[Federal Register: October 18, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 202)]
[Notices]
[Page 52958-52961]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18oc01-120]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 3817]
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Request for Grant
Proposals: Fulbright American Studies Institutes for Foreign University
Faculty
NOTICE: Request for Grant Proposals (RFGPs).
SUMMARY: The Study of the U.S. Branch, Office of Academic Exchange
Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, announces an open
competition for five (5) assistance awards. Public and private non-
profit organizations meeting the provisions described in IRS
regulations 26 CFR 1.501(c)(2)-1 through 1.501(c)(21)-2 may apply to
develop and implement one of the following five post-graduate level
American Studies programs designed for multinational groups of 18 to 30
experienced foreign university faculty and educators:
A. Religion in the United States
B. U.S. Foreign Policy: Foundations and Formulation
C. Contemporary American Literature
D. Immigration and Ethnicity: The American Experience
E. American Studies for Foreign Secondary School Educators
These programs are intended to provide participants with a deeper
understanding of American life and institutions, past and present, in
order to strengthen curricula and to improve the quality of teaching
about the United States at universities abroad. Programs should
therefore be designed to elucidate the topic or theme of the Institute
as well as American civilization as a whole.
Programs are six weeks in length and will be conducted during the
Summer of 2002.
The Bureau is seeking detailed proposals from colleges,
universities, consortia of colleges and universities, and other not-
for-profit academic organizations that have an established reputation
in one or more of the following fields: Political science,
international relations, law, history, sociology, literature, American
studies, and/or other disciplines or sub-disciplines related to the
program theme.
It is the Bureau's intention to fund one institute in each of the
above five thematic areas, subject to the number and quality of
proposals received and the availability of funding.
Applicant institutions must demonstrate expertise in conducting
post-graduate programs for foreign educators, and must have a minimum
of four years experience in conducting international exchange programs.
Bureau guidelines stipulate that grants to organizations with less than
four years experience in conducting international exchanges are limited
to $60,000. As it is expected that the budget for these programs will
exceed $60,000, organizations that can not demonstrate at least four
years experience will not be eligible to apply under this competition.
The project director or one of the key program staff responsible
for the academic program must have an advanced degree in one of the
fields listed above. Staff escorts traveling under the cooperative
agreement must have demonstrated qualifications for this service.
Programs must conform with Bureau requirements and guidelines outlined
in the Solicitation Package. Bureau programs are subject to the
availability of funds.
Program Information
Overview and Objectives
Fulbright American Studies Institutes are intended to offer foreign
scholars and teachers whose professional work focuses on the United
States the opportunity to deepen their understanding of American
institutions
[[Page 52959]]
and culture. Their ultimate goal is to strengthen curricula and to
improve the quality of teaching about the U.S. in universities abroad.
Programs should be six weeks in length and must include an academic
residency segment of at least four weeks duration at a U.S. college or
university campus (or other appropriate location). A study tour segment
of not more than two weeks should also be planned and should directly
complement the academic residency segment; the study tour should
include visits to one or two additional regions of the United States.
All institutes should be designed as intensive, academically
rigorous seminars intended for an experienced group of fellow scholars
from outside the United States. The institutes should be organized
through an integrated series of lectures, readings, seminar
discussions, regional travel, site visits, and they should also include
some opportunity for limited but well-directed independent research.
Applicants are encouraged to design thematically coherent programs
in ways that draw upon the particular strengths, faculty and resources
of their institutions as well as upon the nationally recognized
expertise of scholars and other experts throughout the United States.
Within the limits of their thematic focus and organizing framework,
Institute programs should also be designed to:
1. Provide participants with a survey of contemporary scholarship
within the institute's governing academic discipline, delineating the
current scholarly debate within the field. In this regard, the seminar
should indicate how prevailing academic practice in the discipline
represents both a continuation of and a departure from past scholarly
trends and practices. A variety of scholarly viewpoints should be
included;
2. Bring an interdisciplinary or multi-disciplinary focus to bear
on the program content if appropriate;
3. Give participants a multi-dimensional view of U.S. society and
institutions that includes a broad and balanced range of perspectives.
Where possible, programs should therefore include the views not only of
scholars, cultural critics and public intellectuals, but also those of
other professionals outside the university such as government
officials, journalists and others who can substantively contribute to
the topics at issue; and,
4. Insure access to library and material resources that will enable
grantees to continue their research, study and curriculum development
upon returning to their home institutions.
Program Descriptions
A. Religion in the United States
This Institute is intended to provide foreign university faculty
with an opportunity to increase their understanding of American
civilization through an examination of the American religious
experience. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach, the program should
explore both the historical and contemporary relationship between
church and state in the United States; examine the ways in which
religious thought and practice has influenced and been influenced by
the development of American democracy; examine the intersections of
religion and politics in the UnitedStates in such areas as elections,
public policy, and foreign policy; and explore the sociology and
demography of religion in the United States today, including a survey
of the varieties of contemporary religious belief.
