U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Education Lead Global Celebration of International Education Week

2003/1157

In the knowledge that partnerships forged through international education and exchange programs help secure a better future for all countries, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education will lead the fourth annual global celebration of International Education Week, November 17-21, 2003.

“Through exchange programs, future leaders establish ties with counterparts that increase mutual understanding and result in beneficial working relationships for years to come," said Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, announcing International Education Week. "Through Fulbright grants, Gilman fellowships for talented American college students with financial need to study abroad, teacher training programs, and exchanges that engage young people in the Muslim world and other regions in productive dialogue with Americans, the Department of State works to deepen understanding and strengthen voices of moderation around the world.” (The full text of Secretary Powell’s Statement is available at http://www.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2003/26125.htm.)

Secretary of Education Rod Paige said, “To better understand this new 21st century world, we need to expose our children to languages, cultures and the challenges outside our borders. We must teach our students to understand world issues and their connections to them…International Education Week 2003 is a time to celebrate the diversity of America and the many different cultures, languages and traditions that make up our global community. (The full text of Secretary Paige’s Statement is available at http://exchanges.state.gov/iew/statements/paige.htm.)

Among the events to be held in Washington, D.C., will be:

• A Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State-sponsored exhibit to showcase academic, cultural, and professional exchange programs, with Assistant Secretary of State Patricia Harrison and featuring former ‘Supreme’ and CultureConnect Ambassador Mary Wilson, as well as other alumni and current exchange participants;

• an international affairs version of “It’s Academic,” the popular student quiz show that is broadcast in the Washington metropolitan area;

• a briefing at the National Press Club, sponsored by the IIE, to release the annual State Department-sponsored national survey on international exchange, Open Doors, which tracks trends in flows of international students in the United States and U.S. students abroad;

• the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program conference for native speakers of critical foreign languages, who teach their languages and about their cultures in American colleges and high schools;

• the Fulbright New Century Scholars’ Seminar “Fanning the Flames, Putting Out the Fire: Ethnic Conflicts and the Peace Process,” featuring 30 Fulbright Scholars specializing in peace and conflict issues who will present their remedies for civil and international conflict to the public; and

• presentations in ten Washington, DC, public schools by participants in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ International Visitor Program, on topics ranging from journalism in Thailand to economic development in Poland to preventing drug-trafficking in Croatia to the government system in Uruguay.

For more information about International Education Week 2003, visit http://exchanges.state.gov/iew.

Media Contacts: Adam Meier
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Phone:   202-203-7026
Email:   MeierAW@pd.state.gov

Catherine Stearns
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Phone:   202-203-5107
Email:   cstearns@pd.state.gov