Humanities

For the Class of 2017, please consult your academic advisor on the route most suitable for you.

The intellectual vigor of the humanities pivots on a rigorous inquiry into the enduring traditions and the uncharted frontiers of what we call the human condition. At NYU Shanghai, our students learn to describe, analyze, critique, and theorize this condition in a mode that builds on both the curriculum’s interdisciplinary, crosscultural foundation and the intellectual strength of our global faculty in fields ranging from history, philosophy, literary and cultural studies, to area studies, cinema, digital humanities, arts, among others. The integrated nature of our Humanities Major provides broad exposure to those sounds, texts, experiences, ideas, and images that mark the changing dynamics between Chinese, Asian, European, and other civilizations across lands and oceans. Poised to challenge common assumptions about the “what” and “how” of knowledge, our students also learn to pursue in-depth, comparative inquiries into the making and transformation of human thoughts. Through our two innovative core courses, Critical Concepts and Digital Approaches, students of our Humanities Major simultaneously enter the centuries-long traditions of humanistic inquiry and forge new ground in the areas of digital and information technologies. As they progress, students have the opportunity to design their own Focus, consisting of three courses on one topic or discipline of their interest within the Humanities, such as history, cinema studies, and so on. This exploration, in our students’ senior-year Capstone course, will culminate into a thesis that reflects the student’s chosen Focus.