Fulbright Program

FULBRIGHT/AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION (APSA) CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM: 2006-2007

The Office of Academic Exchange Programs (ECA/A/E) is pleased to announce grant opportunities for three or four foreign senior scholars and professionals under the FY2006 Fulbright/American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship Program.

The twenty-three eligible countries for FY2006 are: Argentina, Cameroon, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Tanzania, and Turkey.

This is the sixth year of the program. In the first five years, Fulbright/APSA scholars from the following fourteen countries participated in the program: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, and Sweden.

The Fulbright/APSA Fellowship is a twelve-month grant designed to give foreign scholars and professionals the opportunity to study the workings of Congress as a Congressional fellow and staff person working full time in a Congressional office for approximately six to nine months of the grant. Other periods of the grant are devoted to seminars and enrichment activities. The average class is a diverse group of mid-career U.S. political science professors and journalists, U.S. government domestic and foreign affairs policy specialists, health policy physicians and health-care professionals, and five or six international fellows in addition to the Fulbright/APSA Fellows. The Fulbright/APSA Fellowship is not designed to be a research program. Grantees will have an opportunity to do research in the initial two months and in the final month of the grant, but not during the Fellowship period at the U.S. Congress.

Applicants may be academics, journalists, or public policy professionals with a scholarly interest in the U.S. Congress and the policymaking process and committed to making a significant contribution to the understanding of the political process by the general public. The Fulbright/APSA Fellows are to be recruited and reviewed by the Fulbright Commissions or Public Affairs Sections of U.S. Embassies and then recommended to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board for approval.

Applications are due at the American Embassy by January 14, 2006.

FULBRIGHT/APSA CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM: DESCRIPTION

The Fellowship will begin in late August 2006 when the Fellows arrive in the U.S. and are affiliated with an academic mentor at a local university in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

All the international APSA Fellows are offered the opportunity, along with the Fulbright/APSA Fellows, to participate in a foreign affairs seminar for two hours, two evenings a week at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) from September through October.

In mid-November, the Fellows begin a full-time, three-week orientation program designed for all 40 to 45 APSA Congressional Fellows where they engage in daily seminars with legislators, congressional staffers, journalists, lobbyists, political scientists, and policy specialists.

During this orientation, the Fellows also interview for positions within the congressional offices and committees of their choice. Fellows are responsible for negotiating the nature of the responsibilities of their Congressional assignment prior to accepting an office position. This is an important aspect of the Fellowship experience as it encourages Fellows to reflect critically upon their goals and objectives and provides them with the opportunity to become acquainted with many members of Congress and their staffs, thereby exposing Fellows to the different dynamics, personalities, and styles of the Congress.

Fellows will spend approximately six months working full-time, five days a week with a Congressional staff in an office of the U.S. Congress. Fellows should expect to work the same hours as other Congressional staff members and adhere to the office's procedures and guidelines. In their assignments, the Fellows typically assist with drafting legislation, arranging congressional hearings, writing speeches and floor statements, briefing members before deliberations and debates, and other Congressional office projects. The Fellows also have the option of switching from the House to the Senate, or vice versa, to begin a second office assignment in late April.

Other enrichment activities and opportunities offered to the Fellows during their grant include twice-monthly seminar series at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a one-week orientation to Congress as host to ten Canadian Parliamentary interns, a one-week visit to Ottawa, Canada on a comparative study visit of parliamentary governments, a day visit to the Annapolis, Maryland State House to compare state and federal governments, and a trip to the home district or state of the Congress person for whom they are working.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Applicants must be a citizen or have permanent residence status of their home country. The applicant must not also be an American citizen (a dual national), an alien resident/green cardholder, or someone desiring residence in the United States.
• Applicants must understand and speak English at a near-native level of fluency, which would allow them to fully participate in the Congressional office.
• Applicants who are academics must be affiliated with an educational institution in their home country and currently engaged in teaching or significant research.
• Applicants who are public policy professionals or journalists must have a scholarly interest in the U.S. Congress and the policymaking process and be committed to making a significant contribution to the understanding of the political process by the general public.
• Applicants may be drawn from the following academic or professional fields: political science including comparative political systems and legislative/parliamentary studies, communications/journalism, public policy administration, sociology, or law.
• Applicants must have a graduate degree or the equivalent in professional training or experience.
• Applicants must be in good health.
• Applicants must secure a leave of absence from their institution/employer.

STIPEND AND BENEFITS

The Fellows will be granted a stipend of $38,000 (USD), round-trip international airfare, and the Department of State’s Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges’ (ASPE) health insurance. No dependent allowances will be available for this program. In addition, ECA/A/E will cover the costs of the enrichment activities and program administration.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested applicants must complete the specific Fulbright/APSA Scholar application form and submit it along with a project statement, three letters of reference, and a curriculum vita to the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Embassy:
Cultural Attaché
Fulbright APSA Scholar Program
Office of Public Affairs, American Embassy
686 Old Bagamoyo Rd., Msasani
Voice: +255 22 2668001
Fax: +255 22 2668251
Email: paodar@state.gov

The Office of Public Affairs will conduct interviews for the final slate of candidates.

The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board must approve the candidates. The three or four grantees will be jointly selected by the Fulbright Program and the APSA Congressional Fellowship Program. Final selections will be announced by the end of May 2006.