UNITED STATES EMBASSY HANOI

UNITED STATES CONSULATE GENERAL HO CHI MINH CITY

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION 

Announcement

2014 STUDY OF THE UNITED STATES INSTITUTES

FOR SCHOLARS AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATORS

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City are pleased to announce the Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) programs for scholars in 2014.  We seek qualified candidates to nominate for these programs.  University lecturers and researcherss who wish to apply for the programs are invited to complete the application form and submit online to PAS by Monday, December 30, 2013.  Selections will be announced in early April 2014.

Program Overview

SUSI programs are intensive post-graduate level academic programs with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide foreign university faculty and other scholars the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American society, culture, and institutions. Knowledge and experience gained from these programs are expected to help the participants to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in their own universities and institutions when they return to their home country.

Each program will host a group of participants from different countries around the world and take place over the course of six weeks beginning in mid-June 2014. We hope to nominate one scholar from Vietnam for each of the programs below.  All participant costs, including: program administration, international and domestic travel and ground transportation, housing and subsistence, book, cultural, mailing and incidental allowances will be sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Summary of the Institutes

1. American Politics and Political Thought

The Institute on American Politics and Political Thought will provide a multinational group of experienced foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of major currents in U.S. political thought from the colonial period to the present. It will explore the shaping of American identity and the intersection and interplay between that identity and U.S. history and politics. It will cover a broad range of American experiences that have shaped and been shaped by our national identity including, but not limited to, the colonial period, the constitutional founding, the Civil War, industrialization, the Great Depression, the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement. The Institute will also use this lens to explore contemporary U.S. political and social debates and topics relating them back to the formation and development of U.S. political thought. The Institute host will be determined at a later date.

2. U.S. Foreign Policy 

The Institute on U.S. Foreign Policy will provide a multinational group of experienced foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of how contemporary U.S. foreign policy is formulated and implemented.  The Institute will include a historical review of significant events, individuals, and philosophies that have shaped U.S. foreign policy.  The Institute will explain the role of key players in U.S. foreign policy including the executive and legislative branches of government, the media, the U.S. public, think-tanks, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral institutions.  The Institute will be hosted by Bard College in New York.

3. Religious Pluralism in the United States 

The Institute on Religious Pluralism in the United States will provide a multinational group of foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present, through an examination of religious pluralism in the United States and its intersection with American democracy. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach and drawing on fields such as history, political science, sociology, anthropology, law, and others, the program will explore both the historical and contemporary relationship between church and state in the United States. Participants will examine the following aspects of religious pluralism in the United States: the ways in which religious thought and practice have influenced, and been influenced by, the development of American-style democracy; the intersections of religion and politics in the United States in such areas as elections, public policy, and foreign policy; and 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 Institute host will be determined at a later date.

4. U.S. Culture and Society

SUSI on U.S. Culture and Society will provide a multinational group of experienced and highly-motivated foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, culture, values and institutions.  The Institute will examine the ethnic, racial, economic, political, and religious contexts in which various cultures have manifested themselves in U.S. society, and the ways in which these cultures have influenced both social movements and historical epochs throughout U.S. history.  The program will draw from a diverse disciplinary base, and will itself provide a model of how a foreign university might approach the study of U.S. culture and society.   The Institute will be hosted by New York University.

5. Contemporary American Literature

The Institute on Contemporary American Literature will provide a multinational group of foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present, through an examination of contemporary American (U.S.) literature. Its purpose is twofold: to explore contemporary American writers and writing in a variety of genres; and to suggest how the themes explored in those works reflect larger currents within contemporary U.S. society and culture. The program will explore the diversity of the American literary landscape, examining how major contemporary writers, schools, and movements reflect the traditions of the U.S. literary canon. At the same time, the program will expose participants to writers who represent a departure from that tradition, and who are establishing new directions for American literature. The Institute host will be determined at a later date.

6. Journalism and Media 

The Institute on will provide a multinational group of journalism instructors and other related specialists with a deeper understanding of the roles that journalism and the media play in U.S. society. The Institute will examine the rights and responsibilities of the media in a democratic society, including editorial independence, journalistic ethics, legal constraints, international journalism, and media business models. The Institute will cover strategies for teaching students of journalism the basics of the tradecraft: researching, reporting, writing, and editing. The program will also highlight technology’s impact on journalism, such as the influence of the internet, the globalization of the news media, the growth of satellite television and radio networks, and other changes in media that are transforming the profession. Pending ECA grant approval, the Institute will be hosted by Ohio University.

7. For Secondary School Educators 

The Institute for Secondary Educators will provide a multinational group of experienced secondary school educators (including teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, ministry of education officials, and others) with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, education, and culture – past and present. The focus of the Institute will be on providing materials for participants to develop high school level curricula about the United States. To this end, the Institute may be organized around a central theme or themes in U.S. culture or society. The four week academic residency will be complemented by a one week study tour. The aim of the study tour is to showcase the rich cultural, geographic, and ethnic diversity of the United States. The program will also serve to illuminate contemporary political, social, and economic debates in American society. The Institute host will be determined at a later date.

Candidate Qualifications

Eligible candidates for the Study of the United States Institutes must:

·       be between the ages of 30-50;

·       For SUSI No. 1-6: be highly motivated and experienced university lecturers or researchers in American Studies, preferably those having graduate degrees and substantial knowledge of the thematic area of the Institute;

·       For SUSI No.7:  be highly-motivated secondary school teachers, teacher trainers, curriculum developers, textbook writers, ministry of education officials, or other related professionals with responsibility for secondary education seeking to introduce aspects of U.S. studies into their curricula;

·       be comfortable with campus life and willing and able to fully take part in an intensive post-graduate level academic program and study tour; and

·       have excellent command of English.

University lecturers, researchers or secondary school educators with little or no prior experience in the United States, whose home institution is seeking to introduce aspects of U.S. Studies into its curricula, to develop new courses in the subjects of the program they apply for, to enhance and update existing courses on the United States, or to offer specialized seminars/workshops for colleagues in areas related to the program theme are highly encouraged to apply for the programs.

Application

Eligible candidates are invited to submit complete application form online no later than 5:00 PM, Monday, December 30, 2013. No exceptions will be made regarding the deadline.

For inquiries, please contact pas.culture@gmail.com (for candidates living in provinces from Quảng Trị to the north of Vietnam) and NguyenLH2@state.gov (for candidates living in provinces from Thua Thien-Hue to the south of Vietnam.)