Experiential Learning

Undergraduate students majoring in Global Public Health (GPH) at NYU are required to complete an Experiential Learning (EL) course in which you engage in hands-on, field-based activities designed to promote your exposure to and understanding of public health. This is an opportunity for you to put what you learn in the classroom to work in the real world.

You may choose to complete your Experiential Learning requirement as either a team-based experience, in which students tackle a public health issue affecting the NYU community in Washington Square, or an individual experience. Students may also complete their EL program at one of the NYU GNU (Global Network University) sites by enrolling in specified courses at that site.

Quick Links

The Team-Based EL Experience

Sophomores, juniors, and seniors completing the team-based experiential learning will be assigned into small teams by your professor on the first day of class. Collaborating in these groups, you will address a specific public health issue on NYU's Washington Square campus. You will work together to research the issue and its implication for NYU students and produce a feasible and innovative solution over the course of at least 90 hours of fieldwork.

The Individual EL Experience

If you wish to work within a public health organization, you can choose to complete an individual Experiential Learning experience in your sophomore, junior, or senior year. The fieldwork hours must be completed along with the seminar portion of the course.

If you are planning to complete an individual EL, please keep the following in mind:

  • You must attend all seminar sessions and complete the required 90 hours of fieldwork to receive credit for the individual experiential learning.

  • You may fulfill the requirements of the EL while studying abroad through the NYU Global Internship Program. 

  • Bench Laboratory research ("wet lab" research) cannot be used to fulfill the EL requirement

  • Students in the Applied Psychology (AP) combined major may complete their hours with the same organization as their hours for AP but the 90 hours to be used for EL must be in addition to the hours used for AP; students cannot count the same hours for both

  • Students in the Nursing combined major cannot use their clinical fieldwork for the EL

  • Students who wish to complete their fieldwork hours in the summer must enroll in the Fall session of the seminar and must attend all sessions

Completing Your EL while Studying Abroad

To complete the Experiential Learning experience while studying abroad at any of the NYU global sites, you need to enroll in that site’s complementary course.
Below is a list of EL courses offered at each site:

  • Accra: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Berlin: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Buenos Aires: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar 
  • London: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Madrid: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Paris: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Sydney: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Tel Aviv: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar
  • Washington, DC: NODEP-UA 9982 Experiential Learning Seminar 

For further information on how to enroll in one of these courses, please refer to the Global Internship Program. 

How Do I Register?

Registering for the Team-Based Experiential Learning

The prerequisites for EL (UGPH-GU 60) are:

  • UGPH-GU 10: Health and Society in a Global Context
  • UGPH-GU 20: Biostatistics for Public Health*
  • UGPH-GU 30: Epidemiology for Global Health

* GPH/Applied Psychology and GPH/Communicative Sciences and Disorders students take PSYCH-UA 10 instead; 
* GPH/Biology students take BIOL-UA 42 or BIOL-UA 45 instead

In order to register for EL, a permission code is required. To receive one for the team-based EL, please submit a request for "Team-Based EL" via the online registration portal. Once approved, GPH Registration will reach out with a code so you can register for the course.

Registering for Individual EL Experience

The prerequisites for EL (UGPH-GU 60) are:

  • UGPH-GU 10: Health and Society in a Global Context
  • UGPH-GU 20: Biostatistics for Public Health*
  • UGPH-GU 30: Epidemiology for Global Health

* GPH/Applied Psychology and GPH/Communicative Sciences and Disorders students take PSYCH-UA 10 instead; 
* GPH/Biology students take BIOL-UA 42 or BIOL-UA 45 instead

In order to register for EL, a permission code is required. To receive one for the individual EL, please submit the Individual EL Placement Form, along with a letter from your supervisor confirming your assignment and detailing what will be expected of your work, to the online registration portal by the appropriate due date. Once approved, GPH Registration will reach out with a code so you can register for the course.

*If you are planning to complete your fieldwork abroad, please make a note in the appropriate location on the Placement form.* 

Registration Deadlines

Registration for the Fall 2025 Experiential Learning seminars will begin April 21, 2025. All documents must be submitted via the online registration portal.

  • Team EL: To receive an access code to register for Fall 2025, submit the placement request form by September 8, 2025.
     
  • Individual EL: To receive an access code to register for Fall 2025, your proposed internship site must be approved before starting fieldwork hours:

    • Fieldwork hours can be completed prior to or during the Fall 2025 semester. 

      Summer placement forms and supporting documents are due by June 30, 2025
      Fall placement forms and supporting documents are due by September 8, 2025
       

  • Global EL: For Fall 2025, submit the placement request form and required supporting documents by September 8, 2025.
     
  • Because of the time needed to process requests before the first day of class, registration for these courses ends before the Add/Drop period. If you have any concerns about meeting these deadlines, please contact the Office of Experiential Learning at gph.el@nyu.edu

Important Documents for EL Students

Experiential Learning Placement Database (you must be logged into your NYU account to view) 

Individual EL Placement Form

Are you ready to reinvent the global public health paradigm and start changing the way the world lives, heals, and hopes? Apply for an undergraduate global public health major now!