CP Communities
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Contact:
Brad G. Knight
Director, AU Core
AU Core
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016-8145
United States
Complex Problems Seminars
Complex Problems Seminars, taken in the fall or spring of your first year at American University, use real-world problems or enduring questions to cultivate your intellectual flexibility for future work at the university and beyond. Each of these small, 3-credit seminars is taught by a leading, full-time professor at AU and offers opportunities to consider a variety of perspectives and practice scholarly methods of inquiry. The seminars include unique co-curricular experiences, sending you off campus or bringing area experts to the classroom to foster connections among ideas and experiences. In each seminar, a Program Leader (a sophomore, junior, or senior student) partners with your instructor to provide academic and social support, and to encourage classroom, community, and campus engagement.
Find Your Seminar
Browse thecatalog of seminar descriptionsbefore registering for Complex Problems. The detailed descriptions allow you to find an available seminar that sparks your curiosity, speaks to your passions, or challenges you to consider new ideas.
Finding Their Voices Through Complex Problems
Part of the AU Core curriculum along with American University Experience, Complex Problems facilitates difficult conversations and moves students into an inquiry-based model.
This chart is automatically sorted to show the classes which will be offered in the upcoming academic year. Click the arrows next to a seminar title to read the full description.
Complex Problems Seminars
See the for detailed informationabout the upcoming seminars.
University College (UC)
Take CP with AU's oldest and largest living-learning community. Course number:CORE-107.
The Examined Life
Taught by a faculty cohort, these seminars have a shared syllabus and opportunities for student collaborations. Course numbers: CORE-105, CORE-106.
American University Honors
First-year AU Honors students take CP along with a 1-credit experiential learning course. Course number: CORE-106.
DCIS
DC Community Impact Scholars (DCIS) studentstake a CP seminar and research labfocused on community-based learning.Course number: CORE-106.
Enrollment Links
Schedule of Classes
First-Year Students
Learning Communities
First-Year Advising
Transfer Students
Transfer Student Homepage
Academic Advisors
Learning Outcomes
You will have the chance to demonstrate all of the following learning outcomes in your Complex Problems seminar. The topical nature of these seminars means that you will engage with the learning outcomes in the context of the course.
Diverse Perspectives
A.Complexity.Identify and engage with complexity (or gray areas) within issues or contexts by explaining the factors influencing different positions
B.Multiple Perspectives.Use multiple perspectives to refine your understanding of an issue or context
C.Awareness.Investigate the sources of your own groups’ norms and biases
D.Civility.Demonstrate civility through argumentation or intellectual exchange
Communication
A.Audience.Identify the audience to make choices about how to communicate your ideas
B.Sources.Integrate materials or sources to develop and refine your ideas
C.Organization.Use organizational strategies to develop a clear purpose or aim
Critical Reading
A.Summary.Summarize an author’s or authors’ message, main points, and supporting ideas
B.Response.Engage with a “text” by responding to it
C.Conversation.Put “texts” into conversation with other “texts”
Reflection
A.Feedback.Incorporate feedback from faculty, staff, or peers in subsequent work
B.Metacognition.Practice metacognition by reflecting on feedback and your revision processes
Integrative Learning
A.Connect.Connect experiences and academic learning
Student Experiences
Amelia Rowniewski, a first-year public health major at American University, delivered a presentation titled 'Bite Sized Nutrition Banter' at the Mathias Student Research Conference on April 6th. The research delved into the awareness levels among American University college students regarding the nutritional public health implications of wasted food. This project stemmed from her final assignment in the Fall 2024 Complex Problems course, 'Food for Thought: Why Waste?'.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the Complex Problems course because I was able to spend time with my classmates, whether we were volunteering, exploring museums, or having meaningful conversations about a topic we were all interested in.”
– Abby Kleman, Class of 2022