While most courses offered at NYU Abu Dhabi are worth four academic credits, some interesting two-credit or half courses are available in Engineering, Film and New Media, Science, and Music. These courses offer students more flexibility to change their credit load without adding or dropping a full course. Additionally, it allows students who are required to take a half course as part of their major to enroll in another two-credit course to complete the remainder of their semester. Moreover, these courses are helpful for students who just need two academic credits to meet their graduation requirements. Here are some interesting two-credit courses offered at NYUAD.

Are you looking to improve your video quality on Instagram stories? Do you want to edit a short video clip of your favorite singers or athletes? Interested in getting a glimpse at what makes Marvel movies so visually engaging? “Principles of Post-Production for Film and New Media” is the course that might help you achieve these dreams. It offers technical post-production training on a variety of film and new media subjects, including short film, 360 Video, and even VR cinema. It offers hands-on experience that enables students to possess the techniques for editing, compositing motion pictures, and color grading.

“Even people like me who don’t have film backgrounds, as long as [they are] putting in time and effort, it would not be hard to learn the techniques taught by the course,” shared Irene Lin, Class of 2024, who is majoring in Social Research and Public Policy.

Students also shared that Professor Maruan Manaja is very supportive, approachable, and responsible.

“Some questions that I asked him after class had actually been answered by him during the class time, but he still patiently answered these questions. Each time I finished homework, he gave timely and well-rounded feedback so I can make improvements on the next round,” Lin added.

This course aims to improve students' understanding of the major world events that they read about in their morning Twitter feed or on their preferred news websites. The course seeks to move beyond the headlines and provide more context to the histories that led to the moment. Major events are more understandable and frequently more engaging because they have a background and context.

“It’s very interesting because you get to touch upon different topics every week,” said Rania Kettani, Class of 2024, who is majoring in Philosophy and Business and Organization Studies. “For example, for one week, we talked about corals and the environmental impacts on them in the UAE region … Then, there was another week when we talked about the effects of the revolution and economic crisis in Argentina and how it stemmed from its past dictatorship experience,” Kettani continued.

Though it is a history course, the source material is very engaging compared to traditional historical sources like law writs, government documents, and journals. “You would read newspapers, the headline stories on TV and journals, etc,” shared Kettani.

Another interesting aspect of this course is that each lecture is given by different guest speakers. “Each week, Klimke (the professor of this course) would introduce the professor he invited, and he gives an overview of what we are going to talk about … and right after that, we have the invited professor that would take the class,” elaborated Kettani.

The course also widely appealed to many students at NYUAD as it represented the core value of our institution, a liberal arts education that encourages students to explore a broad range of topics.

“Even though you are really interested in science, you can still learn something about geopolitics … and find something for yourself in one or two classes which are themed around natural sciences and biology. No matter what your interests are, you will still find one particular talk given by a guest professor that really speaks to you, but then at the same time, you get to see things that you are not that much interested in the first place,” Kettani added.

One thing to note is that this course only meets once a week and lasts for a whole semester, so it is not a seven-week course but a 14-week course instead.

For upperclass Engineering students who want to choose a two-credit course, “Engineers for Social Impact” would be a fascinating option. According to Oscar Wang, Class of 2024, the course offers field trip opportunities that aid students in applying their knowledge of engineering principles to develop a project in countries outside the UAE. For example, students enrolled in this class have been to countries in Europe to help develop water distribution systems and to the rust belt states in the US to repair houses. Hence, this course is definitely for students who are truly interested in engineering and are looking for a real-life application of theory during their undergraduate career.

“Conservation Laws in Engineering” is another challenging yet interesting two-credit course. It focuses on the conservation laws in different sciences, including Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics, such as the conservation of mass, linear momentum, angular momentum, energy, and charge.

“The professor says that our university is the only one offering [a] course like that,” said Abdullah Alhussni, Class of 2026, when commenting on the uniqueness of such an offering.

Though it is a requirement for engineering students, Alhussini said it would also be engaging for students who have finished FOS, particularly for those who are interested in the application of Physics. “This course is good if you want to learn how to use the conservation of mass law to solve specific problems,” added Alhussini. “For instance, the labs deal with bombs and waterjets … A physics student would benefit from the class … They see the same concept in a different context.”.

Besides the courses mentioned above, there are many two-credit music electives that give instructions on various instruments, including cello, clarinet, flute, oud, piano, saxophone, trumpet, Arabic percussion, immersive audio, violin, and guitar. They are beginner-friendly and create a different learning atmosphere from regular courses.

Overall, NYUAD offers several interesting two-credit courses for students, though most of them are associated with the Engineering Division and specifically with the Music department.