The program is currently seeking suitable candidates to nominate for these programs. University lecturers and researchers in American Studies who wish to apply for the programs are invited to complete the attached application form and send it to PAS by Monday, November 15, 2010. Selections will be announced in early April 2011. This announcement is applicable to candidates who live in Northern provinces of Vietnam (from Quang Tri to the North).
Program Overview:
Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) are intensive post-graduate level academic programs with integrated study tours whose purpose is to provide foreign university faculty and other scholars the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American society, culture and institutions. Knowledge and experience gained from these programs are expected to help the participants to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching about the United States in their own universities and institutions when they return to their home country.

Each program will host 18 participants from different countries around the world and take place over the course of six weeks beginning in mid June 2011. We hope to nominate one scholar from Vietnam for each of the programs below. All participant costs, including: program administration, international and domestic travel and ground transportation, housing and subsistence, book, cultural, mailing and incidental allowances will be sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Summary of the Institutes:

The SUSI on American Politics and Political Thought will provide a multinational group of 18 foreign university faculty with a deeper understanding of U.S. political institutions and major currents in American political thought. The institute will provide the participants insight into how intellectual and political movements have influenced modern American political institutions. The institute will provide an overview of political thought during the founding period (constitutional foundations), and the development and current functioning of the American presidency, Congress and the federal judiciary. The examination of political institutions will include the electoral system, political parties and interest groups, the civil service system, media and think tanks, and the welfare/regulatory state. The institute will address modern political and cultural issues in the United States (including but not limited to civil rights, women's rights, immigration, etc.), and the significance of public discourse in the formulation of public policy. The institute site will be determined at a later date.

The SUSI on Contemporary American Literature will provide a multinational group of up to 18 foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present, 2 through an examination of contemporary American literature. Its purpose is twofold: to explore contemporary American writers and writing in a variety of genres; and to suggest how the themes explored in those works reflect larger currents within contemporary American society and culture. The program will explore the diversity of the American literary landscape, examining how major contemporary writers, schools and movements reflect the traditions of the American literary canon. At the same time, the program will expose participants to writers who represent a departure from that tradition, and who are establishing new directions for American literature. The institute site will be determined at a later date.

The SUSI on U.S. Foreign Policy will provide a multinational group of 18 foreign university faculty and scholars with a deeper understanding of how U.S. foreign policy is formulated and implemented with an emphasis on the post Cold War period. This institute will begin with a review of the historical development of U.S. foreign policy and cover significant events, individuals, and philosophies that have dominated U.S. foreign policy. In addition, the institute will explain the role of key players in the field of foreign policy, including the executive and legislative branches, the media, public opinion, think-tanks, non-governmental

and international organizations and how these players debate, cooperate, influence policy, and are held accountable. The institute site will be determined at a later date. 

 SUSI on Journalism and Media will provide a multinational group of 18 journalism faculty and other related specialists with a deeper understanding of the role of journalism and the media in U.S. society. It will examine major topics in journalism, including the concept of a "free press," First Amendment rights, and the media's relationship to the public interest. The legal and ethical questions posed by journalism will be incorporated into every aspect of the institute. The institute will cover strategies for teaching students of journalism the basics of the tradecraft: researching, reporting, writing, and editing. The program will also highlight technology's impact on journalism, addressing the influence of the Internet, the globalization of the news media, the growth of satellite television and radio networks, and other advances in media that are transforming the profession. The institute site will be determined at a later late.  

The SUSI on Religious Pluralism in the United States will provide a multinational group of up to 18 foreign university faculty and practitioners with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past and present, through an examination of religious pluralism in the United States and its intersection with American democracy. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on fields such as history, political science, sociology, anthropology, law and others where appropriate, the program will explore both the historical and contemporary relationship between church and state in the United States. Participants will examine the following aspects of religious pluralism in the United States: the ways in which religious

thought and practice have influenced, and been influenced by, the development of American-style democracy; the intersections of religion and politics in the United States in such areas as elections, public policy, and foreign policy; and the sociology and demography of religion in the United States today, including a survey of the diversity of contemporary religious beliefs and its impact on American politics. The institute site will be determined at a later date.

Candidate qualifications:

Eligible candidates for the Study of the United States Institutes must: 

• Be between the ages of 30-50;   3
• Be highly motivated and experienced university lecturers or researchers in American Studies, journalism faculty and other related specialists, preferably those having graduate degrees and substantial knowledge of the thematic area of the Institute; 
• Be comfortable with campus life and willing and able to fully take part in an intensive post-graduate level academic program and study tour; and
• Have excellent command of English.

Young and experienced university lecturers, researchers or secondary school educators with little or no prior experience in the United States, whose home institution is seeking to introduce aspects of U.S. Studies into its curricula, to develop new courses in the subjects of the program they apply for, to enhance and update existing courses on the United States, or to offer specialized seminars/workshops for colleagues in areas related to the program theme are highly encouraged to apply for the programs.

Application

Eligible candidates are invited to submit online complete application form at

https://sites.google.com/site/susiforscholars/home (no later than 5:00 PM, Monday, November 15, 2010. Hard copies of applications and supporting documents (degrees, awards…) should be sent to the following address by the same deadline. 

No exceptions will be made regarding the deadline.