NYU-SCPS Goes Global
In the following sections, you will find exciting examples of the various global learning opportunities available to students at NYU-SCPS.
Prime examples of the rising trend in School-wide international activity are the global initiatives in which the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate has become involved. While New York City remains at the heart of the universe of real estate, these days NYU Schack students also are exploring real estate practices in South America and the Indian subcontinent. “Real estate, once considered a mostly local industry, has evolved into a huge international business,” notes Carl Weisbrod, chair of global development at the Institute. The Global Real Estate concentration, part of the newly created M.S. in Real Estate Development, examines how development approaches vary around the world. This fall, students in the program will travel to Mumbai, India, to work with local officials to convert a dock facility into residential and commercial space. After returning to New York, they will continue consulting on the project via the Internet.
NYU Schack students also have gained hands-on experience helping to rebuild nations decimated by natural or man-made disasters. In 2010-2011, students focused on financing and construction solutions for Haiti in the wake of its devastating earthquake and participated in four on-the-ground projects. Students also traveled to Chile after it was hit by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 to learn about rebuilding efforts there. Afterward, the students conducted a comparative analysis of the two nations with the goal of identifying best reconstruction practices.
NYU Schack also co-sponsors graduate student exchange programs with host universities in Berlin and Amsterdam in which students can travel to New York to study at the Institute. The Institute’s newly established Center for the Sustainable Built Environment (SBE) held its first Annual Sustainable Real Estate Conference in February 2011, which drew attendees from around the world. Co-sponsored by Britain’s Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, among others, it featured panelists from Britain and Germany and provided a close look at sustainability issues in developing nations. The Center also is partnering with the United Nations on a global program to measure greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.
The NYU-SCPS Center for Global Affairs (CGA), devoted to educating international affairs professionals, sponsored intensive overseas courses for its graduate students this past spring and summer, that explored the interplay of media and democratization in the Czech Republic; development issues in Ghana; transition from war zone to a successful economy in Vietnam; and the challenges of prosecuting war crimes with visits to Bosnia, Serbia, and The Hague. Credit and noncredit students can learn about the inner workings of the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. Noncredit students also traveled to Buenos Aires earlier this spring to study social entrepreneurship and civil society.
In addition, in what could prove to be a groundbreaking contribution to international academic exchange and the promotion of civil society, CGA has designed a two-year program, funded by the British Council, in which Iraqi university professors work with CGA faculty members to develop common curricula in peacebuilding, then return home to teach what they’ve learned and put their newly acquired knowledge to work. As CGA Academic Chair Mark Galeotti observes, “It’s not enough to just talk about peace—you have to go out and make it happen.”
In another increasingly globalized arena, The Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management—already known worldwide for its annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference—hosted courses in Berlin this summer that examined sports tourism and mega-events; cultural heritage tourism; and special-interest tourism. Over this past spring break, the Center sponsored its annual Tisch Center Scholars excursion for high-performing students. This year’s trip, to Santiago, Chile, explored the roles of the hotel, tourism, and sports sectors in helping a region recover from a natural disaster.
In the spirit of traditional study-away programs, NYU-SCPS also provides its adult undergraduates with overseas educational opportunities. The Paul McGhee Division sponsored a travel-study course to Spain this spring that focused on Muslim influence during the Middle Ages. It is also offering a culture- and history-oriented trip this summer to Tuscany. In addition, the Division co-hosts a theater-related excursion to London in August for credit and noncredit students.
The Center for Publishing has launched a highly successful executive education series at the NYU-Abu Dhabi Campus. The program is a public service partnership between NYU-SCPS and KITAB, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The NYU-SCPS American Language Institute (ALI)—the oldest program of its kind in any U.S. research university to focus on English language training for non-native speakers—offers immersion courses in English as a Second Language to academics and executives from abroad. As part of the Enterprise Learning initiative, a collaboration between NYU-SCPS and NYU-Poly (the Polytechnic Institute of New York University), ALI is providing an intensive, three-month English course to visiting professionals from the Chinese coal industry that is incorporated into their year-long study program.
In the nonprofit sector, The George H. Heyman, Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising hosted a Leadership Summit on Global Philanthropy in February. The summit, which explored the increasingly international nature of fundraising, drew participants from 40 global institutions, and featured keynote speaker Dame Stephanie Shirley, the United Kingdom’s founding Ambassador for Philanthropy. The Heyman Center and CGA also have created a new Professional Certificate in Global Philanthropy, designed for professionals in the nonprofit or government sectors who are working in international development, humanitarian assistance, and related areas.