HAW goes USA HAW goes USA

Forty percent of US exchange students at HAW Hamburg come from Long Beach, making CSULB the strongest partner within the reciprocal semester-exchange programme with the US. Each year 13-15 CSULB students come to Hamburg from all across the university majors. The semester exchangehas been strengthened through the introduction of 'Hamburg Tracks'. In each field a range of Hamburg classes are registered in Long Beach for "pre-approved credit". The goal is to have a complete semester (15 US credits) approved, so that the time to graduation is not extended because of the semester abroad.

A particularly successful exchange is the 'Junior Spring Semester Abroad' with the School of Social Work. Social Work Juniors from CSULB spend a semester completing classes and their compulsory 80-hour internship in Hamburg. The programme is fully credited towards their studies in Long Beach, so their time to graduation is not extended.

Articles:
Lizette Rodriguez 2024
Elizabeth Rivas 2023
Raquel Paz 2019

The longest cooperation with CSULB dates back to 1996 with the Global Applied Interdisciplinary Workshop (formerly German-American International Business Workshop). Article: 25 years German-American Business Workshop. Until the pandemic in 2020 one-week workshops were held annually in Hamburg (May/June) and in Long Beach (October) with students and teachers from both universities. The special focus was and is the close involvement with industry partners, which gives students an insight into the global working world. Through the mixture of lectures, company visits and project work in international groups, the students expand their intercultural skills and knowledge of international management.

In 2020 and 2021, the workshops were changed to an online format because of the pandemic. A COIL module was developed from this concept in the winter semester 2021/22. Up to 2025 the format was hybrid with workshops in person. Coordination: Prof. Dr. Natalia Ribberink

CSULB article: GAIW 2025

Since 2018, the faculty exchange programme in the field of social work was expanded to include a block seminar on ‘Strengths-based interventions with children and families’ with Prof. Dr. Nancy Meyer-Adams (CSULB). Her special expertise is offered as part of the international semester in Hamburg. At the same time, CSULB students are introduced to the special methods and current topics in German social work through guest lectures by HAW Hamburg lecturers.

Since summer 2023, there is also a Social Work Summer School under the direction of Prof. Dr Nancy Meyer-Adams (CSULB) and Prof. Dr Daniela Ulber (HAW). Master's students from CSULB spend a week in Berlin and a week in Hamburg to delve deeper into current research topics in social work and gain an insight into local social work organisations. For the US students, the content is part of their ‘Social Policy’ seminar. Several lecturers from both universities are responsible for the course content. Article

Coordination: Prof. Dr. Daniela Ulber

Starting in 2015, film workshops and guest lectures were introduced in both Long Beach and Hamburg. The reason for choosing CSULB as a cooperation partner was the high level of expertise in the area of film, which complements and enriches the studies at HAW Hamburg.  At CSULB the core classes focus on 'Screen & Media Writing', 'Film & TV Production' as well as 'Production Management'. This corresponds with Hamburg lectures in dramaturgy, video, audio and the production of short film projects. Since 2017 the cooperation has received funding through the ISAP programme from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for student semester scholarships and travel expenses for faculty exchange. In 2018 a joint film project culminated in the short film "Oceans Across" (video at the end of this page).

In 2020 and 2021 virtual formats were introduced due to the corona restrictions and during the three-day workshops German-American student teams made joint short films which in 2020 they called "Carrying the torch" (article & video) and in 2021 'Postcards from Home' (article & video). 

Film workshops have been back in Hamburg since 2022. Coordination: Prof. Joachim Friedmann

Guest lectures in Long Beach: Since 2023 we have introduced a new focus on AI and its current and future role in the film industry. The special HAW Hamburg expertise is presented and discussed in guest lectures and workshops in Long Beach (article & video). Coordination: Prof. Marco Grimm

A new collaboration between CSULB and HAW Hamburg began in 2017 with brand design workshops. The core content of teaching in the field of brand design is the same at both universities, meaning that the lecturers were able to hold joint lectures from the outset. At the same time, each university has special expertise, so that they can supplement the teaching in workshops at the partner university. 

From 2018 and 2024, the workshops were expanded to a Brand Design Summer School led by CSULB Professor Tor Hovind in Hamburg. A German-American student group was taught jointly with Professor Sven Vogel over a period of two weeks. Coordination: Sven Vogel