The U.S. government has granted $1 million toward continuing and expanding a Syracuse University program that brings people from the Middle East and North Africa to campus.

The Leaders for Democracy Fellowship, which began in 2006, allows 20 to 25 civic leaders from the Middle East and North Africa to come to SU each March. They attend a variety of lectures and seminars through the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. After a month, they leave for Washington, D.C., to participate in an internship before returning to their country of origin.

The grant is from the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative. Nicole Thompson, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said the program is designed to engage people in the Middle East and North Africa to create educational or professional partnerships.

‘It’s about strengthening rule of law, empowerment of women, all the things that contribute to a stable society,’ Thompson said. ‘There is more than democracy to have stability in a country.’

There are currently 80 alumni of SU’s program from 15 different countries, said Steven Lux, director of SU’s Leaders for Democracy Fellowship.

Some of the topics covered in lectures and seminars are democratic transitions, stable societies and organizations, and what democracy looks like globally. This program benefits both the leaders and the SU community, he said.

‘We thought it was a good opportunity to host them for students and to let them interact,’ Lux said.

SU submitted a proposal in June to receive the grant funding from the State Department. This money will go to a variety of the program’s expenses, such as where participants live in Syracuse.

‘The money goes to bringing the folks to the United States, their housing in hotels and the staff to support the program,’ he said. ‘Also the grant supports the alumni networks.’

The grant also pays for a new program SU will run that will send 20 applicants from across the United States to a partner institution in a country in the Middle East or North Africa, Lux said. The program will be similar to the one already at SU, but will be run in Arabic.

Ads regarding SU’s program were just released in partner countries. Interested individuals apply through their country’s U.S. Embassy, Lux said. SU usually knows which individuals are attending the program around January 1.

One of the benefits of the program is it allows participants to learn from interacting with SU students, as well as with each other, Lux said.

‘They get out of their own situation,’ Lux said, ‘and learn about others.’

cabidwel@syr.edu

 

Published on October 12, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Colleen: cbidwill@syr.edu