Dean Carola Weil (third from left) joins Professors Richard Semiatin, Jeffrey Crouch, Dana
Marshall, Diane Lowenthal, and Dan Whitman for a discussion with SPExS students on the
third presidential debate.
What’s New at SPExS?
S
The School of Professional and Extended Studies (SPExS) has
just completed our exciting and successful inaugural semester
as American University’s seventh and newest school! We have
welcomed our new Dean, Dr. Carola Weil, and expanded to
include not only the world-renowned Washington Semester
Program, but also twelve other program offerings this fall.
SPExS faculty and staff welcomed over 700 students to our
Washington Semester, International Certificate, Washington
Mentorship, Graduate Gateway, Washington Internships for
Native Students, International Gateway, English Language,
University of Miami in DC, Brandeis University in DC, GRE Prep,
Voices of Women, and American Women Programs.
Our students met with hundreds of guest speakers and visited
numerous organizations and sites, while engaging in
academically and professionally challenging courses. Many
students participated in travel study programs including
destinations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Central
America. Additionally, they completed over 500 internships,
while improving professional skills, enhancing resumes,
networking, and exploring future career opportunities.
The SPExS Team would like to thank all of our member school
representatives for enabling us to meet, work with, and teach
so many wonderful students in such a variety of ways. We look
forward to continuing to provide diverse and engaging
educational opportunities to your students in the future.
Alumni Event:
Save the Date
Inauguration Champagne
Brunch
When: Sunday, January 20th
from
11am – 1pm
Where: Capital Auditorium
Tenley Campus
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016
Who: All School of Professional and Extended
Studies Alumni are welcome!
For more information:
wspalumni@american.edu
Washington Semester Programs
Foreign Policy
Professor Dan Whitman’s Foreign Policy class engaged with many policy
experts and practitioners this fall. Some of the highlights included Mark
McIntosh, strategy and foreign policy advisor to Jon Huntsman, who held
an informal discussion about tensions in the recent Presidential campaign.
Danish journalist Jon Kaldan spoke with students about the strategies he
used for developing radio segments on the US Presidential campaign.
Ambassador Joyce Leader, Deputy Chief of Mission in Kigali from 19921995, spoke from experience about Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. And, Sarith
Sok, a Cambodian Khmer Rouge survivor, told his fascinating tale of
survival.
Professor Dan Whitman’s Fall 2012
Foreign Policy class at the Newseum.
---
Journalism and New Media
The November elections offered amazing, hands-on learning opportunities
for this semester’s Journalism and New Media students. Students did
everything from covering the Democratic Convention in Charlotte and the
presidential debates to talking to reporters and political operatives
immersed in the campaign. On election night, these students were all
over the city from the National Press Club to the desks at NBC network
and WRC-TV to the White House. Students also met with many other
journalists, communications, and political experts throughout the
semester including Bob Schieffer.
---
Journalism Semester students pose with Bob
Schieffer, of CBS News, after a seminar for over
125 SPExS students.
Law and Justice
Professor Dan Freeman’s Public Law class has had an amazing semester, as
they visited the US Supreme Court, House of Representatives Chamber
floor, Senate Chamber floor, the Center for Science in the Public Interest,
had a think tank discussion at the Center for American Progress. Guest
speakers this semester included Justice Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme
Court, Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), Judge Lee Satterfield of the DC
Superior Court, Chief Judge Eric Washington of the DC Court of Appeals,
and Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina. Other speakers included the
Honorary Norm Mineta, former Secretary of Commerce under President
Clinton and Secretary of Transportation under President Bush; Honorary
Lamar Smith, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; and Kenneth
Feinberg, a fund manager for multiple big corporation funds.
Professor Dan Freeman’s Justice & Law class
with Congressman John Lewis (D-GA).
Exploring Costa Rica and Nicaragua with our
International Environment and Development Class
By Connor O’Farrell of the University of San Francisco
Having had time to reflect on the International Environment and
Development class trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua, I understand now why
the trip is so much more than just a two and a half week vacation to Latin
America. During our time in Costa Rica we focused on environmental issues
such as deforestation and loss of biodiversity that every country in the world
is facing today. While there, we visited every type of land conservation area,
from private conservation sites to national parks, and assessed their methods
of protecting the wildlife in their area. As we visited these sites, I was amazed
to hear over and over again that Costa Rica is the only country in the world
that is not only preserving the forests, but is actually re-growing the
rainforest. While Costa Rica focused on the environment, part of our
semester emphasized development issues. Our brief time in Nicaragua
provided first hand experiences for those in the class, like me, who had
studied but never actually seen the problems that so many people around
the world face on a daily basis. Although Granada is the most affluent large
city in Nicaragua, signs of the everyday struggles of its inhabitants such as
hunger, lack of sanitation, and few public health facilities are evident. We
studied these through discussions with organizational leaders, an afternoon
at a local community school, meeting with deaf youth employed by a nonprofit organization, and a comparison of national parks in Nicaragua versus
Costa Rica. Overall, the trip was a huge success, fun, engaging, and incredibly
educational!
Three IED students from the University
of San Francisco in Manuel Antonio
National Park in Costa Rica.
Hiking through a rainforest after
meeting with researchers.
Graduate Gateway Program
Over 50 students in American University's Graduate Gateway
Program spent the semester in Washington, DC, building
their professional networks and beginning graduate study in
four possible subject matters: Applied Politics, the Changing
World of News Media, Global Business & Trade, and
International Affairs. Between interning three days per week,
meeting many diverse experts, and taking graduate courses,
students also had the opportunity to venture out to
experience some of the culture and history of the District.
Left: a group of Gateway students take a boat cruise to
spend the day exploring historic Mount Vernon.
Washington Semester Student Association
Student Services & Events Coordinator, Nicole Howard, has been very busy this semester
working with our active student association. This student-led organization plans activities
throughout the semester to ensure that students have as rich and rewarding an experience as
possible both inside and outside the classroom. This fall, WASSA held an Ice Cream Social,
Absentee Ballot Information Session, Fall Festival (complete with pumpkin carving!), and a
‘Help the Homeless’ event. Members also assisted with the Graduate School and Career
Information Session, the Debate Watch Party, and many other Tenley events.
Faculty Publication Profile
Campaigns on the Cutting Edge
By Richard Semiatin
Washington Semester Program, American Politics Professor Rick Semiatin
has released the second edition of his popular Campaigns on the Cutting
Edge text, which explores the evolution of the modern political campaign
from television sets in the living room to wireless new media in the hands
of voters. He and other distinguished colleagues, including Washington
Mentorship and Semester Program professor Jeffrey Crouch, assess key
implications for the democratic process and governance and help
students make sense of how and why campaigns are changing, as they
focus on the horizon of campaigning and offer a cutting-edge look at what
to expect in future elections. (April 2012) Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
Voices of Women and American Women
Professor Iris Krasnow designed this unique and exciting program for women of all
ages, offered for the first time this fall, to help women to re-charge and re-invent
themselves. Topics discussed included the Changing Rules of Marriage, Balancing
Work and Motherhood, Navigating The Midlife Career Switch, Discovering Your
True Passion, Understanding Men Today, Getting What You Want In Work And In
Life. This popular and successful new offering even attracted the wives of the AU
president and provost to attend! As a follow-up to Voices of Women, Professor
Krasnow created American Women. This series involves conversations with AU’s
inspirational women, including Anita McBride (Department of Government)
speaking on “Partners in the Presidency: the Legacies of America’s First Ladies”;
Caleen Sinette Jennings, (Department of Performing Arts) on Women in Black
Theatre; Dr. Patricia Aufderheide (SOC) "Women in Documentary Filmmaking"; Dr.
Celeste Wallander (SIS) "Women in Defense and Security Policy"; and Dotty Lynch,
(SOC) "Women And Politics“.
Washington Semester Program
University of Miami in DC
SPRING 2013 AT-A-GLANCE
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Students move into residence halls
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Mandatory orientation and first meeting with professors
and/or program directors
Many universities have begun to partner with the
School of Professional & Extended Studies in offering
programming for their first year students. Below,
students of the inaugural UM in DC Program show
their University of Miami pride while spending the
semester interning in DC and studying at American
University.
FiUMS
Friday, January 11, 2013
ID cards, course changes, bill paying, work award meeting
Monday, January 14, 2013
Internship Bazaar (morning)
Classes begin (afternoon)
Monday, January 21, 2013
Martin Luther King Jr. Day (no classes, university offices closed)
Sunday, March 10 – Sunday, March 17, 2013
Spring Break
Monday, April 29, 2013
Summer Internships
SPExS’ Summer Internship will begin in June 2013. This
summer we will offer seminars in American Politics,
Community and Social Change, Journalism and New
Media, Economics and International Business,
International Affairs, and Justice and Law. SPExS
professors will serve as placement advisors providing
hands on assistance in finding diverse internships.
Last day of classes and internships
Summer Internship Program 2013 AT-A-GLANCE
Apply online or find more information at:
American.edu/spexs/SummerIntern
202-895-4900
summerintern@american.edu
Monday, April 15, 2013
In Our Next Edition:
Wednesday, May 1 – Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Final examinations
Priority deadline for receipt of registration and housing final
deadline for receipt of program deposit.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Final deadline for receipt of registration and housing materials.
June 2 – August 2, 2013
English Language Transition Program
International Gateway Program
Washington Internships for Native Students
More updates from diverse Washington
Semester Programs
And, new alumni opportunities
Program Dates
School of Professional and Extended Studies
American University’s Tenley Campus
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Dr. Carola Weil, Dean
202-895-4900
www.american.edu/spexs
For questions or concerns please contact: washsem@american.edu
School of Professional & Extended Studies
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20016-8083
202-895-4900
fax: 202-895-4960
www.american.edu/SPExS