Study of the United States Institutes for University Faculty and Scholars

2009 Participants at the University of Florida Gainesville

The six Study of the US Institutes are post-graduate level academic programmes with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide non-US university faculty and other scholars the opportunity to deepen their understanding of US society, culture and institutions. The ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in UK academic institutions.

Award Benefits

The programme covers all participant costs including international travel, housing, subsistence, book, cultural and incidental allowances and limited sickness and accident benefits coverage. Participants will have a private room with a shared bathroom during the residency portion (4 weeks) of the Institute typically in college or university housing and will have to share a hotel room during the study tour (up to 2 weeks). Family members and/or friends are not permitted to accompany participants on any part of the programme.

The Fulbright Commission will assist successful nominees in obtaining a US visa.

Special Programmes do not preclude participants from applying for a Fulbright Award upon returning to the UK.

Selection Criteria

This programme is open to all UK-based university mid-career (typically this means aged 30-50) educators, such as lecturers, professors, curriculum developers, textbook writers, and ministry of education officials.

The ideal candidate will be a highly-motivated and experienced professional from institutes of higher education, with little or no experience in the United States, whose home institution is seeking to introduce aspects of U.S. studies into its curricula, to develop new courses in the subject of the institute or to enhance and update existing courses on the United States. Most applicants should have graduate degrees and substantial knowledge of the thematic area of the specific institute to which they are applying.

If successful in obtaining nomination from the Fulbright Commission, the candidate's application materials will be forwarded to the US Department of State for final approval/selection. Candidates will be notified if they are invited to participate in the programme in mid-March 2010.

Applying

This application is now closed.

Each candidate will be required to submit:
(a)    Application form
(b)    One page personal statement
(c)    Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

Applicants must indicate to which Institute they wish to attend when they are making an application.

Applicants may either send their completed application forms by email to  programmes@fulbright.co.uk or by post, to the following address:

Study of the US Institutes
Fulbright Awards Programme
The US-UK Fulbright Commission
Fulbright House
62 Doughty St
LONDON
WC1N 2JZ

Please note: Applications which arrive by fax or arrive late will not be considered. Please ensure that you attach sufficient postage when sending forms/letters to the US-UK Fulbright Commission in London. We will not accept excess charges for items of mail which have been underpaid -- they will be returned unopened.

If you would like confirmation that your application has been received by the Fulbright Commission, you must send your application via Recorded Delivery. Commission staff will not confirm receipt of applications by email or phone.

Interviews

Applications will be short-listed and successful applicants will be invited to interview on Friday 19 February 2010. Interviews will only be held on this day and may not be rescheduled. All interviews must be in-person without exception; the Fulbright Commission will not conduct telephone interviews for this award category.

If you are making an application, please save this date as an invitation to interview may come within a few days of the interview date.

Candidates will be considered without respect to race, colour, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual preference or gender (including gender reassignment).

Important note: The US-UK Fulbright Commission is unable to comment on individual applications or the reason for their refusal.

Timeline

16 December – Competition opens, applications available online
10 February – Application deadline
19 February – Interviews
26 February – Fulbright Commision nominations sent to Department of State
Mid-March – Confirmation of participants
April-June – Programme paperwork and visa processing
mid-June – Departure for the US
late July – Programme concludes, return to the UK
September - Reception in London and re-entry session

Additional Information

The Institutes will begin in June 2010 and last for six weeks. Approximately 100 participants will interact with American scholars, meet with experts in their disciplines, visit civic institutions and explore the diversity and culture of the United States.

Each of the six Institutes is thematically focused on a field or topic of US studies. Applicants must indicate to which Institute they wish to attend when they are making an application.

  1. US Culture and Society: this programme examines the ethnic, racial, economic, political and religious contexts in which various cultures have manifested themselves in US society, and the ways in which these cultures have influenced both social movements and historical epochs throughout US history.  The programme will draw from a diverse disciplinary base and will itself provide models for non-US university might approach the study of US culture and society. The US Culture and Society institute’s location is yet to be determined.
  2. American Politics and Political Thought: this programme will provide participants insight into how intellectual and political movements have influenced modern American political institutions. It will provide an overview of political thought during the founding period (constitutional foundations), and the development and current functioning of the American Presidency, Congress and the federal judiciary. The American politics and political thought institute will take place at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
  3. Contemporary American Literature: this programme’s purpose is twofold: to explore contemporary American writers and writing in a variety of genres; and to suggest how the themes explored in those works reflect larger currents within contemporary American society and culture. The programme will explore the diversity of American literary landscape, examining how major contemporary writers, schools and movements reflect the traditions of the American literary canon. The contemporary American literature institute will take place at the University of Louisville.
  4. U.S. Foreign Policy: this programme will provide participants with a deeper understanding of how US foreign policy is formulated and implemented with an emphasis on the post Cold War period. The programme will begin with a review of the historical development of US foreign policy and cover significant events, individuals and philosophies that have dominated US foreign policy. The US foreign policy institute will take place at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
  5. Journalism and Media: this programme will examine major topics in journalism, including the concept of a “free press”, first amendment rights, and the media’s relationship to the public interest. The programme will cover strategies for teachings students of journalism the basics of tradecraft: researching, reporting, writing and editing. The Journalism and Media institute’s location is yet to be determined.
  6. Religious Pluralism: employing a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on fields such as history, political science, sociology, anthropology, law and others where appropriate, the programme will explore both the historical and contemporary relationship between the church and state in the United States. Participants will examine the following issues of religious pluralism in the United States: the ways in which religious thought and practice have influenced and been influenced by the development of American-style democracy; the intersections of religion and politics in the US, in such areas as elections, public policy and foreign policy and the sociology and demography of religion in the U.S. today. The religious pluralism institute will take place at the University of California, Santa Barbara.