Folk Music Group Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer With Barbara Lamb Tour Asia and the Pacific Islands
Media Note Office of the Spokesperson Washington, DC December 27, 2012
The American Music Abroad program, a partnership with American Voices, sends American musical groups overseas to engage with audiences and communities, especially underserved youth. This season’s 12 participating American Music Abroad groups were selected from a pool of nearly 300 applicants to travel to more than 40 countries to promote cross-cultural understanding through music.
The program builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power,” which embraces the full range of diplomatic tools, including music, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding. MORE.
Social Media for Good: Civil Society IVLP Learnings from Silicon Valley
About the Author: Augusta Babson serves as a Program Officer in the Office of International Visitors in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Mayke Randa was sitting in a conference room in San Francisco earlier this month when her hand shot into the air. She was eager to talk to the representative from Medic Mobile, a tech company in San Francisco that uses mobile technology to improve healthcare in challenging settings. “I use Twitter and Facebook to run five non-governmental organizations in Indonesia, but we haven’t used mobile phones for outreach. Today is a fantastic moment for me to meet the people behind important new social networking tools. I can bring this experience and knowledge back to my organizations and make a real impact.”
Mayke founded of a social movement in Indonesia called “Blood for Life” that uses online tools to connect blood donors and patients in dire need of transfusions. She is one of 25 activists from… more »
About the Author: Ann Stock serves as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Today, more than 6,000 alumni from 45 countries in every region of the world are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program and paying tribute to the program’s founders: the late Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Richard Lugar. Their vision in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks in the United States was to build bridges between Americans and young people in countries with significant Muslim populations. Now in its tenth year, that’s exactly what American and international students are doing through the YES and YES Abroad programs.
The YES program provides scholarships to almost 900 young people… more »
Community Solutions: Creating Global Solutions One Idea at a Time
About the Author: Ambassador J. Adam Ereli serves as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Solving the world’s biggest problems starts with one idea, by one individual, in one community. And those leaders must be equipped with new knowledge, resources, and networks in order for their ideas to thrive.
The State Department’s Community Solutions Program is in its second year and empowers community leaders with the tools and skills to change the world. For the past four months, 58 young professionals from 28 countries participated in a fellowship at U.S. community-based non-profits, government offices, or legislative bodies to see how American institutions address complex challenges.
Community Solutions Fellows worked with American community leaders to enhance their practical expertise, leadership skills and professional contacts to address… more »
Opportunity Funds: Opening More Doors to International Education
About the Author: Meghann Curtis serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Last week, we celebrated International Education Week here in the United States and around the world. New data in our annual Open Doors Report shows that international students are coming to the United States in higher numbers than ever, and more American students are going abroad to more diverse places. Students who seize the chance to study abroad enrich classrooms across the globe and return to their home countries to become leaders who promote more prosperous, equitable, and stable societies. Here at the State Department, our goal is to help a wider range of students have access to international education.
On November 20, I had the opportunity to join Eileen… more »
Advancing Educational and Cultural Exchanges in the Western Hemisphere
On my visit to the Dominican Republic this week, I had the opportunity to meet with more than a dozen future Dominican leaders — all high school students, who were enrolled in an English immersion school in Santo Domingo. They spoke with depth and conviction about pressing matters in their country. Every one spoke of his or her desire to use their growing skills in English to study in U.S. universities.
That same day, I met with American college students who are taking college courses in the Dominican Republic. I asked why they’d chosen to study abroad and they shared what they’d learned, reflecting an impressive perspective and awareness about the region — and the world at large. They, too, recognized that, by becoming bilingual, they would open doors for better futures.
Even as I had these encouraging conversations, an annual report on academic exchange… more »
International Tolerance Day 2012: Laying the Foundation for Lasting Peace
Difference must not be a source of division, but of strength. That’s the core message of this year’s International Day for Tolerance. Tolerance is a way to disarm fear and to lay the foundations for lasting peace, and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is promoting tolerance through innovative education programs about the Holocaust and genocides throughout history. The United States is a strong supporter of this effort.
On the occasion of International Day for Tolerance, I would like to share with you a recent UNESCO report entitled, “Why Teach About Genocide? The Example of the Holocaust.” This report stems… more »
Since 2006, the State Department and FORTUNE have teamed up with Vital Voices to build on our annual Global Mentorship Partnership to expand the network of women — and men — who use mentorship to empower others.
Putting Our Best Global Foot Forward To Empower Women
About the Author: Chris Miner serves as Managing Director of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Professional and Cultural Exchanges at the U.S. Department of State.
This week, in more than 18 countries around the world, women will come together with a broad coalition of supporters in their communities to participate in the Vital Voices Mentoring Walks, a global effort to raise awareness on the positive power of mentorship.
Since 2006, the State Department and FORTUNE have teamed up with Vital Voices to build on our annual Global Mentorship Partnership to expand the network of women — and men — who use mentorship to empower others. In fact, the mentoring walks started when founder and former CEO of Oxygen Media Geraldine Layborne’s schedule didn’t allow her to meet with the scores of young women who sought her advice. Instead of rejecting meeting requests, she opened her morning walks each day in New York City as a gateway for her to connect with these young women. Today, these walks have spread across the United States and throughout… more »
Studying abroad changes lives. Find an international exchange that’s right for you, with the U.S. Department of State: http://exchanges.state.gov
Where will international education take you? Expand your world.
![Augusta Babson, a Program Officer in the Office of International Visitors in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, poses for a photo with a participant in a U.S. Department of State-sponsored International Visitor Leadership Program exchange program at Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco, California, December 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130215211243im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1222_twitter_m.jpg)
![Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Adam Ereli listens to Smrita Khadka, a Community Solutions fellow from Nepal who educates young girls about human trafficking in her country, in Washington, D.C., December 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130215211243im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1207_community_solutions_1_m.jpg)
![Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Meghann Curtis poses for a photo with Executive Director for Client Relations at the Educational Testing Service Eileen Tyson and a student from Africa currently studying in the United States, at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., November 20, 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130215211243im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1121_eca_1_m.jpg)
![Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine speaks with students enrolled in an English immersion school at a Binational Center in the Dominican Republic, November 2012. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130215211243im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1116_sonenshine_m.jpg)
![People hold hands as they play at a school near Kathmandu, Nepal, August 2012. [AP File Photo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20130215211243im_/http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_1116_tolerance_m.jpg)
