Program Overview

Social and Cultural Analysis (BA)

The Department of Social and Cultural Analysis (SCA) is interdisciplinary in nature, integrating topics from the humanities with methodologies from the social sciences. SCA houses the programs in Africana Studies, American Studies, Asian/Pacific/American Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Latino Studies, and Metropolitan Studies. Students who major in Social and Cultural Analysis choose courses from these program areas in SCA and create an individualized concentration.

Program Description

Students have the opportunity to combine cutting-edge scholarship with real-world practice. The department’s faculty and students explore the range of relationships between human collectivities on the one hand and institutions and structures of power on the other, taking into account how these relationships are affected by such modern global developments as intensified urbanization, increased transnational exchange, and proliferating diasporic populations.

Language and Linguistic Competency

The department strongly encourages its students to develop advanced skills in language and linguistics by any of the following means: taking elective courses in sociolinguistics; studying a language other than English beyond the minimum level required by the College of Arts and Science (especially one germane to the department's fields of study); pursuing community-based internship fieldwork necessitating the development and use of specific language skills; or undertaking study or research abroad in contexts entailing the exercise of key language or linguistic capabilities.

Honors Program

Majors who have completed 48 credits of graded work in CAS and have a 3.65 GPA or higher (both overall and in the major) are encouraged to register for SCA-UA 92 Senior Honors Seminar in the fall semester of their senior year. Upon successful completion of the seminar requirement, students will be eligible to register for SCA-UA 93 Senior Honors Thesis in the spring.

Admissions

New York University's Office of Undergraduate Admissions supports the application process for all undergraduate programs at NYU.

Program Requirements

The major requires nine 4-credit courses (36 credits) completed with a grade of C or better (courses graded Pass/Fail do not count) as outlined below.

• General Education Requirements:
  • First-Year Seminar
  • EXPOS-UA 1: Writing as Inquiry
  • Foreign Language
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Physical Science
  • Life Science
  • Texts and Ideas
  • Cultures and Contexts
  • Societies and the Social Sciences
  • Expressive Culture
• Major Requirements:
  • Introductory Courses (Two)
    • SCA-UA 101: Social and Cultural Analysis 101
    • Select one of the following:
      • CORE-UA 529: Cultures & Contexts: Contemporary Latino Cultures
      • CORE-UA 534: Cultures & Contexts: The Black Atlantic
      • CORE-UA 539: Cultures & Contexts: Asian / Pacific / American Cultures
      • SCA-UA 230: Intersect: Race, Gender, & Sexuality in U.S. Hist
      • SCA-UA 747: Introduction to Native American and Indigenous Studies: The Politics of Indigeneity
      • URBS-UA 102: The City
  • Research Course
    • SCA-UA 90: Advanced Research Seminar
  • Electives
    • Select six designated social and cultural analysis electives
    • Other Elective Credits

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid:

• 1st Semester/Term:
  • Select one of the following
  • Foreign Language
  • First-Year Seminar
  • Other Elective Credits
• 2nd Semester/Term:
  • SCA-UA 101: Social and Cultural Analysis 101
  • Foreign Language
  • Texts and Ideas
  • EXPOS-UA 1: Writing as Inquiry
• 3rd Semester/Term:
  • Major Requirements
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Foreign Language
  • Other Elective Credits
• 4th Semester/Term:
  • Major Requirements
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • Expressive Culture
  • Foreign Language
• 5th Semester/Term:
  • Major Requirements
  • Physical Science
  • Other Elective Credits
  • Other Elective Credits
• 6th Semester/Term:
  • Major Requirements
  • Major Requirements
  • Life Science
  • Other Elective Credits
• 7th Semester/Term:
  • Major Requirements
  • Other Elective Credits
  • Other Elective Credits
  • Other Elective Credits
• 8th Semester/Term:
  • SCA-UA 90: Advanced Research Seminar
  • Other Elective Credits
  • Other Elective Credits
  • Other Elective Credits

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of program requirements, students are expected to have developed:

1. Critical thinking tools for the analysis of social, cultural, and political formations.
2. Familiarity with theories for the study of race, class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, space, and nation.
3. Proficiency in written and oral communication.
4. The ability to produce original research on topics relevant to the major using textual/literary, archival, ethnographic, and/or quantitative research methods.
5. Engagement and familiarity with primary texts in Social and Cultural Analysis.

Policies

Program Policies

Double Counting of Courses

• Majors may share (double count) two courses with a second major, with permission from the other department/program.
• Minors may share (double count) one course with a major or a second minor, with permission from the other department/program.

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

College of Arts and Science Policies

A full list of relevant academic policies can be found on the CAS Academic Policies page.