All items from American Councils for International Education

Good Morning ExCEL: U.S. Ambassador and ExCEL Alumni Praise Program on Lithuanian National Television
From American Councils for International Education
On October 28, 2011, the U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania, Anne Derse, joined two ExCEL program alumni, Gabriele Papievyte and Eleonora Lekaviciute, on the Lithuanian National Television's morning show Labas Rytas (Good Morning) to discuss the positive impact that the Exchanges for Culture, Education, and Leadership (ExCEL) program is having on Lithuanian youth. The Ambassador and ExCEL alumni shared their personal experiences as exchange students and praised the power of educational exchange.

Hillary Rodham Clinton Commends FLEX Alumni Leaders in Tajikistan
From American Councils for International Education
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, October 22, 2011 - On her visit to Tajikistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton commended FLEX alumni and other young leaders for their commitment to creating a better future for Tajikistan. The town hall meeting in Dushanbe's Ismaili Center focused on women, youth, and building civil society. Before Secretary Clinton's arrival, FLEX Alumni Coordinator, Kholmati Kholik (2009) spoke to the audience of more than 500 about the Tajik FLEX alumni community and encouraged those present to join the group's volunteer service efforts. For many years now, FLEX alumni have taken active roles in building Tajik civil society through community service.

The deadline to apply for the 2012 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is November 15, 2011.
From American Councils for International Education
CLS is a U.S. Department of State program offering intensive overseas summer language institutes in 13 critical foreign languages. CLS institutes provide fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences for undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. students. Summer language institutes are seven to ten weeks long and are only open to U.S. citizens. Programs are offered for the following languages and levels: • Arabic and Persian: Advanced beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels; • Azerbaijani, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Punjabi, Turkish, and Urdu: Beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels; • Chinese, Japanese, and Russian: Intermediate and advanced levels.

Not Your Average Summer Internship: College Freshman Helps Rebuild His Country
From American Councils for International Education
As summer descends on college campuses, most students return home for summer jobs or unpaid internships. However, one Hampshire College freshman returned home to help shape his country's nascent electoral system. Arslan Muradi is a participant in the AMZ Afghanistan Undergraduate Fellowship program, a life-changing initiative, which provides merit-based scholarships to Afghan students to study at accredited American universities. In June 2011, Arslan chose to leave Hampshire College and spend summer vacation interning in Afghanistan. He worked for Checchi and Company Consulting Inc., providing technical support for programs assessing election procedures in his native country.

Newsletter for A-SMYLE Balkan Youth Voices, Volume 5, Issue 1 is online
From American Councils for International Education
A-SMYLE and YES South East Europe students write about their experiences on program in the United States and back at home as alumni in their newsletter, Balkan Youth Voices. Download the newsletter