Degree Programs
As an institute for higher education, the HCA trains American Studies specialists to meet an increasing demand in academia, the public sector, and the business community.
The Bachelor of Arts in American Studies offers a broad range of subjects as well as specialization modules. The six-semester program encompasses classes in North American literature and culture, history, politics, economics, theology, geography and law. Options to focus on geography or religious studies and to obtain an additional legal certificate result in a for a unique curriculum among North American Studies programs.
In the four-semester Master of Arts in American Studies program, students profit from excellent academic teaching and an interdisciplinary approach that meets the needs of future leaders. This distinguished program attracts talented and ambitious graduate students from around the world.
The HCA also trains PhDs, both in the research training group “Authority and Trust,” funded by the German Research Foundation, and in its PhD in American Studies program. Both avenues offer a modern multidisciplinary curriculum and are committed to building a lively community of scholars by fostering academic debate and a continuous exchange of ideas and perspectives.
Our graduates use the skills they acquire at the HCA in a broad range of professions. HCA alumni have started their careers in international organizations, media and public relations, cultural institutions, political consulting, urban and regional planning, adult education, or at universities and other academic institutions.
Information for Prospective Students
The HCA understands itself as an academic community of teachers and students. Our students benefit not only from the intensive support provided academic advisors, but also from the exchange with advanced fellow students. In addition, numerous evening events offer the opportunity for academic exchange outside the seminars.
The HCA is a young, innovative institute at Germany's oldest university. Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is one of eleven German universities of excellence and ranks among the best universities worldwide in the QS World University Ranking. The HCA is located in a 300-year-old baroque townhouse on the university’s Old Town Campus, just a few steps away from the award-winning university library and the large lecture halls.
Heidelberg University and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies maintain numerous exchange programs with US universities and support their students in planning and completing semesters abroad as part of their degree programs.
