PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION
Academic Programs and Exchanges
The Fulbright
Program, established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, encourages
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and
Lebanon and is the foremost U.S. educational exchange program. Awards
are based on merit and relevance to bilateral relations. Fulbright
grants enable Lebanese and American graduate students and university
professors to spend up to ten months conducting academic research
and/or lecturing. The Fulbright Summer Institutes in American
Studies enable Lebanese educators to spend six weeks, usually in
June, July, and early August, exploring American approaches to history,
government, literature, economics, foreign policy, and social studies.
The College and University Affiliations Program is another
way to forge ties with American institutions. U.S. universities
receive grants to support faculty and staff exchanges with Lebanese
institutions on themes of mutual interest. Affiliations have been
established between the University of Balamand and Rutgers University,
Lebanese American University and Villanova University, and the American
University of Beirut and the University of Virginia. Other Lebanese
universities may contact the Public Affairs Officer for help in
locating potential partners. Preference is given to linkages involving
previously unaffiliated universities and to fields judged important
to U.S.-Lebanese relations.
The Public Affairs Section also oversees and supports the free
educational advising activities offered through Amideast-Lebanon
for students wishing to study in the United States. The Amideast
offices in Beirut Central District feature regular group counseling
sessions on undergraduate and graduate study, testing information,
and a comprehensive and up-to-date reference collection open to
all.
The International
Visitor Program has operated for sixty years. A small number
of Lebanese professionals and future leaders are invited by the
U.S. Embassy to visit the United States for up to three weeks, and
others may nominate themselves if personal or professional travel
provides an opportunity for non-commercial access to American counterparts.
The Hubert H. Humphrey Program
sends mid-career professionals to the U.S. for a year of study and
professional development. It concentrates on public service and
the fields of public policy and public administration, human resource
management, educational planning, urban and regional planning, environmental
policy, economic development, technology policy, agricultural policy,
and public health management.
Citizens
Exchanges are two-way programs funded by grants to U.S. nonprofit
groups for interaction with Lebanon. Recent themes have been women’s
political leadership, computers and civic education, the environment,
and judicial exchange.
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Academic
Programs 