Cultural Exchange or American Dominance?

Part of the description of IHEC Blog states “from time to time, International Higher Education Consulting Blog will post thought provoking pieces to challenge readers and to encourage comments and professional dialogue” and I hope that this post meets this criteria so here goes it…

I came across an interesting article over lunch entitled “Is $120 Million Study Abroad Bill About Cultural Exchange or American Dominance?” which was posted yesterday to MatadorAbroad.com. I think the author, Sarah Menkedick, raises some interesting/important points that are worthy of discussion here on IHEC Blog.

What’s your take on the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act? Is it about cultural exchange or American dominance or is it a little bit of both?

Here is a video of Senator Paul Simon from November 13, 2003 (a few weeks before his untimely death) announcing his vision of the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program:



I plan to post more to IHEC Blog about sending one million students abroad in the near future. I leave you with this thought I have; if the United States does reach the goal of sending one million students abroad I wonder how many more “Itaewon” type areas will be established across the globe?

This post is related to a similar to a March 30, 2009 IHEC Blog post entitled “Spreading of Colonial Influence Abroad via the Peace Corps” which you can read and comment on here.

Advancing America’s Priorities Act

Yesterday (July 28th) the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Advancing America’s Priorities Act which included the bill for the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act by a vote of 52-40 (60 votes were needed to invoke cloture). You can read more at insidehighered.com here:
http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2008/07/29/omnibus

Simon Bill Included in Advancing America’s Priorities Act (S. 3297)

On June 24th the American Council on Education sent a letter to the Senate to encourage support for the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007. The Simon bill was included with 35 other bills into what is being called the “Coburn Omnibus” bill. All of these bills were included into one bill by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as a way to work around Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) who has used “holds” to stop legislation he is opposed to.

First Research Study on Outcomes of Study Abroad

During my research efforts I came across what I believe to be the first research study on the outcomes of study abroad.

The article by Roxana Holden was published in The Modern Language Journal in 1934. Holden analyzes statistics and statements from alumni participants of the first ten years of the Junior Year Abroad Programs (which first started at the University of Delaware in 1923). To be sure, there is much literature on U.S. students studying/educated abroad that pre-date this 1934 article. Some of the literature from the 1920’s and 1930’s provides anecdotal evidence of the “value” of study abroad or provides information and quotes of opinion from U.S. based faculty and administrators on the outcomes of study abroad but the Holden article is the first I’ve found that discusses outcomes based on actual data analysis.

The article is available via JSTOR and I’ve provided a citation below:

Holden, Roxana. (1934, November). "Ten Years of Undergraduate Study Abroad". The Modern Language Journal, 19 (2), 117-122.

Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act

Yesterday, the Christian Science Monitor pbulished an article entitled "Send More Students Abroad" by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton (former chair and vice chair of the 9/11 commission). It's an interresting read and you can access the article here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008//p09s01-coop.html.

CBO Cost Estimate for H.R. 1469 Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007

Today, the Congressional Budget Office released the Cost Estimate for H.R. 1469 Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act of 2007. You can access the two page document here:
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/90xx/doc9017/hr1469.pdf

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Passes the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act (H.R. 1469) today, Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The bill will now go on to the full Senate for vote. The bill has strong, bipartisan leadership from Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) who introduced the Senate version of the bill. The bill was introduced in the House by Representatives Tom Lantos (D–Calif.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R–Fla.) last year. On Monday, February 11, 2008 Representative Lantos passed away at 80 years of age.