On Tuesday Ambassador Paul Jones hosted a reception for sixteen American teachers who are in Poland to explore the relationship between the United States and Poland and learn about the Polish educational system, culture and rich history. Ambassador Jones summed up the goal of this exchange best by telling the educators that “the experiences you will bring back and the relationships you will forge in Poland will serve to deepen further the excellent relationship between our two countries, a relationship whose core strength comes from our people-to-people connections.”
The exchange is organized by the Fulbright Commission and funded by the U.S. Department of Education. In a testament to the importance of the U.S-Polish relationship, Poland was one of only three countries selected for this exchange this year. During their four-week program the participants will visit the largest academic centers in Poland and have an opportunity to meet experts across different academic fields who will share their knowledge on international relations, specifically concentrating on the United States and Poland. Participants will also travel across Poland to see historical sites as well as fast-growing areas (Warsaw, Łódź, Gdańsk, Sopot, Poznań, Wrocław, and Kraków) to experience the richness of Polish culture and meet outstanding Polish scholars from academic centers. The participants will take part in discussions and cultural events designed to connect specialists from different academic disciplines and allow them to experience the spirit of contemporary Poland. The program will allow the participants to pursue their individual academic interests, develop their respective curriculum projects that they will bring back to their classrooms, and share their broadened knowledge and experiences with students and colleagues in the United States.
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program – a Fulbright program funded by a congressional appropriation to the United States Department of Education– awards grants to individual U.S. K-14 pre-teachers, teachers and administrators, pre-doctoral students and postdoctoral faculty, as well as to U.S. institutions and organizations. Topics and host countries of the seminars vary from year to year. Seminars are designed to provide a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country or countries. More information can be found here .
They are faculty of post-secondary institutions, i.e., college/universities, who applied for this competitive exchange program. Poland is one of only three countries (India, Ecuador) where the program will be organized this year.
