The AUC academic programme offers you many opportunities to work, both independently and with fellow students, on projects that require the integration of knowledge with skills in analysis, discovery, problem-solving and communication. You will engage in active learning and research based on your own questions, so that you can develop your academic and personal skills as you learn the arts of inquiry, innovation and design.

Many of the most important issues facing society today are too complex or wide-ranging to be dealt with using the knowledge and methodology of a single subject area. The AUC programme places a great deal of emphasis on teaching you how to integrate insights from different perspectives, and to work across the traditional boundaries between subjects and fields. AUC offers several courses that allow you to examine twenty-first century questions and challenges from a variety of perspectives and teach the skills needed to do so. The programme structure also ensures that you take courses outside of your major to become familiar with different disciplines. 

In accordance with the best traditions of a Liberal Arts college, the AUC programme embodies a broad education that encourages personal reflection and critical engagement. AUC is not just about taking courses and developing your intellectual skills, it is also about your personal and social development. You will develop your abilities to interact with people from different social and cultural backgrounds. You will also have opportunities to study abroad and/or take up an international internship or community project.

AUC's location in the city of Amsterdam provides the perfect environment for a programme that will emphasise European and world issues rather than more traditional national ones. AUC is an international college, with students of many different nationalities and backgrounds, and the programme is built around topics that are essential to understanding the world today and the processes shaping it, such as urbanisation, technological development, democratisation, migration and religion.

At AUC we believe it is essential that students are encouraged and taught to think critically, and to develop strong academic skills. This includes scientific reasoning - not just basic mathematical, statistical and computational skills (although these are important), but also a familiarity with scientific methods in general.

You will be challenged and stretched to ensure you are skilled in rational and logical thinking and reasoning, and familiar with the development of hypotheses, testing them and changing them if results demand it. The Academic Core curriculum provides mathematical methods courses and required logic courses to support the acquisition of these skills. Particular attention will be given to ways in which scientific reasoning and scientific facts are translated into public policy and public debate.

AUC is not an island, but connected closely to the surrounding community in the multicultural city of Amsterdam and also to the world at large. AUC emphasises students' personal and social responsibility both inside and outside the classroom. You will therefore be expected and encouraged to become actively involved in community projects and real-world challenges, including in-company internships, where you will get the chance to test theories you have learned in the classroom.