- To anyone familiar with her work, it comes at no surprise that Natia Nasrashvili was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Professional Fellows Program (PFP).From the Ministry of Justice in the Republic of Georgia to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Natia has continued to take great leaps since participating in the fellowship that brought her to the US Congress in 2010.Serving as a Legislative Fellow for US Congressmen Thomas Petri, the experience redefined her understanding of… Read More
- In November, President Dr. Dan E. Davidson received a special lifetime service award from the American Council for Teachers of Russian (ACTR) at a reception during the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The special event, held to mark the 40th anniversary of the ACTR, was a fitting moment to acknowledge President Davidson's unwavering dedication to the organization and to the field of Russian language study. As one of the original founders of… Read More
- Bermet Tursunkulova, an alumna of the American Councils FLEX program, was recently appointed Deputy Minister of Education in her native country of Kyrgyzstan. Prior to her new appointment, she served as the Vice-President of Academic Affairs at the American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, where she managed academic affairs, curriculum development, and student enrollment. She spent a year with the FLEX program in the United States during high school from 1993-1994. Ms. Tursunkulova has… Read More
- Just three months into their exchange experience, seven American high school students on the YES Abroad program in Bosnia and Herzegovina have experienced Bosnian culture firsthand through life with their host families, participating in community service, attending local high schools, and learning the local language. For YES Abroad student Lili in Sarajevo, learning to live with a new family has been both challenging and exciting. Some of her most memorable moments in Bosnia so far include a… Read More
- Leigh Lawrence credits NSLI-Y for first sparking her now long-term interest in language and culture studies. After participating in a summer 2010 NSLI-Y program to Beijing, China, Leigh went on to study Chinese through The Language Flagship program at Arizona State University. Leigh continued studying abroad in China every summer through various study abroad programs, culminating in her capstone year in China, funded by a Boren Scholarship. During her capstone year, Leigh interned at a gourmet… Read More
- In 2015, students in Armenia will have access to a new scholarship opportunity through the Opportunity Fund, thanks to a partnership between the US Department of State, EducationUSA, and American Councils for International Education. The Opportunity Fund will support highly talented but financially disadvantaged Armenian students who have the goal of pursuing higher education at an accredited institution in the United States with funds for university applications, standardized tests, visa… Read More
- After four successful years in the South Caucasus, the FLEX-Ability Conference launched in Almaty, Kazakhstan to offer FLEX alumni in Central Asia intensive training to develop community service projects and effectively share their projects with their communities "It was a great FLEX-Ability Conference with awesome people! I met a lot of enthusiastic alumni who have splendid ideas about ways to improve their communities, societies, and countries. I was really amazed by everyone I met," said… Read More
- High School Students from the U.S and Japan Reunite on the TOMODACHI US-Japan Youth Exchange ProgramOn November 14, 2014, the American and Japanese participants of the 2014 TOMODACHI US-Japan Youth Exchange Program gathered in Tokyo to present their experiences on the program. The American students from Washington, D.C. were at the end of their two-week program in Japan, and had recently returned from the disaster-affected areas of Tohoku, where they had learned about needs on the ground from local nonprofits. Participants shared their stories in front of US Embassy Tokyo Deputy Chief of… Read More
- I love being an exchange student because of the way confusion turns into amazement. Earlier this year, while doing homework in my room, my host mom walked in and asked if I wanted to come to a jazz concert. Of course I said yes. The number one rule of being an exchange student is to always say yes when someone invites you somewhere. My host mom then added, "You should change, it's at the President's residence!" President, I assumed at the moment, meant the president of the jazz association, who… Read More
- American Councils is pleased to congratulate William Brumfield--Professor of Slavic Studies at Tulane University, Honorary Fellow at the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, and historian of Russian architecture--on receiving the Dmitry Sergeyevich Likhachev Foundation Prize "for outstanding contributions to the preservation of the historic and cultural heritage of Russia." Mr. Brumfield was awarded the Likhachev Prize during a ceremony held in main hall of the St. Petersburg's Kochubei Mansion on… Read More
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