New York University
There's nothing like a crisp autumn day in New York to put a spring in your step, and at all of NYU's campuses and global sites, the fall presents an opportunity for renewed focus. That's something we're leaning into as a community through the NYU IRL initiative, which challenges us all to reclaim our time and attention so we can concentrate on what matters most. What will we notice when we look up from our devices? Here's to less checking and more connecting, to less following and more wandering.
News and Research
Music is an expression of our way of processing the world, and the spirit of healing has to be in some way always connected and tethered to the spirit of play.
Jon Batiste The internationally acclaimed musical artist performed and spoke on the power of music for healing at the launch of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and Lancet Global Collection on Arts and Health, presented at NYU Skirball as part of NYU’s Arts and Impact initiative and the United Nations General Assembly Healing Arts Week 2026.
In and of the World
Hear the word tango and you may think of a stylized ballroom dance, a couple in a romantic embrace, the sultry sounds of the bandoneón. Professor Edgardo Dieleke asks his students to go beyond that image of the iconic dance—way beyond, in fact—to explore its influences on Argentine history, culture, and politics. Using the tango as a frame for a cultural study, he encourages them to trace its connections to Argentina’s soul. Dieleke combines classroom lectures with field trips to animate discussions about race, class, and gender in Argentine society and the tango’s connections to music, film, and other artistic disciplines. Students also visit a musician’s home and take a dance lesson.
Cities are continually evolving, explains architect and urbanist Victoria Kiechel, and right now, the nation’s capital is experiencing accelerated change—as witnessed by President Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom, a National Garden of American Heroes, and a triumphal arch. “No city is fixed,” Kiechel says, “but I think it’s especially important in the case of such a planned city as DC to recognize that even in this intentionally constructed, intentionally located city, there is mess and life, and interventions of politics and power.” Kiechel addresses the origins and multi-layered history of Washington, DC, in this walking lecture class, which she describes as “an immersion course in the soul of the District.”
Undergrads spending time at the university’s many global sites have been publishing their art and writing in student-run magazines that help to crystalize moments of transformation and exploration away from home. Hard copies of the NYU Berlin magazine Durch, for example, are distributed to all students and staff at the site. “We’re definitely losing the permanence of our media right now. Everything is subscription-based and streaming-based,” says one student editor of the decision to go print-only.
In and of the World
Hear the word tango and you may think of a stylized ballroom dance, a couple in a romantic embrace, the sultry sounds of the bandoneón. Professor Edgardo Dieleke asks his students to go beyond that image of the iconic dance—way beyond, in fact—to explore its influences on Argentine history, culture, and politics. Using the tango as a frame for a cultural study, he encourages them to trace its connections to Argentina’s soul. Dieleke combines classroom lectures with field trips to animate discussions about race, class, and gender in Argentine society and the tango’s connections to music, film, and other artistic disciplines. Students also visit a musician’s home and take a dance lesson.
Cities are continually evolving, explains architect and urbanist Victoria Kiechel, and right now, the nation’s capital is experiencing accelerated change—as witnessed by President Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom, a National Garden of American Heroes, and a triumphal arch. “No city is fixed,” Kiechel says, “but I think it’s especially important in the case of such a planned city as DC to recognize that even in this intentionally constructed, intentionally located city, there is mess and life, and interventions of politics and power.” Kiechel addresses the origins and multi-layered history of Washington, DC, in this walking lecture class, which she describes as “an immersion course in the soul of the District.”
Undergrads spending time at the university’s many global sites have been publishing their art and writing in student-run magazines that help to crystalize moments of transformation and exploration away from home. Hard copies of the NYU Berlin magazine Durch, for example, are distributed to all students and staff at the site. “We’re definitely losing the permanence of our media right now. Everything is subscription-based and streaming-based,” says one student editor of the decision to go print-only.