Undergraduate Extended Accelerator Pathway (3-Term) - Bachelor of Arts in German Studies

at Shorelight Group - American University USA

AU’s production studios are constantly buzzing with creative activity. They’re the cornerstone of one of the best audio tech and production programs in the US. Here, students work alongside professionals and experienced faculty in state-of-the-art editing bays and recording studios. Washington, DC, offers a variety of top-notch internship opportunities and a vibrant music scene. 

Become a curator, archivist, or conservator with an art history degree earned in a city full of world-renowned museums including the Smithsonian. Your professors and mentors are art historians who are leaders in their field. Your classes are in the dazzling, post-modernist Katzen Arts Center, which offers cutting-edge facilities and houses the American University Museum.

Our MA in political science will help build your expertise in campaign management and public affairs advocacy. You’ll have opportunities to research how America’s political system influences public policy, and gain hands-on experience interning on Capitol Hill and on the K Street lobbyist corridor. You’ll network with and learn from guest speakers well known in American politics.

The MA in Art History provides advanced historical study in European and American art from the early Renaissance through the present, as well as Asian and other non-Western art, to prepare you for a doctoral program, curatorial position, or one of many other museum-related careers. You will develop an understanding of art historical methods and research practices while building skills in critical thinking, visual analysis, research, and written and verbal communication about art. Our program exposes students to innovative approaches to art history to foster a broad understanding of the discipline and its wide-ranging applications.

Issues of identity, whether avowed or ascribed and socially constructed or naturally derived, fundamentally shape people's lives and society. In particular, race, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, and nationality are determinate identities for many, though in reality, everyone holds multiple identities at the same time. Although these identities often appear to be static and fixed from the outside, they are dynamic and ever-changing, driven by the broader cultural and social influences in which they arise and exist. Courses in this Thematic Area examine the nature of these identities in a world in transition. Our courses, embodying both theoretical and grounded approaches, explore each of these identities in their own right, as well as in a historical and an intersectional manner that explores the relationship between them.

Spanish is the second-most popular language in the world, and in an increasingly interconnected global society, the study of languages and culture is of vital importance. With a major in Spanish studies, you’ll develop translingual fluency and social awareness through courses on literature, language, and more. AU Abroad programs will help enhance your language skills and immerse you in culture. 

This program is designed to give you the breadth of background necessary in these four disciplines to participate effectively in decision making in the public arena, especially the practical training necessary to deal with social problems as public issues.

The Global and Comparative Governance Thematic Area is designed for students who are interested in how a range of actors—local, national, global—seek to understand and solve the compelling security, development, environmental, and economic problems of our time. This thematic area focuses on the role that states, regional and global institutions (the United Nations, EU, World Bank, etc.), civil society, and the private sector play in addressing regional and global problems. Students also have the option of specializing in a geographical region. Students will take a multidisciplinary approach and will acquire the skills to empirically evaluate phenomena, anticipate emerging trends, and interpret data through an innovative curriculum that emphasizes theory and applied knowledge.

The Photography BA program is for students interested in all forms of photography, from fine art to photojournalism. Combining the resources and expertise of AU's Department of Art, College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communication, the program includes historical, theoretical, and practical approaches to photography.

Students study the evolution of photography, and can gain hands-on experience in darkrooms and digital editing labs. Students who complete the program understand the why and how of photography's adoption by fine artists, commercial studios, and the general public; and photography's changing role in the greater art world. Students relate technical developments in the medium to aesthetic and conceptual developments, citing movements and trends that also coincided with a broader art history. Through a final project and exhibition, students delve into a relevant topic of their choice and analyze it through a specific socio-cultural lens.

How does the brain produce thoughts? What makes a genome able to alter its own architecture? Can we stop world hunger by manipulating the DNA of bacteria, plants, and animals? These fascinating questions are being answered through biochemical research. Our biochemistry program offers three different tracks, a dynamic and impressive faculty, and a proven reputation with DC's major employers.