Choosing your courses at NU London: a guide from the Academic Advising team

A Guide from the Academic Advising Team

NU London has a unique structure which sets it apart from other universities. One amongst these differences is the scope to select ‘elective’ courses and pathways in disciplines outside of your main degree programme.

The following information should provide all you need to select your courses for the first semester of your study.

Terminology

• Academic Advisors – the academic advising team is there to help you with every step of your academic journey, beginning with your first course selection. At NU London, every student is designated an academic advisor.
• Accelerated Master’s path – Students can also choose to complete a double degree in which additional study, taken on our Boston, Oakland, or other campuses after UK graduation, leads to the acquisition of a US Master’s degree. Taking certain courses in year three can provide credits which can be transferred to Boston during this fourth year. If you are interested in the Master’s path, please discuss this with your advisor. See also the double/single degree.
• Add/Drop Period – During the Add/drop period, students will be able to apply to change their elective courses, subject to availability.
• Core Attribute – signals the inclusion of particular knowledge and skills within a given course. You will need to acquire a minimum number of these core attributes in order to receive your degree.
• Course Map – lists all the required, optional, and recommended courses for the next year, alongside all of the potentially available electives, divided by the semester in which they are delivered.
• Double/Single Degree – one of the most important choices to make at NU London is whether you plan to fulfil the requirements of both the UK and a US undergraduate degree. The latter requires up to 32 US credits to be achieved, either through a fourth year in Boston, or in an accelerated fashion through online courses completed during the Summer breaks. Please note the US degree is not available for Law students. See also the Accelerated Masters path.
• Elective course – a course not required by your degree programme. You can select an elective course in any discipline, on the condition you meet all necessary prerequisites.
• Optional course – provide you with a choice within your degree programme. You will need to select from amongst a list of optional courses, though once you have selected you may also be able to take the remaining options as electives.
• Pathway – refers to a set of courses within a given discipline or connected to a given theme. Taking these courses makes you eligible to receive official recognition of the pathway in your final graduation documents.
• Plan of Study – lists all the required, optional, and recommended courses for a given degree programme across all years of study. Both the single (UK only) and double (UK/US) degree plans of study are included in this document.
• Recommended elective course – a course the faculty has recommended to ensure you engage with your required and optional courses to the best of your ability. We strongly recommend you select these courses as electives if you have not already completed an equivalent course previously. Advisors will be able to inform you if your prior studies reached an equivalent level to the recommended course.
• Required course – a course required by your degree programme. You will be automatically enrolled on this course.
• Semester Abroad – during the second semester of the second year, all students are eligible to continue their studies at one of our US campuses, taking US courses that also enable you to progress on the London programme. Any additional requirements resulting from this are listed in the plans of study.

Courses and Course Selection

In order to begin your degree at NU London you will need to familiarise yourself with both the Plan of Study and the Course Map found in this introductory pack. The Plan of Study details the courses you will be required to take, the optional courses you will need to select, and the elective slots you will need to fill by selecting additional elective courses. The elective courses available for this year are detailed on the course map.  If any interest you, you can find a description of their contents and the planned assessments in the academic handbook, available here. For the full list of programme specifications, please refer to the mobility and University Course Lists. Please note that all courses are subject to change due to staffing and other external factors, and that all are subject to a cap on the available places.

Now that you have accepted your offer, you will be automatically enrolled onto your required courses. The academic advising department will also be in touch soon to help you discuss your elective choices for the first semester. Please familiarise yourself with the courses available and identify those that fit your interests and needs in advance in order to make the selection process as efficient as possible. Once your course selections have been discussed with the academic advising team, you will need to self-select them using the google form they provide.

Though your place on required and recommended courses is guaranteed, please note that you will not be able to register for an elective once it has reached its cap, and that positions will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If the course you select is full, you will be placed on a waiting list and will be contacted if a space becomes available during the add/drop period.

Further considerations which may inform your choices are the Core Attributes possessed by each course and the pathways of which they are part. More information about the Core Attributes and Pathways can be found in the following pages of this document.

Mathematics courses

Some degrees at NU London feature recommended mathematics courses in the first year. These are not required, but are strongly recommended as they will better allow you to engage with the course and will be particularly useful for entering further study or employment in areas associated with the degree.

You would also be advised to take these courses if you intend to take higher level courses in particular subject areas.

Business: mathematics is not required to complete higher level Business courses; however, it may be a requirement for further study and employment, and would be beneficial if the student wishes to supplement their course with higher level Economics courses. It is therefore recommended to take a calculus course such as LMATH4201 Calculus for Business or LMATH4204 Mathematical Methods I.

