紐約大學（NYU）的gallatin individualized study 學院是怎麼樣的情況？

01-03

謝邀。（黑體字為划出的重點）

寫在前面：很少有人問及我的小學院，所以真心喜出望外。沒錯，我大紐大NYU除了大家耳熟能詳、喜聞樂見的NYU Stern商學院，NYU Law法學院，NYU Med醫學院，Tisch of the Arts藝術學院，NYU Abu Dhabi紐約大學阿布扎比分校，NYU Shanghai上海紐約大學，以及全美排名前列的Applied Math應用數學，Philosophy哲學，Art History藝術史之外，還有一個奇葩中的奇葩學院：the Gallatin School of Individualized Study 加勒廷個性化學習學院（以下簡稱Gallatin）。

驚喜之餘，也對另一答案中留學中介不負責任的粘貼很是不爽，特此發文為我院平反。

有必要先拿個顏值校友撐撐場面：

安妮·海瑟薇（Anne Hathaway）於2005年從Vassar College轉入Gallatin

TL;DR
1. Gallatin是一所以學生自主設計專業著稱的文理學院(Liberal Arts College)，但又以其身處NYU的豐富資源為依託，地處NYC的各色體驗為背景（後兩大塊已有多位知友精彩分享，我就不在此贅述了）；

2. 在導師的輔導下，每個學生在培養自己設計專業(Individualized Major)的創造性的同時，既有跨學院、跨學科選課的靈活性，也確保了學術的嚴謹性；

3. 作為一名接受了多年中國傳統教育的國際學生，我在本院上課時一直感覺自己是在選課上求虐，學術思辨上被碾壓而成長...但我在上學的時候從來沒想過我是為了拿學分為了畢業而去上課，而是真正地享受學習和挑戰自我的這個過程。講真，Gallatin的Liberal Arts教育對我來講是一次Enlightenment，讓我接觸了不同學院和教授的風格，也讓我認識了諸多不朽的巨人，使得自己在思想上意識到了self-definition，應該能算是成為了一個life-long learner。

還有就是：Gallatin應該是NYU最hipster的學院了吧...

下面是我展開講

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

本人背景介紹：NYU本科大二時半路出家轉學至Gallatin，我設計的專業為Computational Social Science，主要修的課程為人文社科類（Philosophy, Politics, Economics）和信息科技類（Information Systems），畢業答辯題目為: From the Printing Press to the Internet of Things: How Information Technology Changed the Way Ideas Spread.

學院背景介紹：Gallatin成立於1972年，以19世紀初美國財政部長、後來創立了NYU的Albert Gallatin的名字命名。目前所有B.A.本科生約1,500人，M.A.研究生180人，總校友數剛過1萬人，學院的課基本都是平均18人的小課。

1. 首先，什麼是個性化學習呢？

－Individualized Study是指由學生自主選課而設計的學習。

學生可以在Gallatin以及NYU眾多其它院校中較自由地選擇自己感興趣的課程，從而形成自己獨特的專業（concentration）。但這並不代表完全的不受限。

讓我們來看一下從Gallatin獲得本科BA學位的最少128學分包括哪些（NYU的一門本科課一般為4學分）：

Undergraduate (UG) Core Requirement, 32 units （Gallatin學院自己的課程）

First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar, 4 units

First-Year Writing Seminar and First-Year Research Seminar, 8 units

Interdisciplinary Seminars, 16 units

Remaining 4 units may be taken in additional interdisciplinary seminars; advanced writing courses; arts workshops; community learning courses; travel courses; global programs, and non-classroom courses (independent studies, tutorials, internships, and private lessons).

Liberal Arts Foundation, 20 units

Humanities, 8 units

Social Sciences, 8 units

Mathematics or Science, 4 units

Historical and Cultural Foundation, 12 units

Premodern, 4 units

Early modern, 4 units

Global Cultures, 4 units

Intellectual Autobiography and Plan for Concentration （大二結束前完成一篇專業設計計劃書）

Senior Colloquium （大四畢業前完成的與3位教授的2小時畢業答辯）

細心的小夥伴可能注意到了，上面列出來的要求所有學分也就64分，剛好是畢業要求的一半。事實上，除了Gallatin學院要求的32學分外，剩下的96分（包括Liberal Arts Foundation和Historical and Cultural Foundation）都可以在NYU的其它學院中自由選課。當然了，在選下學期的課之前，你還要與導師坐下來聊你選的課是如何能幫助你所設計的concentration的。

也有幾條其它限定，例如不能在商學院修超過31分（32分就是一個商學專業了，而Gallatin畢竟是一所文理學院），不能以實習修學分超過24分等。具體詳見：Gallatin Academics

