Undergraduate Extended Accelerator Pathway (3-Term) - Bachelor of Arts International Studies - Peace, Global Security, and Conflict Resolution

at Shorelight Group - American University USA

The BS in Health Promotion provides rigorous academic preparation in the scientific and clinical knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, nutrition, exercise physiology, and health psychology combined with aspects of health communication and programming.  Drawing upon behavior change theory and health sciences, health promotion is a discipline dedicated to supporting healthy lifestyles. This curriculum prepares students for a health promotion position in a corporate, community, commercial, or school environment, or for graduate work in a health-related field.

Are you interested in:

• Establishing and managing wellness programs for employees and their families?
• Developing effective media campaigns for emerging health issues?
• Helping clients achieve fitness and nutrition goals?
• Researching health policy and establishing state and national programs?
• Integrating health promotion and disease management activities into the healthcare system?
• Instituting innovative community-outreach programs?
• Advocating for health issues and promoting wellness in communities?

Train to become an effective advocate for our planet and help address such issues as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. You’ll begin by taking foundational courses in both natural and social sciences, then choose a course of study suited to your interests and goals. Pursue research opportunities with faculty or one of the many prestigious environmental institutions nearby. 

Global pandemics, environmental degradation—public health professionals have never been more essential to addressing the challenges the world faces. Focused on health equity, our BA prepares students for a career in the social and community aspects of public health. It provides opportunities to participate in original research, work with expert faculty, and take part in internships and service activities.

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.

Immerse yourself in the world of performance with the theatre track of our performing arts degree. Develop your intellectual and creative potential through a mix of professional theatre training, performance skills, and classic liberal arts knowledge. Benefit from the seasoned scholars, performers, writers, and directors who make up the faculty, and the diverse performing arts scene of Washington, DC.

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.

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.

A more integrated world has raised the living standards of millions of people, yet it is blamed for causing all sorts of damages to societies, the environment, national cultures, and domestic sovereignty. In the Global Economy Thematic Area, students will study the political economy of this evolving international landscape and analyze economic growth, winners and losers, and the legitimacy of these changes. They explore how globalization changes the world and alters the political, economic, and social prospects of nations and their citizens. They also consider how international organizations struggle to manage this complex process and create governance structures to adapt to these changes, and how national governments attempt to balance their sovereign mandate to govern and protect their people with the frequently disrupting financial and trade-related impacts of global competition.

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. 

The American University School of Communication Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Arts provides you with a professional skill set in photography, film, video, and digital media.

Our undergraduates take advantage of the broad opportunities that Washington, DC offers with internships at national media organizations including USA Today, National Geographic Television, and PBS.

You'll be positioned on the forefront of social purpose filmmaking at nonprofits, NGOs, and government agencies such as the World Wildlife Fund, Smithsonian Institution, and the National Park Service. Graduates of our program go on to have successful careers in the media industry.