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Master of Arts (MA) Program

Graduates of the two-year tuition-free American Studies MA program at the ASC are equipped with specialized knowledge to understand the various cultural and social phenomena of the United States of America and the Western Hemisphere at large. They also have systematized and specialized knowledge of the terminology, theory, and methodology of interdisciplinary American Studies concerned with the Americas.

What you will learn

The two-year tuition-free MA Program in American Studies at the ASC comprises a highly individualized, research-oriented curriculum focused on the various cultural and social phenomena of the United States and the Western Hemisphere at large. Depending on their interests, students can pursue coursework in American literature, media, culture, society, history, and politics.

ASC graduates possess skills and competences allowing them to compete successfully in multiple career paths and professions, including media, culture, education, administration, foreign service, international organizations, business, foreign trade, journalism, and tourism. We attribute our graduates’ robust job placement rates to the fact that we provide rigorous academic preparation while simultaneously fostering a culture of mentoring and extracurricular education. A number of our graduates also continue their education in doctoral programs in Poland and abroad in a range of disciplines.

MA Program for 2021/22

Course proposals are preliminary and subject to change.

Semester 1

Hemispheric Lecture: International Relations in the Western Hemisphere

Key Readings in American Studies

Two of the following research proseminars of your choice (one in humanities and one in social sciences):

  • American Political Ideas/Political Thought
  • Social Movements and Social Change in Contemporary America
  • Urban Communities
  • Gender and Sexuality in Classical Hollywood Film
  • American Literature and Visual Arts
  • Anthropocene Now: Climate Change in American Culture

Academic Writing MA

Advanced English or Spanish – various levels following
placement test

Semester 2

One of senior research lectures of your choice

Three research proseminars of your choice:

The listings for Spring 2022 are not finalized, but in the previous semesters course offerings included:
  • Cities and Immigrants
  • Photography in American Literature
  • American Political Parties: The Past and the Present
  • Contemporary American Cinema
  • Social Movements and Social Change in Contemporary America
  • Haunted America: Horror and Politics
  • Issues in American Political Thought
  • Transatlantic Modernisms

Advanced English or Spanish – various levels following
placement test

Semester 3

MA Seminar I

Texts in American Culture/Texts in Latin American Culture

Two senior research lectures:

The Fall 2022 course offerings are not finalized yet. Fall 2021 options for second-year students include: 

  • Cultural Diversity of the Western Hemisphere 
  • Leadership in America: Cultural and Political Perspective
  • Photography in the USA.

 

Two elective courses:

The Fall 2022 course offerings are not finalized yet. 

Fall 2021 options for second-year students include:

  • Marxist Critical Theories
  • White Trash: Underclass That Runs Contrary to the American Dream
  • American Women Filmmakers
  • From Postmodernism to New Realism: Varieties of the American Short Story 1960-2000

Practical project

 

Semester 4

MA Seminar II

Open lectures

You need to collect 30 credits worth of open lectures offered by the ASC and other departments. Individual lectures typically earn you 2 or 3 credits each.

1 or 2 elective courses offered by other departments at UW worth the cumulative of 6 ECTS points.

Program download

Program for MA students entering the ASC in 2019-2020

Course catalogues

Over the years the American Studies Center has offered a variety of courses for students to choose from. The catalogues are a quick and convenient tool to browse through the Center’s course offerings at the particular point in time.

Download The Latest Course Catalogue

 

Previous Catalogues

 

Class Attendance Rules

A student enrolled in an ASC class is allowed to miss no more than two class meetings in a given semester (no medical documentation is required). In case of further absences medical documentation must be presented to the instructor and the student is obliged to arrange with the instructor how to make up for the classes missed. If absences are due to causes other than illness (eg. travel for research purposes), the student should notify the teacher at least a week before the planned absence and make arrangements concerning the required make-up work. Absences due to research travel require written support from MA supervisor. Instructors have the right to fail students who have missed more than two class meetings for reasons not related to health.