以我為例：本科期間，我修過課的學院包括了Gallatin，College of Arts and Science，Stern School of Business，Wagner School of Public Service，Tisch ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program)這5所學院。基本上每學期的4-5課都涵蓋了3所不同的學院。並通過自己申請，獲得了一年的Gap Year批准（Leave of Absence）前往巴西聖保羅大學交換。

－那這Individualized Major與多專業（Double Majors/Triple Majors）配多個輔修（Minors）有什麼區別？主要區別在於兩點：

Gallatin學生通常設計的專業Individualized Major無法通過多主修專業或輔修而達到目的；
Gallatin更提倡的是把不同領域、不同學科的興趣有機地結合起來（interdisciplinary, not multidisciplinary），而不是簡單地做加法。

以2位2013年畢業校友設計的專業舉例：

BA "13 - INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
Throughout her time at Gallatin, Maggie examined the question of how countries in Latin America can develop in ways that enable social justice. She studied instances of agency among the disenfranchised, particularly women, indigenous groups, and the poor. These have ranged from revolutionary movements to civil disobedience to individual acts that quietly challenge the system of power. She studied international development in an effort to understand the trajectory of development in Latin America from colonialism to the present. What she found is a long pattern of dependency that has relegated countries either to submission or imitation.

像這樣一個專業就不能簡單由Political Science和Latin American Studies的組合而達到。

BA "13 - THE NEUROSCIENCE OF ART

The Chicago native built his concentration, The Neuroscience of Art, around the coursework of an NYU neuroscience major and classes in the humanities dealing with the cultural theory of art and music. He also took advantage of Gallatin art workshops and took two independent studies with Professor Gregory Erickson, one examining American cultural identity through the music and photography of the Jazz Age, the other on music and spirituality. Denker also conducted neuroscience and brain-imaging research on aesthetics at the NYU Center for Brain Imaging.

而這樣的一個專業更是結合了藝術和科學的典範。

－這樣不會成為多領域的半吊子（Jack of all trades）嗎？ Yes, and no.

是，但也不是。我本人也有過這種顧慮，但在跟修完雙專業的人聊過之後發現他們也就算兩個領域的半吊子我也就不擔心了。開玩笑啦...

不過講真，除了少數在本科就體現出某一領域的天賦異稟外，大部分人的本科教育都是打基礎，並無深入鑽研。那這樣的話，與其就選1-2領域的學科，不如在本科時期多涉獵幾個領域而在研究生時投身於最感興趣那個？Gallatin的學生畢業去向也千奇百怪，有直接就業做啥都有的，也有進入到法醫商學院，或者其它研究領域深造的。而諸多領域和院校都喜歡這類有創造力和跨領域思維方式的人才，別問我是怎麼知道的...

而像我這種不怎麼學術的，估計以後也就讀個MBA了吧...

2. 那在Gallatin上的課和導師都是什麼樣的呢？

上面提到的Gallatin自設課程可謂是種類繁多，從interdisciplinary seminars，writing courses, arts workshops，到community learning courses，travel courses，global programs, 和non-classroom courses (independent studies, tutorials, internships, and private lessons)。最為人稱道，也是讓我又愛又恨的莫過於interdisciplinary seminars。這些課一般不會超過20人，課堂以教授引導的討論為主，課後也以大量閱讀，寫作，projects為主。之所以讓我又愛又恨呢，是因為我的思維能得到極大地拓(tiao)寬(zhan)，從中受益匪淺，同時也對我的GPA也是傷害點數最大的。畢竟跟班裡又能說又能寫的美國同學比，我到現在也差得很遠很遠...

