Anglo-American University (AAU) is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are higher education institutions not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. However, they often receive tax breaks, public student loans, and government grants. Depending on the count ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, Czech Republic, providing courses in English. Founded in 1990, it was the first private university in the country to use English as the language of instruction.

History

Anglo-American University was founded in 1990 as the Anglo-American College by Jansen Raichl and his mother Vlasta Raichlová, shortly after the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

. Their aim was to create a higher education institution that would combine Central European university traditions with US and British academic principles. The college's name in English was later changed to ''university'' instead of college. In 2010, AAU was the first university outside the United States to be invited to apply for institutional accreditation by the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

(WASC). This accreditation was approved in 2016, with AAU becoming the first WASC-accredited university in Europe. Courses at AAU were initially organised under the School of

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

, School of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

and

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, and School of

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. The university subsequently added a School of International Relations and Diplomacy (2006) and School of Journalism (2010). In late 2008, John H. Carey II, co-founder and lecturer at the school of law, died, and the AAU School of Law was renamed in his honour as the John H. Carey II School of Law. In 2022, AAU began offering scholarships for undergraduate and graduate studies for Ukrainian students fleeing the war.

Academics

Study is available in four Schools of Study: Business Administration; International Relations & Diplomacy; Humanities & Social Sciences; Journalism, Media & Visual Arts. The university runs bachelor programs in Business Administration and International Relations with various possible specialisations, as well as other bachelor programs in: Humanities, Society and Culture; Politics and Society; Journalism and Communications; Visual Art Studies; and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) using University of London International Programmes Courses. The university runs master's programs in Business Administration; Humanities & Social Sciences; International Relations & Diplomacy; as well as Master of Law (LLM) programs in International Intellectual Property Law, and Law and Development, using University of London International Programmes Courses. The university offers a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA) in cooperation with

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

. AAU also offers various courses related to Czech culture, including: * Czech and Slovak Politics * Cities of Central Europe: Prague, Vienna and Budapest * Literature of Prague * Prague Art and Architecture *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

as a foreign language

Accreditation

Most of AAU's programs are accredited by the National Accreditation Bureau in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, except the Certificate of Higher Education in Common Law (CertHE Common Law), LLB, LLM, and the Chapman MBA program, which are offered in cooperation with international partners. The university is also

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

WASC Senior College and University Commission The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC ( )) provided accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa and Northern ...

, an American accrediting agency which evaluates public and private senior colleges and universities. The accreditation was granted in June 2016 for a period of six years. AAU is the only university in the

with this accreditation. The MBA program offered in cooperation with Chapman University, California is globally accredited by the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

(AACSB). The Certificate of Higher Education in Common Law (CertHE Common Law) and the LLB and LLM programs are offered in cooperation with the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

University facilities

Campus

AAU’s main campus is located in the newly restored Thurn-Taxis Palace, a cultural monument dating to the 17th century, previously owned by the German Thurn und Taxis noble family and now under the ownership of the city of Prague. The premises consist of 16 classrooms, a computer lab, and a visual arts studio, along with a cafeteria, courtyard and student lounges.

University library

AAU has a university library with a collection of 19,000 books, predominantly in English. AAU students, staff and faculty also have access to the collections held by the

Institute of International Relations Prague An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

, the Institute for Contemporary History, Academy of Sciences, and other libraries in

. The library also hosts music and

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

performances, readings, and discussion groups.

Exhibition gallery

AAU has an exhibition gallery name , art, SPACE, which displays photography, paintings, installations, and sculptures by faculty and students. , art, SPACE operates under the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and is also used to showcase coursework in

digital photography Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is ...

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

and other creative courses.

''Lennon Wall''

''Lennon Wall'' is AAU's student magazine, which takes its name from the John Lennon Wall, a monument to freedom of expression located near the university. The magazine describes itself as "a nonpartisan platform for aspiring reporters and future writers", independent from the university.

Sexual harassment allegations

An article published on A2larm.cz on 16 July 2018 detailed accusations from two former students that AAU had failed to properly enforce their sexual harassment policy and failed to protect their students. On 17 July 2018, AAU responded with a statement categorically denying the accusations, stating that an investigation into the allegations of sexual harassment was ongoing, as required by AAU's policy on disciplinary procedures. On 18 July 2018, A2larm announced that they would continue to investigate after being contacted by both students and staff of AAU with additional allegations of abuse and harassment, but has not filed anything since the announcement. On 20 July 2018 the AAU President issued a press release addressing both cases reported in the article and announced action that would be taken by AAU. AAU pledged to revise the existing procedures and also to re-establish the AAU sexual harassment task force. In response to A2larm.cz's articles alleging sexual harassment at AAU, WSCUC, the university's American accreditation body, reviewed AAU's rules and procedures in response to a complaint filed by a third party. WSCUC reported a "structured and rigorous process for addressing complaints related to sexual harassment and misconduct", and on 10 August 2018 confirmed that AAU meets WSCUC's standards.

Notable alumni

* Klára Poláčková - The first

woman to climb

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

. * Alexandra Udženija - Deputy Leader of the Civic Democratic Party (2014–present). * Oz Karahan - Cypriot political activist, President of the Union of Cypriots.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Universities and colleges established in 1990 Educational institutions in Prague Universities in the Czech Republic 1990 establishments in Czechoslovakia Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges