Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 11, 2008
Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program for Undergraduate Students Features Thematic Institutes at Six U.S. UniversitiesThis week, the U.S. Department of State welcomes to the United States the participants in the 2008 Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program for undergraduate students. The program, sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, provides opportunities for Iraqi youth to participate in classroom study, learn first-hand about the United States, and develop leadership and problem-solving skills they can apply in their society. President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced the initiative in a joint press conference on July 25, 2006.
Up to 100 Iraqi university students will participate in the program this summer. The program includes cultural enrichment activities that will engage American student peers as co-learners with the Iraqis. The participants, recruited in Iraq through a nationwide, merit-based selection process, will take part in six-week intensive study institutes at six U.S. universities. Each student will be assigned to a specific thematic institute based upon its relevance to his or her major course of study in Iraq. The six host universities and themes include:
University of Connecticut (Entrepreneurship);
Indiana University (Media and Journalism);
University of Texas, Austin (Social Sciences);
University of Arizona (New Technologies/Contemporary Issues);
Colorado State University (Public Policy); and
University of California, Santa Cruz (Science and Technology).
At the conclusion of their programs, the students will convene in Washington, DC August 12-16 to participate in the final phase of their leadership training. They also will visit Washington cultural and historic sites, and attend a reception hosted by World Learning, which administers the program on behalf of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
For more information, please contact Catherine Stearns, StearnsCL@state.gov or 202-203-5107, or visit http://exchanges.state.gov/.
2008/566
Released on July 11, 2008
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