During the second semester of the junior year, students work closely with their advisers to compose the List of Works and write the Rationale. Seniors are expected to complete their Colloquium during the fall (or penultimate) semester of their senior year.
Conversations that the student has with his or her adviser are an important part of the Gallatin education and an important part of preparing for the Colloquium itself. The adviser must approve the student’s List of Works and Rationale, so he or she will play a key role in helping the student prepare the List of Works and write the Rationale. The adviser can explain the procedures for the Colloquium, help the student focus on unifying themes, make suggestions for the List of Works and offer helpful advice on writing the Rationale. The adviser will also play a significant role in the Colloquium itself as one of the committee members.
In the semester when students expect to complete their Colloquium, they register for “Colloquium” (COLLQ-UG, 2 units). Awarding two units for the Colloquium provides the necessary time in a student’s schedule to prepare for the Colloquium.
Students should feel free to consult with any member of the Gallatin faculty or any of their NYU professors, who can help by suggesting works, commenting on the Rationale and discussing the ideas the students want to explore in the Colloquium.
All of the Gallatin interdisciplinary courses can help students prepare for the Colloquium by providing works for the List of Works, but if a particular course is relevant to the student's Colloquium topic(s), the student may ask the instructor for permission to incorporate writing the Rationale into the course assignments.
Before senior year, some students choose to design an independent study around their Colloquium topic(s); usually such projects are for two to four units, depending on the number of works and writing assignments. A student may work on such an independent study with his or her adviser or other NYU faculty members, so long as the instructor has sufficient expertise in the themes and the works the student wants to include in the independent study.
"Writing the Rationale" is a Gallatin class in which students learn how to develop methods of interdisciplinary study and how to apply them to their concentration. In this course students will also be drafting, workshopping, revising, presenting, and completing their Colloquium Rationale and List of Works.
During Fall 2023, the Office of Advising is offering Rationale Overview Workshops for current juniors and seniors, who plan to submit their adviser-approved Rationale and List of Works during Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. The goal of the Rationale Workshop is to clarify questions about the Rationale and List of Works and to help students think about how to translate their concentration into a more formal written document. If you'd like to attend a Rationale Workshop, please RSVP by emailing your Class Adviser, either Irene Morrison-Moncure (irene.morrisonmoncure@nyu.edu), Rachel Bunker (rab648@nyu.edu), or Malik Walker (mw3631@nyu.edu).
Fall 2023 Rationale Overview Workshops
The Office of Advising is offering workshops open to current juniors and seniors planning to sit their Colloquium during either the Fall 2023 or Spring 2024 semesters. The goal of the workshop is to help students demystify what the Colloquium is and to give a concrete sense of what the expectations are for a successful Colloquium. There is no attendance cap for these workshops, but students are asked to please RSVP by emailing their Class Adviser, either Irene Morrison-Moncure (irene.morrisonmoncure@nyu.edu), Rachel Bunker (rab648@nyu.edu), or Malik Walker (mw3631@nyu.edu) if they would like to participate.
Fall 2023 Colloquium Workshops