STUDY IN THE U.S.

2008 Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program – Deadline June 10, 2008

Lebanese scholars actively engaged in interfaith dialogue are invited to apply for the Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program designed to promote the importance of interfaith cooperation and to facilitate community action among diverse religious groups worldwide. 

The program will take place from September to December 2008. Grantees will first participate in a two-week program hosted at Temple University in Philadelphia, providing an exchange of practices and ideas in an academic setting and including visits with interfaith leaders in the area. Participants will then be placed with host institutions throughout the United States for an additional ten weeks where they will give lectures and/or work on an ongoing project, as well as be actively involved in interfaith cooperation programs in their host communities.

Application deadline is June 10, 2008.

Click here to and view a complete program description and download the application form.

COMPLETE PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Office of Academic Exchange Programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces the FY 2008 Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program, a Fulbright Visiting Scholar initiative begun in FY 2007 and designed to promote the importance of interfaith cooperation and to facilitate community action among diverse religious groups worldwide.  The Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program will provide a multinational group of up to twelve religious leaders, scholars of religion, nongovernmental organization (NGO) and/or community leaders from diverse religious backgrounds who are actively engaged in interfaith dialogue and cooperation programs in their home countries with a semester-long U.S. exchange experience that includes discussion, debate, and collaborative learning centered on interfaith dialogue and cooperation. 

The program will take place from mid-September to mid-December 2008.  During the first component of the program, grantees will participate in a two week program hosted at a major U.S. university that will provide an exchange of practices and ideas in an academic setting and include visits with interfaith leaders in the area.  At the end of September, participants will then be placed with host institutions throughout the United States for an additional ten weeks where they will give lectures and/or work on an ongoing project, as well as be actively involved in interfaith cooperation programs in their host communities.

Program Description: Recognizing the importance of promoting an interfaith and intercultural exchange of ideas and the development of collaborative relationships across faith communities, this program seeks to go one step further.  Participants will be challenged to find solutions that move beyond professions of tolerance to implementing active cooperation among faiths in order to create more peaceful and productive communities across religious boundaries within and among nations. 

Through their participation in the Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program, participants will promote and benefit from an exchange of ideas, foster interaction and linkages between overseas and domestic interreligious cooperation programs, promote mutual understanding, contribute to community-based problem-solving efforts, gain exposure to diverse community and religious NGO practices, contribute to capacity-building of their institutions and organizations at home and in the U.S., and cultivate their own professional development training.

Participants will begin their program participating in a two week, intensive fall seminar on Interfaith Cooperation and Community Action to be hosted at a major U.S. university with a demonstrated commitment to interfaith dialogue, effective collaboration with community stakeholders, and excellence in scholarship of comparative religion.  The seminar will take place from approximately September 14-September 28, 2008 and sessions will focus on understanding religion from multidisciplinary perspectives, the relevance of global religious pluralism, and the need for translating interfaith dialogue into interfaith community action and cooperation.  Throughout the program, participants will meet with religious and community leaders, and be engaged in discussions and outreach activities experiencing first hand local interfaith cooperative efforts. 

After the fall seminar concludes, each participant will then be placed at a U.S. host institution in a metropolitan area with strong ties to the surrounding community from approximately September 29 to December 9, 2008.  This assignment will give participants the opportunity to be active in the life of the host institution as well as interact with religious scholars and local community leaders in sharing experiences on different approaches to and models of interfaith cooperative action within their respective communities. 

Participants' activities at their U.S. host institution may include but are not limited to: interacting with interfaith community groups and leaders, participation in university seminars, colloquia, and/or discussions on interfaith cooperation; opportunities for scholars to share their experiences and work with host institution faculty, students and community groups; interaction with appropriate university and community groups to examine models of interfaith cooperation; opportunities to attend courses relevant to developing leadership and community action, or other topics relevant to scholars' interests and goals; guest lecturing in relevant academic courses or interfaith community venues; serving as a resource on issues relevant to scholars' expertise; visiting churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, or other organizations committed to interfaith dialogue and collaboration.
 
A mid point seminar will be held during the beginning of November at a major U.S. university, giving the scholars a chance to reconvene as a group and collectively participate in additional learning opportunities from a theoretical and applied perspective. 

At the end of the institutional placements, the group will convene in Washington, D.C. in December for a debriefing. The participants will be asked to share their experiences and to reflect on ways to encourage and facilitate interfaith cooperation within their own communities.      

Participants will receive a monthly stipend of $2,500.  Housing will be furnished separately by the participating institutions.  In addition, participants will receive a one-time payment for pre-departure allowance ($500), a professional allowance ($1,000), a settling-in allowance ($500), an excess baggage allowance ($100), and an in-transit allowance ($100).  Participants will also be provided international and U.S. domestic airfare, and will be covered by ECA's Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges. During the initial two week university seminar, meals will be included.  Please note that the grant does not allow for accompanying family members.