Educational Exchange

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES INSTITUTES, FY-09

The Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Scholar Institutes are designed to strengthen curricula and improve the quality of teaching about the United States overseas.

Application Form [Suggested Format]:  PDF File | zipped WORD doc.

Application deadline: January 23, 2009. 

INSTITUTE DESCRIPTION: Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI)  are intensive post-graduate level academic programs with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide foreign university faculty and other scholars with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American society, culture and institutions.  These Institutes host multinational groups of university faculty or secondary school educators. Each Institute is thematically focused on a field or topic of U.S. studies. Participants interact with American scholars, meet with experts in their disciplines, visit civic institutions, and explore the diversity and culture of the United States.

The ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in academic institutions abroad.

The Institute on American Civilization provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present. The Institute is designed to assist faculty who are attempting to develop or enhance courses focusing on the United States; it draws from a diverse disciplinary base and provides a model of how a foreign university might approach the study of the United States. The current Institute is hosted by New York University.

The Institute on American Politics and Political Thought provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and related professionals with a deeper understanding of U.S. political institutions and major currents in American political thought by focusing on the interplay between ideas and institutions in shaping the contemporary American polity. The Institute reviews the provenance and trajectory of these different intellectual strands or movements, and highlights how they have intersected with American political institutions to shape public discourse and public policy formulation in the contemporary United States. The current Institute is hosted by The University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

.....

The Institute on Contemporary American Literature provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of contemporary American literature. The Institute explores the diversity of the American literary landscape, examining how major contemporary writers, schools, and movements reflect the traditions of the American literary canon. The current Institute is hosted by The University of Louisville.

The Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and related professionals with a deeper understanding of how U.S. foreign policy is conceptualized and enacted with emphasis on the post cold war era. The Institute is structured to give attention to U.S. policy both globally and in particular geographic areas, by examining the role of U.S. foreign policy within the context of international relations and international institutions. The current Institute is hosted by The University of Florida.

The Institute on Journalism and Media provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign journalism instructors and other related professionals with a deeper understanding of the roles of journalism and the media in U.S. society. The Institute covers strategies for teaching students of journalism the basics of the tradecraft: researching, reporting, writing, and editing. Technology's impact on journalism, the influence of the Internet, the globalization of the news media, the growth of satellite television and radio networks, and other advances in media that are transforming the profession are also explored in depth. The current Institute is hosted by The University of Florida.

The Institute on Religious Pluralism in the United States provides a multinational group of 18 experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and related practitioners with a deeper understanding of religious pluralism in the United States and its intersection with American democracy. The Institute examines the ways in which religious thought and practice have influenced, and been influenced by, the development of American-style democracy; examines the intersections of religion and politics in the United States in such areas as elections, public policy, and foreign policy; and explores the sociology and demography of religion in the United States today, including a survey of the diversity of contemporary religious beliefs and its impact on American politics. The current Institute is hosted by The University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Institute for Secondary School Educators provides two multinational groups of 30 experienced and highly-motivated secondary school educators (teachers, teacher trainers, textbook writers, curriculum developers, and education ministry officials) with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present. The ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in secondary schools and other academic institutions abroad. The current Institutes are hosted by The Institute for Training and Development and The University of Illinois at Chicago.

For information about this program and others, please visit the website of the http://exchanges.state.gov/academicexchanges/scholars.html

OTHER ESSENTIAL PROGRAM INFORMATION:
Candidate Statement: In order to get a better sense of potential participants' motivations and goals, ECA requests that each candidate provide a short personal statement (one page) indicating why he or she is interested in participating in the program and what he or she expects to get out of the experience.  Please see the application format, below.

Program Funding: Through the grant to the host institutions, ECA will cover all participant costs, including: program administration, domestic travel, international travel costs and ground transportation, book, cultural, mailing and incidental allowances, housing and subsistence. 

Program Requirements and Restrictions: Participants are expected to participate fully in the program. They are expected to attend all lectures and organized activities, and complete assigned readings.  Family members and/or friends cannot accompany participants on any part of the program.  Please note that teaching methodology and pedagogical methods will not be addressed formally in the institute.  The institute should not be viewed as a research program. 

Priority Consideration: Priority will be given to candidates who have firm plans to enhance, update or develop courses and/or educational materials with a U.S. studies focus or component, who have limited experience in the United States, and who have special interest in the program subject areas as demonstrated through past scholarship, accomplishments, and professional duties.

MAILING INSTRUCTIONS: 
Please send your application form via e-mail by January 23 to Gazmend Ilazi Educational Affairs Assistant, e-mail: ilazig@state.gov, for additional information you may call: Tel: 02 3116 180 ext. 2169.