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John Brown aggregates all the most recent public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.

JUNE 15, 2005 EXCHANGES SUPPLEMENT
by Stacy Glassgold

C) WEEKLY EXCHANGES SUPPLEMENT

The following articles are related to educational and cultural exchange programs. Specific topics in this supplement include USG-funded exchange programs (e.g., Fulbright scholarships, Ron Brown Fellowship, International Visitors) as well as issues relating to student visas, study abroad, and NGOs involved in exchanges. The
articles are aggregated weekly by STACY MICHELLE GLASSGOLD, USC CENTER ON PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.

C.1) USG–FUNDED EXCHANGE PROGRAMS (SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION C.2 FOR OTHER TOPICS)

1. GRADUATE STUDENTS RECEIVE 28 FULBRIGHT-HAYS FELLOWSHIPS (UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CHRONICLE, JUNE 9TH 2005): For the 19th consecutive year, Chicago students have won more Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowships than any other U.S. educational institution. The dissertation fellowships are for study in non-Western countries and cover periods of six to 12 months.  LINK

2. FULBRIGHT AWARD SENDS PROFESSOR TO SIERRA LEONE (THE SAGINAW NEWS, JUNE 13TH 2005): Political scientist Claudena M. Skran has won a $60,000 Fulbright Scholarship to travel to Sierra Leone, a country the United Nations ranks as the world’s poorest.  Skran will research how more than 400,000 former refugees are rebuilding their lives, government, and schools during peacetime. LINK

3. FROM BROKEN BONES TO DECAYED BUILDINGS, NEW YORK TIMES (WILMINGTONSTAR.COM, JUNE 9TH 2005): Digital cameras - praised as one of the most rapidly adopted consumer gadgets - are finding usefulness in a variety of professions that traditionally have little or nothing to do with photography. Dr. Roy M. Colven, the head of dermatology at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, studies the digital images and written descriptions e-mailed to him by primary-care doctors in South African provincial hospitals. He received a Fulbright Award last year to set up a long-distance consulting program based in Cape Town, where he is working for another month.
LINK

4. WEST POINT GRAD IS FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, GREG C. BRUNO (TIMES HERALD-RECORD): West Point graduate Jeffrey D. Glick has been named a Fulbright scholar, one of the U.S. Military Academy’s first graduating officers ever to receive the prestigious academic honor.
LINK

5. BEVERLY GRAD WINS FULBRIGHT, LISSA HARRIS (BEVERLY CITIZEN, JUNE 9TH 2005): Boston College graduate Stephen Cottle will embark this September for Germany with a year-long grant from the prestigious Fulbright program, where he will continue to pursue his passion for international politics.  He will be Beverly High School’s first Fulbright scholar.
LINK

C.2) OTHER NEWS ON EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE ISSUES

6. WHITE HOUSE SEEKS SOFTER, GENTLER LIAISON TO ARAB WORLD, WILLIAM FISHER (IPS JUNE 10TH 2005): The Egyptian-born Dina Habib Powell, currently the top personnel official at the White House, will be confirmed as President George W. Bush’s choice to be assistant secretary of state for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). She will supervise all international student and other cultural exchange programs and serve as senior deputy to Karen Hughes, the long-time Bush confidante who has been nominated to direct all U.S. public diplomacy efforts.
LINK

7. ISLAMIC EXCHANGE STUDENTS MEET WITH PRESIDENT BUSH: INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS KEY TO INCREASED GLOBAL SAFETY (PR NEWSWIRE, JUNE 13TH 2005): Nearly 200 high school students from predominantly Muslim regions including Iraq, Gaza, Syria and Pakistan met with President Bush at the White House on Monday. The president noted the important role host families and exchange students play in building bridges between the United States and Islamic nations. The students are participants in the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. LINK

8. NO CHANGE IN BASIC CRITERIA FOR US VISA FOR INDIAN STUDENTS (UNI, JUNE 14TH 2005): The US embassy here today admitted that some additional steps had been ‘’seamlessly integrated’’ into the visa process for US-bound Indian students, even though it denied reports that the US had fixed a quota on student visas and that post 9/11, it was more difficult to get such visas.
LINK

9. US STUDENT VISA UPDATE, KAREN GUPTA (PUNE NEWSLINE, JUNE 13TH 2005): In an attempt to increase their outreach, the US consulate is doing everything to make the visa application process smoother for all serious students. Joseph M Pomper, Consular Section Chief, American Consulate General, Mumbai said “Indians comprise the largest percentage of foreign students in the US, so it’s our priority to facilitate the process for them.”
LINK

