NYU’s Most Unique Classes

Have you ever wanted to learn more about what happens to the brain when an individual consumes marijuana? Or do you want to take part in an interesting science class? Then this class is great for you! Part of the course description says ‘Through lecture, discussion, and a thorough analysis of the current research literature in neuroscience and human development, we seek to answer these questions and identify marijuana’s role in psychology, medicine, culture, and government policy.”

There is no specific professor for this class, given there are so many class times due to the course’s popularity. Also, this is a 2 credit CAMS class, which stands for Childhood Adolescent Mental Health Studies – so, if you are earning a CAMS minor, this class can fill your requirements.

Are you interested in the NYC theatre scene? Do you want to watch plays or musicals weekly? Well, then this sounds like a fabulous course for you! I took Live in New York last fall with Steven Drukman, a NYC-based playwright, and he led class discussions and took us to watch a show almost every week. In the class we took part in NYC’s 2024-2025 theater season and watched a new play or musical nearly every Thursday night.

We examined American theatre, psychological realism, and discussed the respective performances the following week in class. This is a 4 credit Open Arts class that will likely count towards your elective credits, and I highly recommend it if you want to dig deeper into discussions of New York City’s theater world.

Are you ever curious about how love affects the brain and body? This might be the class for you! The title inspired by the famous RomCom with the same name, Love Actually delves into the psychological effects of love and romance. The class’ description writes ‘Through discussions, papers, and projects, we will examine the concepts of love and intimacy through various lenses, including those of neurobiology, evolutionary psychology, culture, and art.

Focusing on the development of love throughout the lifecycle, we will study how people seek intimacy, how love evolves over time, the influence of love on human behavior, and love and intimacy relation to psychological well-being.” This is another CAMS class that can fulfill a science or CAMS minor requirement, and my friends that have taken it say they would recommend it to other students!

Are you interested in the history of witches? Or how gender roles date back to the time of witches? You will definitely want to take this class! This is by far my favorite gen-ed class I’ve taken at NYU; it explores the history of witchcraft accusations and trials across the Atlantic, which varies from 1700’s Salem, Massachusetts, to witches in South America. The course description reads “We will look at witchcraft in Europe, colonial Latin America, and colonial North America through primary and secondary readings.

We will see the way that gender, sex, and sexuality influenced the thinking about the ‘crime’ of witchcraft – one of the few crimes during the early modern period for which more women were accused of men” The most interesting aspect of the class was seeing the parallels in society from 300 years ago to the modern world. My class was taught by Susanah Romney, a wonderful professor that was deeply passionate about the subject, and I highly recommend taking the class with her.

Are you curious to see what goes on behind the scenes when manufacturing and growing chocolate and how the chocolate business became one of the biggest industries in the world? Well, read on. This Stern class, The Global Business of Chocolate, is a NYC-based spring semester class, but takes a spring break trip to Hawaii, where students gain hands-on experience in a place with a booming chocolate industry.

The course’s description says, “With a focus on the cocoa industry, explore Hawaii’s agriculture industry and how cocoa serves as a microcosm of the global economy” and “This course will study the fascinating world of chocolates over its entire value chain from bean to brand, exploring topics pertaining to history and culture, cultivation and economic development, business and economics, marketing and branding, international politics and trade, science and nutrition, sustainability, farming, child labor and water management, as well as future of the industry in a world dealing with climate and developmental challenges.”  This is a 3-credit class and is only open to Stern students who have completed their freshman year and are in a good academic standing.

Are you interested in baseball and religion and also enjoy reading, then you’re going to want to check out this NYU class, Baseball as a Road to God. John Sexton, who is actually the previous president of New York university, teaches this course at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

The course description reads, ““Baseball as a Road to God links literature about our national pastime with the study of philosophy and theology. It discusses such themes as the metaphysics of sports, the notions of sacred time and space, and the idea of baseball as a civil religion. Warning: this seminar is not for the faint-hearted. It requires students to read approximately two dozen works in addition to supplemental readings as they might arise. Weekly papers also are required in which students will learn how to deconstruct sophisticated arguments, how to construct reasoned opinions, and how to value differences in opinion.”

Obviously this seems like an incredible course, but the syllabus does warn students of the workload, so if you’re a big reader, this class could be for you.