American Studies, full-time, first cycle

The American Studies Center is an interdisciplinary research and higher-education institution of the University of Warsaw. Its faculty members specialize in various fields of knowledge about the United States and Latin America—culture, literature, arts, film, media, history, economy, politics, history of ideas, society, and law.

The American Studies Center has a full-time liberal arts undergraduate program in American Studies. The program lasts three years (or six semesters). All instruction is conducted in English, by permanent and adjunct faculty. Among our permanent faculty are four US-born professors and one professor of political science from Mexico. The program covers both humanities and social sciences—literature, history, political science, sociology, as well as the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies. That last field, cultural studies, is the leading one in the program. The ASC American studies program is one of the largest in Europe. It’s also unique in Poland in that it’s interdisciplinary and includes a comparative perspective on the US vis-à-vis Latin America. It’s also unique in that it’s an all-English program, thus promoting intercultural understanding and international exchange. Our American studies program teaches how “to address the problems of the modern era—locally, regionally, and supra-regionally,” and helps develop “skills most looked for by employers on today’s job market” (from the mission of the UW Institute of the Americas and Europe to which the ASC belongs).

The program includes obligatory courses introducing students to the five major disciplines as well as elective courses helping students expand their knowledge within individual disciplines, in particular knowledge relevant to research projects which students engage in for the purposes of their BA theses. The program also provides for courses on research methods in humanities and social sciences as well as courses in academic writing in English. Research grants of up to 5,000 PLN allow our best students to travel abroad for research purposes to other American Studies libraries in Europe or the United States and to conduct empirical research there.

The current study program is available on the website of American Studies Center.

The graduates of the ASC’s undergrad program are awarded BA degrees in American Studies. They have knowledge allowing them understand various cultural phenomena, in particular those of the United States of America. Trained to understand various cultural phenomena and institutions, ASC alumni seek employment in the media, cultural institutions, foundations, institutions of state administration, local governments, and other public institutions.

Our graduates know how to formulate and address various research problems; they know how to identify, understand, interpret, explain and analyze the causes and dynamics of cultural processes and phenomena observable in the US. They know how to use various resources for this purpose and how to employ several research methods and tools developed in humanities and social sciences.

ASC alumni have all the necessary skills and competences to collect, evaluate, and sort various facts of culture and society, and to draw conclusions. In short, they know how to carry out work done by researchers, entrepreneurs, journalists, teachers of humanities and social sciences, social activists, and specialists working at various public institutions.

Thanks to our interdisciplinary program, our graduates can not only recognize and understand basic phenomena and processes, but also collect, connect, and interpret them, and on their basis offer autonomous judgments and opinions. Our BA graduates are equipped with skills and competences necessary to continue their studies at the MA level.

ASC graduates find employment in business, trade, journalism, media, cultural institutions, higher education, public administration, diplomacy, international organizations, and tourism.

ASC provides a comfortable environment for the students. The ASC has or makes use of 15 classrooms and lecture halls, fourteen of which are on the two floors of the UW “Ksawerow” building at Aleja Niepodleglosci 22. Apart from that, we hold lectures in one hall at UW major facility on the main campus, Auditorium Maximum, at Krakowskie Przedmiescie 26/28. We hold classes Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

As for disabled access to our facilities, the big lecture hall we use at Auditorium Maximum is situated on the ground floor, whereas the “Ksawerow” building is fitted with an elevator. Both buildings have wheelchair ramps as well as bathrooms accessible for wheelchair users and fully adapted for disabled use.

Thirteen of the classrooms we occupy or are let to use are fitted with computer equipment, with Internet access as well as all the hardware and software necessary to play popular video formats, DVDs, and video CDs. Both at the “Ksawerow” building and Auditorium Maximum the wireless network EDUROAM is available.

The ASC Library collection is highly valued by students, researchers, and journalists in American studies. The library holdings include materials on both the United States and Latin America, in both humanities and social sciences.

Admission rules

Students of American Studies or other humanities or social science departments are welcome to transfer to the American Studies Center program if their average grade of all classes completed is 4.0 or higher.

Transfer students are qualified through an interview in English.

Criteria for admission are the following: comprehension of oral and written messages; clarity of verbal expression; ability to formulate arguments and provide evidence; English vocabulary and grammar skills at a level necessary to be enrolled in the English language program.

Deadlines

Date of the exam: 17th of September, 2019, 12.30-1.30 p.m., room 313.

Announcement of results: 20th of September, 2019

Reception of documents: 

• I round: 23rd-24th of September, 2019, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
  
• II round (in case of not fulfilling the limit during I round): 25th-26th of September, 2019, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
  

Payments

Student's ID payment (ELS)

Required documents

List of required documents submitted by candidates qualified for studies

Additional information

Find us on the map: American Studies Center