10. UK SPONSORS EXCHANGE PROGRAM WITH GHANA, GNA (GHANANEWS.COM, JUNE 8TH 2005): The Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (UK) is funding a 3.17 million-dollar educational exchange program between Ghana and the U.K. The program, which started in January last year, would end in December this year.
LINK

11. HARVARD’S SUMMERS SAYS U.S. SHOULDN’T SHUT OUT FOREIGN STUDENTS (BLOOMBERG, JUNE 9TH 2005): Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers said restrictions that make it more difficult for foreign students to study in the U.S. have become “a serious issue” for the nation. He said in a speech today in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that the U.S. has never been more misunderstood in the world and one of the ways that will change is if U.S. students study abroad and students from other countries are encouraged to continue their education here. LINK

12.  ASEM CULTURAL COOPERATION PROMOTED (VOV, JUNE 11TH 2005): The second ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting held recently in Paris, France was of great significance as it mapped out long-term programs on cultural exchange, dialogue and co-operation for ASEM.  On this occasion, VOV interviewed French Minister of Culture and Information Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres on cultural co-operation among ASEM member countries. LINK

13. STUCK INSIDE OF BOSTON WITH THE STUDENT VISA BLUES, LAUREN K. MEADE (BOSTON GLOBE, JUNE 12TH 2005): Despite efforts by the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs to streamline the visa application process, many Arab students say they are resigned to staying stateside for the duration of their education.  The perception among Arab students that visa renewal is risky lingers from the massive visa renewal delays of 2002 and 2003, after the State Department implemented more security measures, including personal interviews and finger scans for almost all visa applicants.  It is also true that many Arab students continue to face greater scrutiny in their visa applications than others.
LINK

14. RUSSIAN-GERMAN CULTURAL FESTIVAL, ANDREI VOROBEI (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, JUNE 10TH 2005): A three-day festival that celebrates the cultural exchange that accompanies migration flows starts Friday in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The Russian-German cultural festival REmigration 2005 is founded on the idea to “remigrate,” for the duration of the festival, musicians, artists, writers and poets who immigrated from Russia to Germany. The St. Petersburg German-Russian Exchange office runs it, and the works and events reflect their roots and character in the exchanges between the two countries.
LINK

15. FOREIGN AFFAIRS AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PAN AMERICAN, KATHRYN WILSON (THE MONITOR, JUNE 12TH 2005): Although UTPA primarily attracts local commuters, the fast-growing institution draws an increasing number of foreign students each year, primarily from Mexico. After peaking in fall 2002, the number of international students at U.S. colleges and universities dipped by 2.4 percent in 2003 to 572,509 students.  Meanwhile, the UTPA’S international student population increased by 14 percent from fall 2002 to fall 2003.
LINK

16. UK VISA FEES INCREASE JULY 1ST (JIS, JUNE 10TH 2005): VISAS for travel to the United Kingdom will cost more as of July 1, the Foreign and Commonwealth Officer (FCO) in London has announced. The fees for a six-month permit moves from £36 to £50, a 39 per cent increase.  London term visas for stays of over six months - including student visas, work permit holders and working holidaymakers - will increase to £85.
LINK

17. TOURISM FEARS OVER VISAS PRICE INCREASE (GLASGOW EVENING TIMES JUNE 15TH 2005): A sudden hike in the cost of visas for foreign travelers to the UK could deal a hammer blow to Britain’s tourism industry at the start of the peak summer season.
LINK

18. FLYOVER, FLYOVER, ISHANI DUTTAGUPTA (TIMES NEWS NETWORK, JUNE 12TH 2005): Foreign universities are wooing Indian students like never before. With every country raising the Indian headcount in their classrooms, students have become India’s academic ambassadors.
LINK

19. MELBOURNE STUDENTS HEAD TO NT FOR CULTURAL EXCHANGE (ABC NEWS ONLINE, JUNE 13TH 2005): Eight primary students from the Carey Baptist Grammar School in the Melbourne suburb of Kew will visit 55 students at the two-teacher Robinson River School in the Gulf Country.  The goal of the exchange is to give the city children a taste of indigenous culture and traditions.
LINK

20. STUDENT EXCHANGE BRIDGES DISTANCE TO VIEQUES, DUNCAN PICKARD (MARTHA’S VINYARD TIMES, JUNE 9TH 2005): Eleven students and teachers from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School participated in a cultural exchange in April with a group of roughly 30 youth on the island of Vieques, 13 miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico.
LINK

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