以下是我隨便從官網複製粘貼了些Interdisciplinary Seminars，你們感受一下什麼叫花式課名：

The Social Construction of Reality

Boundaries and Transgressions

Collective Memory of Atrocity and Crisis

Play and Games in Early China

Human Rights, Human Wrongs

Predicting the Future

Pride and Power: Renaissance Revolutions in Art and Culture

Fate and Free Will in the Epic Tradition

Democracy and Authority in Modern Political Thought

The Emergence of the Unconscious: From Ancient Healing to Psychoanalysis

Origins of the Atomic Age

Cultural Politics of Childhood

Philosophy of Medicine

Mad Science/Mad Pride

Ethics for Dissenters

Hiroshima

Language, Globalization, and the Self

The Qur"an

Creative Democracy: The Pragmatist Tradition

Thinking About Seeing

Moral Behavior: Sentiment, Evolution, and Psychology

Psychoanalysis and the Visual

Monsters in Popular Culture: Invented, Awakened, Invading

Feminism, Empire and Postcoloniality

Finance for Social Theorists

The Seen and Unseen in Science

The Travel Habit: On the Road in the Thirties

History of Environmental Sciences Before Darwin

Good Design: Scale

Consumerism in Comparative Perspective

Cold War, Hot Science

Sex Crimes, Sex Panics

Creativity, Innovation, Entrepreneurship

如此多千奇百怪的Interdisciplinary Seminars，總有一款適合你的吧。

接下來是我的導師Faculty Advisor：Dr. Matt Stanley

如此帥氣的頭髮自然少不了詭異的學術背景：

Ph.D. History of Science, Harvard University, 2004
M.A. Astronomy, Harvard University
B.Sc. B.A. Optical Engineering Religion, University of Rochester, 1998

簡短介紹：Matthew Stanley teaches and researches the history and philosophy of science. He holds degrees in astronomy, religion, physics, and the history of science and is interested in the connections between science and the wider culture.

我的導師為人低調內斂，但上課幽默風趣又不失學術嚴謹，深得學生們的好評。（可以在最後的視頻鏈接中看到他的上課片段哦）

每學期我都會和他約個3-4次討論學術方向，選課，找實習/工作。可惜我沒上過他的課...不對，我上過一節他的...空手道課。看不出我導師還從小練就空手道黑段，並在日本留過學吧...

3. 那Gallatin這樣奇葩的學院到底適合什麼樣的人呢？

如果在看學校的你有些小心動的話，讓我來澆一盆冷水吧：Gallatin並不適合所有的人。

儘管有優秀的導師和教授們，你在Gallatin所擁有的選擇自由也可能會讓你迷茫。

但反之，如果你覺得自己足夠成熟和self-motivated，Gallatin能讓你在NYU和NYC大施拳腳。也正是如此，其它學院的教授也很願意有Gallatin的學生上她的課，因為這些學生是自發地想上她的課，而不是因為修學分才上課。

再具體一點，院長Susanne Wofford已經把Gallatin最適合的兩類人總結出來了（全文附在最後）：

Combine work in the arts and performance with a liberal arts undergraduate experience（例如Anne Hathaway和眾多學電影、編劇、音樂、舞蹈的校友們）;

Specialize in advanced areas of research while also broadening your understanding of the contexts of such knowledge（例如我和上面舉例的2位校友）.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

最後也附上了YouTube介紹視頻(The Gallatin Philosophy)和院長的信(From the Dean)

1. The Gallatin Philosophy https://youtu.be/hpUG5DnlROQ

2. From the Dean Explore Gallatin

Creativity, flexibility and rigor characterize the academic program of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. At Gallatin, you will have the opportunity to combine the best of a small college experience with the best of a large research university. A Gallatin education is unique. The individualized structure of the program and its relationship to the rest of NYU are part of what makes the school so special.
What does Gallatin make possible?

At Gallatin, you will work closely with your faculty adviser to design your own undergraduate program of study, which will include an area of concentration that you define.

At Gallatin, you will have the opportunity to select courses from among all of NYU』s distinct undergraduate schools, colleges and programs.

In Gallatin』s interdisciplinary seminars and small classes, you will be encouraged to rethink the connections between the different areas of study that compel you.

At Gallatin, you will explore multiple opportunities for learning outside the traditional classroom, such as internships, independent studies and private lessons in the arts. These allow you to develop practical knowledge in your areas of interest and to link these interests to the wider world.

As a Gallatin student, you will view New York City—a place for limitless discovery—as your extended classroom. As a member of our urban community, you will also explore ways to contribute to the city.

Study at Gallatin will broaden your intellectual horizons while giving you a chance to gain experience in areas that may represent your future career. With internships and other work experience, many Gallatin students find they have gained significant professional experience in their chosen fields before they finish their college years.
Through our excellent advising system, we pair you with a faculty mentor who will help you construct an academic concentration that has depth and breadth. Along with these possibilities, we ensure that you learn to think critically by offering seminars on significant world texts from the great books tradition and beyond.
We make it possible for you to combine work in the arts and performance with a liberal arts undergraduate experience; we make it possible for you to specialize in advanced areas of research while also broadening your understanding of the contexts of such knowledge. If you are looking for an intellectually challenging, interdisciplinary and creative program, I welcome you to learn more about Gallatin.
Susanne Wofford
Dean, Gallatin School of Individualized Study

B.A., Yale College, 1973
B.Phil. Comparative Literature, Oxford University, 1977
Ph.D. Comparative Literature, Yale University, 1982