Over 1,200 Fulbright Students to Learn About U.S. Politics

Fulbright Students - "U.S. Politics and Elections: Democracy in Action"

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 3, 2012

________________________________________

Beginning February 9 in Atlanta, Georgia, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will host the first of nine 2012 Fulbright Foreign Student Enrichment Seminars. Approximately 140 first-year Fulbright Foreign Students from over 80 countries, studying at colleges and universities across the United States, will participate in each of the nine seminars this spring in cities across the United States focused on the theme, “U.S. Politics and Elections: Democracy in Action.”

During the four-day seminars, participants will meet and network with local citizens and community leaders as well as with other Fulbright Foreign Students studying in the United States. Students will learn about the U.S. political system and the electoral process. They will also gain a better understanding of contemporary life and culture, policy formulation and public attitudes on nationally and globally important issues in the United States. The students will attend lectures, hear keynote speakers, and participate in panel discussions, site visits, workshops, community outreach and volunteer opportunities to explore how Americans exercise their democratic rights. Each seminar will allow students to participate in an election simulation exercise.

Atlanta Fulbright Enrichment Seminar participants will also have the opportunity to interact with members of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB), the 12-member board appointed by the President of the United States to establish worldwide Fulbright program policies, who will join the seminar. The Board also will host a February 10 panel discussion, Diversity in the Fulbright Program: Challenge and Opportunity, which is open to the public.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar series as part of its flagship Fulbright Program. These enrichment seminars, an integral part of the Fulbright experience, benefit Fulbright foreign students and support the Fulbright Program’s overall mission – to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries through academic exchange. A video of the 2011 Fulbright Enrichment Seminar demonstrates the impact of these seminars.

In addition to the Atlanta, Georgia seminar (February 9-12), Fulbright Enrichment Seminars are scheduled in: Nashville, Tennessee (February 16-19); Sacramento, California (February 23-26); Baltimore, Maryland (March 1-4); Denver, Colorado (March 8-11); Chicago, Illinois (March 8-11); Washington, D.C. (March 28-April 1); St. Louis, Missouri (April 12-15) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (April 19-22).

ENDS

© Scoop Media