FY 2024 Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders from the Western Hemisphere

The Study of the U.S. Branch (ECA/A/E/USS), Office of Academic Exchange Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), invites proposal submissions for the design and implementation of five (5) Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSIs) for Student Leaders from the Western Hemisphere. Three Institutes will take place over five weeks in summer 2025 and two Institutes will take in place in winter 2026. Each Institute will focus on a theme that reflects U.S. foreign policy priorities in the region. The themes selected for these Institutes are Civic Engagement and Democracy, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, and Women’s Leadership for Indigenous and Afro-Latina Women.

The Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders from the Western Hemisphere will provide multinational groups of undergraduate students from the Western Hemisphere, primarily from indigenous, Afro-Latino, or underserved communities, with a deeper understanding of U.S. society, culture, values, and institutions. Four Institutes will be conducted in Spanish and one program will be conducted in English. Each academic Institute will be approximately five weeks in duration and will include a four-week academic residency at a U.S. academic institution and a one-week integrated study tour that will expose the foreign undergraduate students to a community (or multiple communities) representing a culture and/or region distinct from that of their academic residency. Each Institute will host approximately 20 participants, for a total of approximately 100 foreign undergraduate students across all five Institutes.