleagues that I never would have had the opportunity to unless I was there,” Nester concludes. “I feel like part of my heart is left there as well, which is a beautiful and wonderful thing.”

Written by Marti Trgovich

Akkasah: Illuminating History Through Photography

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Maxine P

This summer, Akkasah, the photography archive at NYU Abu Dhabi’s al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, released 1,500 digitized photographs from across the Middle East, with some photographs dating back to the 19th century. Located within the NYU Abu Dhabi Library, this remarkable collection houses a treasure trove of images that chronicle the history, culture, and transformation of the Middle East and beyond.

An example from the archive: Taken in 1949 by Ibrahim Omara, this image of Egyptian actresses Aziza Helmy and Laily Fawzy in the back of a car is available in the Samir Farid Collection.
Reference ID: ref34_000002

Origins of the Archive

This fascinating collection of the photographic heritage of the Middle East was established in 2014 by Professor Shamoon Zamir, who still serves as its director. “When I joined NYU Abu Dhabi, I very much wanted to make some kind of contribution to work in the region,” says Professor Zamir. After noticing a lack of Middle Eastern photography archives, he designed Akkasah to be completely accessible, both online and in person.

Akkasah acquires photos from donations, family albums, studios, and even flea markets. They also work with people who allow Akkasah to digitally archive their collections while they retain the physical copies of their photographs.

Once collected, each photo is individually cataloged with any available metadata, such as the subject matter and location. Although most archives catalog their collections folder by folder, Akkasah catalogs each photograph. It’s a time-consuming process, but the extensive metadata and easy searchability put Akkasah in a class of its own.

Scholarly Impact

With its diverse collection of roughly 40,000 images spanning the late 1800s to the present, Akkasah provides a unique window into the past. Anthropologists, historians, and social scientists from around the world have access to this invaluable resource, offering insights into education, religion, fashion, and more.

“There are both amazing surprises and expected things in there,” says Professor Zamir. Some subjects provoke questions, for instance, two women kissing in a Cairo photobooth in the 1940s.

Beyond its role as a scholarly resource, Akkasah opens its doors to students and the wider community by hosting exhibitions, seminars, and lectures. They have taught workshops on skills such as archiving and constructing photo books. And anyone can browse the archive in person or online.

“Anyone, academic or nonacademic, can make an appointment and see whatever they want to see,” says Professor Zamir. “In fact, we very much welcome it.”

Professional Development Opportunities

For students who want to learn even more about archiving, Akkasah offers paid internships. Undergraduates can gain valuable experience in photography, digitization, and curation.

A studio portrait of a seated woman wearing a dark dress

An example from the archive: This studio portrait of a seated woman comes from the Kadikoy Foto Aile in Turkey and is available in the Ozge Calafato Collection.
Reference ID: ref263

Emily Broad, a Raleigh, North Carolina, native who graduated from NYU Abu Dhabi in 2022 with a degree in Art and Art History, is one former intern. “Akkasah is one of the reasons why I applied to NYU Abu Dhabi,” says Emily. “I was able to develop my interest in photography not only as a practice but also as an academic discipline.”

As part of a summer research project, she cataloged a collection from the granddaughter of Butti Bin Bishr who worked closely with Sheikh Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ founder. “I spent the whole summer talking with her and going through each image, dating them and writing descriptions. That was a unique experience because I got to work with someone who was high-level in the UAE as well as form a relationship with her through the archival work.”

Building on the skills she learned, Emily went on to do an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is now pursuing her PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester.

A Cultural Reservoir

Perhaps one of the archive’s most important roles is the preservation of cultural heritage. It documents traditions, customs, and art forms, helping safeguard the rich cultural tapestry of the Middle East. Anyone can stop in to reconstruct narratives, explore societal changes, and gain insights into the past.

Emily encourages students to take advantage of the unique resource. “Akkasah gives you a different look at the region than what people are used to, especially if you’re an American student,” she says. “I feel like we have preconceived notions about the Arab world that working with Akkasah really changed for me.”

Written by Kelsey Rexroat

Revealing Traces of a Forgotten Diaspora

Posted on January 15, 2020, modified on January 22, 2020 by Chelsea Robles

Next week, James D. Fernández, site director of NYU Madrid and professor of Spanish Literature and Culture, and Luis Argeo, a journalist and filmmaker from Asturias, Spain, will launch a fascinating multi-media exhibit that takes the viewer on the personal journeys of emigrants who settled in the US generations ago.

From the 23^rdof January to the 12^th of April, the Invisible Emigrants exhibit will be on hosted at the Centro Cultural Conde Duque in Madrid, Spain. Read more in excerpts from the brochure below, on the exhibit’s blog, Spanish Immigrants in the United States, and Facebook Group (also titled Spanish Immigrants in the United States).

Out of invisibility: about the project

Tens of thousands of working-class Spaniards emigrated to the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Their story is largely unknown, invisible, in both Spain and the US. For the last ten years, [Fernández and Argeo] have been struggling to make this story visible, before it disappears for good. They’ve knocked on doors all over Spain and the US, gaining permission to digitize and analyze family archives, and rescuing from rusty cookie tins and crumbling family albums, the primary sources that chronicle the quiet heroism of the protagonists of this forgotten diaspora.

The project

Now, with the support and leadership of the Fundación Consejo España – EE. UU., Fernández and Argeo are embarking on their most ambitious project to date: serving as the curators of a major, multi-media exhibition, which will open in Madrid in January, 2020 at Madrid’s Centro Cultural Conde Duque, before traveling around Spain and the US. The exhibition will use the photographs, documents, film footage and objects they found in the homes of the descendants of immigrants, in order to reconstruct the textures and trials, the spirit and sentiment, of this fascinating but almost lost chapter in the history of immigration and in the history Spain-US relations.

Jim-and-Luis — Luis Argeo (left) and James Fernández (right)
Photo by: Juan de la Fuenta

Behind the scenes: about the producers

The Fundación Consejo España – EE. UU. was created in 1997 to strengthen links between Spanish and American society and institutions, to promote mutual understanding and joint ventures of all sorts between the two countries.

Diseñar América: El trazado español de los Estados Unidos–Designing America: Spain’s Imprint in the US was the first major exhibition project created and promoted by the foundation. This prestigious show, which opened at the National Library in Madrid and has traveled to Washington D.C., Houston (TX), Santa Barbara (CA) and San Antonio (TX), allowed the foundation to consolidate experience and “know how” in managing cultural exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic.

With this experience under our belt, the Fundación – in collaboration with Madrid City Council – has now assumed the production, management, and seed sponsorship of the exhibition Invisible Emigrants, with the firm conviction that this new project will make visible a fascinating and unknown shared history, and advance the core mission of our organization.

To date, the exhibition is sponsored by New York University and the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center Foundation of NYU; the Spanish companies Técnicas Reunidas and Navantia; the United States Embassy in Spain and the Franklin Institute of the University of Alcalá de Henares (University Institute for Research on North America).

Global Dimensions