NOTE: The above rules concern electives, proseminars and seminars in both the BA and the MA program; they do not concern lecture courses.

Schedules of exams

We would like to remind our students that, despite the fact that at the ASC we have an annual system of checking students’ transcripts, you are obliged to get credits for the courses and lectures which took place during the winter semester till the end of the make up session at the latest. Moreover, it is your task to make sure that grades in your USOS file and in your student’s book (indeks) are identical. When they are not you have to resolve the differences directly with the lecturers. According to the new university rules, grades entered into the USOS system serve as the basic documentation of your achievements. Besides, there is no possibility to enter the grades into the USOS system retroactively, so please make sure that all of them are in place by the end of the make up session.

MA Examinations

MA Exams in 2021 (July, September, December) for Students in the American Studies Program

MA Examinations

Theses submission

Below you will find the deadlines for the submission of MA and BA theses as well as the planned dates of BA and MA exams at the ASC UW in the academic year 2020/2021:

  • The deadline to submit a thesis: by March 8, 2021
    The exam dates: March 30-31, 2021
  • The deadline to submit a thesis: by June 7, 2021
    The exam dates: July 6-9 and 13-16, 2021
  • The deadline to submit a thesis: by September 3, 2021
    The exam dates: September 23-24 and 28-29, 2021
  • The deadline to submit a thesis: by November 29, 2021
    The exam dates: December 17, 2021

Both the ASC Director and the ASC Students’ Office will strictly adhere to the above deadlines and will not make any exceptions. Failure to submit a thesis by June 7, 2021 will irreversibly result in postponing of a BA or MA exam until the end of September 2021.

You are being informed about the planned exam dates and submission deadlines well ahead of time so you may consider them making plans for holidays and further education.

Request to appoint an examination committee

a. Student’s full name
b. Album number
c. Field of studies
d. Title of the BA or MA thesis
e. Suggestion of at least one reviewer (preferably two)
f. Suggestion of the exam date (in our case we have a period dedicated to the exams, so this is not necessary)
g. Three questions for the exam, chosen by the student from the list and approved by the supervisor.

Open Academic Sessions (OZN)

Each ASC student receives an OZN card. The purpose of this requirement is to enhance ASC students’ intellectual development through participation in a variety of extracurricular academic activities: public lectures, debates, seminars, or cultural events such as film festivals. While the OZN calendar is kept full by the coordinator, many OZN events are suggested by faculty and students. We strongly encourage student initiative – the whole point is for you to attend events that interest you. The OZN requirement 30 points for MA studies. In most cases, 1 OZN is awarded for 45 minutes of an academic activity. Each ASC student receives an OZN card where events should be listed. Each event should be signed by the organizer or a member of ASC faculty present.

NOTE: OZN points are not attached to any single semester–you should collect them and receive credit throughout your studies.

Read more about the OZN program opportunities and grading below.

Open Academic Sessions

The Transatlantic Symposium

The Transatlantic Symposium is a program of academic exchange inaugurated by Prof. Reinhard Isensee at Humboldt University Berlin in cooperation with international partners in 2003. The University of Warsaw American Studies Center joined the program in 2012 and has been a regular partner ever since.

Each Symposium encompasses a graduate student conference, addressed primarily to M.A. students, and a study tour. Its locations alternate between the United States (in even years) and Europe (in odd years). The ASC makes every effort to reduce the cost of participation to the students.

Read more about the Symposium below.

The Transatlantic Symposium

Fees

Registration

Schedule

MA II schedule – Spring 2020/2021

MA II schedule – Fall 2020/2021

MA I schedule – Spring 2019/2020

MA I schedule – Fall 2019/2020

Contact

dr Małgorzata Gajda-Łaszewska

ASC Counselor for Students’ Affairs

mgajda@uw.edu.pl

+48 22 55 333 19

Room 303

Office hours in September:
Tuesdays, 11:00 – 15:15
Please, book your appointment at Doodle