Curriculum overview
There are four main ways to make up your academic workload for the ASE semester.
You choose one of the following combinations of courses, each recommended for a total of 16 credits:
The Advanced Tutorial Programme
One tutorial plus three seminar courses.
Seminars Only
Four seminar classes
The Education Programme
A weekly placement in a local primary or secondary school, plus an education-specific seminar and two other seminar courses.
The Internship Programme
A weekly internship placement plus three seminar courses.
Students who wish to apply for any other combination of four courses (for instance, a tutorial plus an internship and two seminars) are asked to write, making a persuasive case, to the Director of Studies. Such requests are judged on a case-by-case basis.
Once a week during the semester, the entire ASE cohort gets together for 90minutes of group learning - whether that’s a talk, a tour or some other broadly educational activity. We call this ASE Learning Together, or ALT for short.
Please note: All ASE courses are recommended at level 300. It is each student’s responsibility to make certain that appropriate credit transfer at their home college has been approved before leaving for England.
Welcome to ASE! Whether you choose to study in England for a semester, a full year, or just for the summer, ASE promises to offer you a challenging and unique educational experience, encouraging you to develop your academic skills and to widen your range of scholarly and cultural interests.
Nelson House comes alive when we have students here; coming in and out of their small, but lively, seminar class discussions (capped at 15 students); maybe meeting faculty one-on-one for tutorials (unless they are having those in Oxford); studying in the library, meeting a placement tutor, or assembling before heading off on one of our course-related trips. Our faculty are all carefully selected and highly qualified, supporting our reputation as an academically rigorous programme. Many of them hail from the University of Oxford, and all are committed to our ideals of combining high teaching standards with personal involvement in students’ academic goals.
The ASE curriculum is rich and varied; mixing a wide range of interesting seminar classes with placements in schools and in a variety of local businesses and institutions, and with our Advanced Tutorial Programme - which allows students to pick the discipline and topic that they want to study, usually one-on-one. Whatever you study with us, you can be assured of individual attention and support. I am on hand at Nelson House, the ASE study centre, to ensure you are supported academically throughout your stay, and to offer advice on your next steps after you leave ASE.
I look forward very much to meeting you.
- Dr Lucy Marten, Director of Studies and Deputy Dean
Seminar Courses
Seminar classes meet once a week, usually for two hours. Course assessment is continuous and derives from a series of papers and a final examination, plus class participation.
Advanced Tutorial Programme
Tutorial students meet weekly, for two hours - singly or in pairs - with a professor specialising in their subject of choice, following the teaching model of Oxford University.
Internship Programme
ASE offers a range of internships with prestigious organisations in the city, or within close proximity to Bath. Each student spends a total of 100 hours in the placement over the course of a semester.
Education Programme
ASE’s Education Programme allows students the unique opportunity to undertake a weekly school placement alongside a course on education theory and policy.
As a semester student on the ASE programme, you can expect:
A 16-week programme based in the World Heritage City of Bath
Residence in handsome houses and apartments in historic neighbourhoods
Small classes taught by British faculty, many with study trips attached
Residential stays at University College, Oxford and in Stratford-upon-Avon
Optional day trips to Stonehenge, Salisbury, the Cotswolds and more
A carefully-structured programme of social and cultural events and opportunities
Transcripts are provided by Franklin & Marshall College.
We welcome applications from suitably-qualified undergraduates from all US institutions of Higher Education.
“ASE is more than a study abroad program: it's a community you will be returning to whether literally or figuratively, for the rest of your life. The courses are intellectually and creatively inspiring, and connected meaningfully to the beautiful city of Bath, which you will never want to leave. ”
— Mary Kovaleski Byrnes, Emerson College