International Affairs
Center for North American Studies Develops Unique Specialty
THE NEW CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN STUDIES (CNAS) at AU was established to educate a new generation of students from Canada, Mexico, and the United States about North America, the largest free trade market in the world. It offers an undergraduate minor in North American Studies, a graduate level certificate in North American Studies, and an annual Summer Institute on Discovering North America.
The CNAS Faculty Advisory Committee develops courses for the minor and certificate programs and provides guidance on research and public policy initiatives. Its 25 members come from all six of AU's schools and include experts on a wide array of continental integration issues.
Visiting senior fellows, including Former Canadian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Joe Clark, and Canadian trade negotiator and professor Michael Hart, will spend the 2004-05 academic year teaching courses on Canadian foreign policy and trade issues. Maureen McTeer, noted Canadian author, will be teaching courses on law and gender equality at Washington College of Law and the Women and Politics Institute, directed by Dr. Karen O'Connor.
Undergraduates who minor in North American Studies take specially-designed courses on North America-its economy, politics, social movements-and either study in Canada or Mexico, or complete an internship in a Washington agency working on North America. They also learn Spanish or French, either in an immersion program abroad or on campus.
Two Summer Institutes have provided approximately 30 students per year the opportunity to spend seven weeks exploring North American relations, with a goal of guiding them to new ways of thinking about themselves and their neighbors. Students have also completed internships with the Organization of American States, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Trade Commission, to name a few.
CNAS is working with other universities in Canada and Mexico to develop similar programs on North America and provide trilateral opportunities for study and research for students and faculty. For more information, see http://www.american.edu/ia/cnas/
The Center for North American Studies Summer Institute students stand behind the 'North' American University sign.