Students reflect on intensive global learning experiences in virtual reality, Arabic language, and entrepreneurship

NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) students are back on campus following their unique academic journeys as part of January Term (J-Term) - a program held annually across three weeks at the start of each year that allows students to explore and engage with the global academic community of which they are a part.

This year’s J-Term saw 1,200 students take 83 courses in Greece, Italy, London, Singapore, India, Morocco, Djibouti, and Jordan, among other global destinations. The courses were each designed to help students delve deeper into their chosen topics and experience contemporary concepts through first hand field research during their travels.

Throughout J-Term, students had access to prominent visiting faculty and scholars including BAFTA and Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker Anthony Geffen; American political consultant Frank Luntz; and renowned geneticist, anthropologist, and author Spencer Wells, among others.

Testimonials from students who took part in J-Term underline NYUAD’s commitment towards creating 21st century global leaders able to respond to a complex and evolving world.

NYUAD Class of 2021 student Suman Razi Ansarifrom from Pakistan remarked on her experience in the Immersive Storytelling course with Anthony Geffen: “Immersive Storytelling was an extremely engaging and inspiring course. The combination of valuable advice from experts in the VR industry, aid from the award-winning director Anthony Geffen himself and the field trips to various production studios made the course unparalleled to any I have taken thus far at university. It was incredible and an honor to be working so closely to Anthony, a pioneer in many aspects of the VR industry and learning directly from his team’s experiences. The course opened my eyes to a whole new area of the IM industry that I had not thought of much before and has actually made me consider taking more Interactive Media courses."

NYUAD Class of 2020 Political Science major Lauris Paegle from Latvia reflected on his experiences in the  Colloquial Arabic: Emirati Dialect course: “Upon first moving to Al Ain, we were nervous and confused students. However, upon leaving, not only did we realize that we could speak the language, but how extraordinarily fortunate we were to have the opportunity to not only learn about the local traditions and culture, but in fact live through them and experience them first-hand, whilst spending time with our Emirati families or out exploring on our daily field trips. After this class I can say with confidence that Arabic is one of the languages I can now speak.”

Class of 2021 Economics major Sebastian Caro from Colombia was part of a course called Law in Entrepreneurship; he is already looking back fondly on the benefits of J-term.: “J-term was an academically intense yet intellectually rewarding experience. I was lucky enough to visit different sites around the UAE including the DIFC Courts, Abu Dhabi Commercial Courts, and we had guest lecturers from serial entrepreneurs to lawyers speak to us. The different perspectives given by both the site visits and the guest speakers allowed us to best grasp the class concepts and apply them to real life.”