New York University Bulletin - Gallatin School of Individualized ...

GALLATIN SCHOOL OF INDIVIDUALIZED STUDYGraduate CoreProseminarStudents are required to take a proseminar during the first or, at the latest, the second semesterof the program. Each semester Gallatin offers a few sections of the proseminar withthemes that generally fall into one of three broad categories of academic inquiry—the humanities,the social sciences, or the arts—but they may also cross those boundaries.This course performs a number of functions: (1) It introduces students to the nature of individualizedand interdisciplinary studies by engaging them in work on a broad theme orproblem. Students learn how different kinds of scholars approach a common problem: howthey ask questions, gather relevant information, conduct analysis and reach conclusions. (2)The proseminar helps students think through their own programs of study by broadeningtheir conception of the knowledge and skills they will need to pursue their plans and by encouragingthem to clarify their own educational goals. (3) Finally, the proseminar engagesstudents in some of the academic processes—research, analytic thinking, scholarly communication—thatthey will need throughout their graduate studies.The specific themes of theproseminars will not usually be directly pertinent to each student’s plans, but each class willraise issues of approach and method that every student needs to consider.The aim of theproseminar, then, is to enlarge the student’s scholarship and interdisciplinary inquiry and tosuggest ways that the University’s resources can be used to attain the student’s goals.Additional Gallatin Graduate CourseIn addition to the Proseminar and Gallatin thesis courses (Thesis Proposal Seminar, Master’sThesis I, and Master’s Thesis II), students must take another four units in graduate coursesoffered by Gallatin. This requirement serves several functions: to engage students more fullywith the Gallatin community; to give them an opportunity to strengthen and integrate theconcentration; and to strengthen their academic and interdisciplinary skills. Students haveconsiderable leeway in choosing how to satisfy this requirement, thus manifesting the individualizedcharacter of the program. Moreover, the requirement gives Gallatin faculty aplatform for working with graduate students both on issues and ideas in their own scholarlyfields of interest and in a variety of formats. Students fulfill this requirement by completingone of the following preexisting Gallatin courses:1. a graduate elective course;2. a second Proseminar;3. an independent study or tutorial (internships and private lessons will not fulfill thisrequirement);4. a graduate-level class offered by a Gallatin instructor at, or in conjunction with, anotherNYU department or program..NewYork University Bulletin 2012-2013 143