Data Science: for higher level Data Science courses, it is strongly recommended that you take LDSCI4209 Probability and Statistics.

Economics: for non-Economics students taking higher level Economics courses, it is strongly recommended that you take the first year LMATH4213 Mathematics course and LMATH4216 Statistics or LMATH4109 Introduction to Business Statistics.

Psychology: for higher level psychology courses, it is recommended, but not essential, that students have a grasp of basic calculus and statistics, accessible through LMATH4204 Mathematical Methods I.

Pathways

Students who take the equivalent of at least three courses across at least two years in a defined area outside of their main degree discipline requirements may apply to receive official recognition of this in their University documents upon graduation. Courses may not be double counted across pathways.

Discipline pathways 

‘Discipline’ pathways are usually achieved by completing three courses across at least two levels in a given discipline, though some pathways are comprised of courses from across disciplines.

• Art and Design
• Art History
  • Eligible courses:
    • Year one: Visual Intelligence 
    • Year one: Introductory Art History Directed Study
    • Year two: Global objects in Context 
    • Year two: Intermediate Art History Directed Study
    • Year three: Advanced Special Topics in Art and Design 
    • Year three: Advanced Art History Directed Study
• Business
• Creative Writing
• Computer Science 
• Data Science
• Economics
• English
• History
• Law
• Mathematics
• Philosophy
• Politics and International Relations
• Political Thought
  • Eligible courses:
    • Foundations of Western Political Thought (Year one, Politics and International Relations)
    • Foundations of Critical Thought (Year two, Politics and International Relations)
    • Key Texts in the History of Political Thought: Understanding, Interpretation and Analysis (Year two, History)
    • Feminism (Year three, Philosophy)
    • Political Philosophy (Year three, Philosophy)
    • Political Thought Beyond Europe (Year three, History)
    • Green Political Thought (Year three, Politics and International Relations)
    • Jurisprudence and Contemporary Legal Theory (Year three, Law)
• Psychology

Thematic pathways

‘Thematic’ pathways address complex global challenges that require agile thinking across disciplinary boundaries. For any given thematic pathway, students must take three courses across at least two levels from the following lists.

Sustainability 

• Year one
  • Ideas for Impact Experiential Project (Interdisciplinary) – Sustainability focus
• Year two
  • Sustainable Cities and Communities (Interdisciplinary)
  • Creating Impact Experiential Project (Interdisciplinary) – Sustainability focus
• Year three
  • Sustainable Development (Politics and International Relations)
  • Green Political Thought (Politics and International Relations)
  • Literature, Land, and the Environment (English)
  • Sustainability in the Business Environment (Business)
  • Advanced Interdisciplinary Special Topics  – Sustainability focus

Technology and Ethics 

• Year one
  • Technology and Human Values (Philosophy)
  • Introduction to Digital Humanities and Computational Social Science (Interdisciplinary)
• Year two
  • AI and Data Ethics (Philosophy)Ethics (Philosophy)
  • Global Cyber Governance (Interdisciplinary)
  • Experimental Data Science Project (Data Science)
  • Creating Impact Experiential Project (Interdisciplinary) – Technology and Ethics focus
  • Electric Frontiers: Digital Creative Writing
• Year three
  • Innovation for Impact Experiential Project (Interdisciplinary) – Technology and Ethics focus
  • Law and Innovation: Digital, Online, and Technology Law (Law)

Core Attributes

Possession of a ‘core attribute’ signifies that a course incorporates particular knowledge and skills.

To complete your UK degree, you will need to acquire all of the following core attributes:

          WI      Writing Intensive (x 2)

          CPPC Communicating in Public and Professional Contexts

          EX      Integrating Knowledge and Skills through Experience

          FP      Demonstrating Thought and Action in a Final Project

You will also need to acquire at least four of the following eight core attributes:

          ND     Engaging with the Natural and Designed World

          EI       Exploring Creative Expression and Innovation

          IC       Interpreting Culture

          FQ     Conducting Formal and Quantitative Reasoning

          SI       Understanding Societies and Institutions

          AD      Analysing and Using Data

          DD     Engaging Differences and Diversity

          ER      Employing Ethical Reasoning

To acquire the US degree, you will need to acquire all remaining general attributes (known as ‘NUPath Core Categories’ in Boston). Attributes can also be acquired online, during a fourth year, or via ‘Dialogues of Civilisation’ or ‘Summer In’ courses during the Summer.

If you need to acquire core attributes through elective courses, your advisor will inform you of this and how it should guide your choices.