NYU London Classes

This semester, I decided to knock out my College of Arts and Science graduation requirements. I enrolled in Cultures & Context: the Black Atlantic and Great Britain and Expressive Cultures: Architecture in London. These core requirements are definitely more fun than their dull counterparts in New York. There is something special about learning more about the place you are studying in and living in. In my architecture course, I went on field trips every class to historic buildings such as St. Paul’s Cathedral to admire architect Christopher Wren’s designs. I took British Art in London for my elective course and similarly, I had field trips during every class to art museums. For my first art history class, our class walked over to the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square to analyze imported Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck’s court works, one of which was a grandiose painting of Charles I on a horse. During another art history class, we boarded the Tube subway and made our journey to the Painted Hall in Greenwich, boasting a Baroque interior executed by British painter James Thornhill featuring monarchs such as William and Mary, and mythological figures. My Black Atlantic class changed my perspectives on London in a global and historical context. Learning about how the British Empire built its wealth from the slave trade and how cities such as London, Liverpool, and Bristol grew exponentially from the interconnected system of slave traders, merchants, bankers, shipbuilders, insurance companies, and factory workers made me reflect on history in a more nuanced and critical manner. A planned trip to the Docklands Museum elucidates the ways in which London remained at the center of the transatlantic slave trade and production of sugar in the British West Indies and how charity from slave trade wealth funded British cultural institutions such as universities, libraries, museums, and art galleries. Such field studies complement these types of classes very well with a more dynamic and engaging learning environment, enhancing my study abroad experience in a memorable and enjoyable manner. 

Anjun Jia, a junior in NYU Tisch’s dramatic writing program, explains how their Shakespeare class is situated within the English and Dramatic Literature departments. Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Stage: Text and Performance is a requirement for the dramatic writing major and it is highly discussion based, as Anjun describes: “my favorite part is that the class challenges us to think about the greater context surrounding a medium like Elizabethan theater, for instance, who the audience is, how accessible it’s made to be, and how trademarks of a genre can reflect the values of a certain time period.” 

Marie Tagbo is an NYU Tisch junior majoring in Collaborative Arts and she is studying advanced screenwriting and theater at NYU London. Marie outlines how her professional goals fit in the context of London, and in particular, illuminates how the West End serves as an outlet for which she can “see the most renowned and up-and-coming theater directors and stage writers collaborate and do visual storytelling” to fuel her creativity. Marie goes on to highlight how the Shakespeare course is extremely London-centric, since her “teacher works to take the class to a variety of West End plays and educate on their history and the ever-changing landscape of London history.” When prompted on her opinion of the plays themselves, she comments on the uniqueness of the plays as having a “very specific directorial vision. All very intentional and spectacular.” Finally, Marie remarked on the different caliber of professionalism in London plays as opposed to New York ones, saying how she “gravitated to each play in different ways.”