B. U.S. Foreign Policy: Foundations and Formulation
This program should examine the domestic institutional
foundations--political, social, economic and cultural--of U.S. foreign
policy with particular attention to the Post-Cold War era. Principal
themes, critical policy debates, and contemporary issues in U.S.
foreign policy should be examined in light of the history of U.S.
international relations since World War II and within the larger
framework of U.S. diplomatic history as a whole. An overarching goal of
the program is to illuminate the relationships between U.S. policies
and the political, social and economic forces in the United States that
constitute the domestic institutional context in which such policies
are debated, formulated and executed. The program should be structured
to give attention to U.S. policy both globally and in particular
geographic areas.
C. Contemporary American Literature
This program should focus on recent American literature and
criticism. Its purpose is twofold: first, to explore contemporary
American writers and writing in a variety of genres; second, to suggest
how the themes explored in those works reflect larger currents within
contemporary American society and culture. The program should explore
the diversity of the American literary landscape, examining how major
contemporary writers, schools and movements reflect the traditions of
the American literary canon and, at the same time, represent a
departure from that tradition, establishing new directions for American
literature.
D. Immigration and Ethnicity: The American Experience
This program should examine the role that immigration and ethnicity
have played in defining the nature of the American experience. The
program should examine the history of immigration to the United States
and explore the impact that various periods of immigration have had on
the development of America's political, social, and cultural values and
institutions. Throughout the program, the focus on immigrant groups and
America's ethnic diversity should serve to illustrate the dynamism of
the American experience, viewed both as a whole and as the sum of its
diverse ethnic, religious and cultural parts.
E. American Studies for Foreign Secondary School Educators
This Fulbright American Studies Institute should provide a
multinational group of up to 30 experienced foreign secondary school
educators with a deeper understanding of U.S. society and culture, past
and present. The institute should be organized around a central theme
or themes in U.S. civilization and should have a strong contemporary
component. Through a combination of traditional, multi-disciplinary and
interdisciplinary approaches, program content should be imaginatively
integrated in order to elucidate the history and evolution of U.S.
institutions and values, broadly defined. The program should also serve
to illuminate the contemporary political, social, and economic debates
in American society. The program's ultimate goal is to promote the
development and improvement of courses and teaching about the U.S. at
secondary schools and teacher training institutions abroad.
Program Dates
Ideally, the programs should be 44 days in length (including
participant arrival and departure days) and should begin in mid to late
June, 2002. However, the Bureau is willing to consider other program
dates, based on the needs of the host institution.
Participants
As specified in the guidelines in the solicitation package,
programs should be designed for groups of either 18 or 30 highly-
motivated and experienced foreign university faculty and teacher
trainers who are interested in
[[Page 52960]]
participating in an intensive seminar on aspects of U.S. civilization
as a means to develop or improve courses and teaching about the United
States at their home institutions.
Most participants can be expected to come from educational
institutions where the study of the U.S. is relatively well developed.
Thus, while they may not have in-depth knowledge of the particular
institute program theme, most will have had some experience in teaching
about the United States. Many will have had sustained professional
contact with American scholars and American scholarship, and some may
have had substantial prior experience studying in the United States.
Participants will be drawn from all regions of the world and will be
fluent in the English language.
Participants will be nominated by Fulbright Commissions and by U.S.
Embassies abroad. Nominations will be reviewed by the Study of the U.S.
Branch. Final selection of grantees will be made by the Fulbright
Foreign Scholarship Board.
Program Guidelines
While the conception and structure of the institute program is the
responsibility of the organizers, it is critically important that
proposals provide a full, detailed and comprehensive narrative
describing the objectives of the institute; the title, scope and
content of each session; and, how each session relates to the overall
institute theme. The syllabus must therefore indicate the subject
matter for each lecture or panel discussion, confirm or provisionally
identify proposed lecturers and discussants, and clearly show how
assigned readings will support each session. A calendar of all
activities for the program must also be included. Overall, proposals
will be reviewed on the basis of their fullness, coherence, clarity,
and attention to detail.
Programs must comply with J-1 visa regulations. Please refer to the
Solicitation Package for further details on program design and
implementation, as well as additional information on all other
requirements.
Budget Guidelines
Based on groups of 18 participants, the total Bureau-funded budget
(program and administrative) for programs one, two, three and four
above should be approximately $182,000, and Bureau-funded
administrative costs as defined in the budget details section of the
solicitation package should not exceed $54,000. Based on a group of 30
participants, the total Bureau-funded budget (program and
administrative) for program five above should be approximately
$255,000, and Bureau-funded administrative costs as defined in the
budget details section of the solicitation package should not exceed
$57,000.
Justifications for any costs above these amounts must be clearly
indicated in the proposal submission. Proposals should try to maximize
cost-sharing in all facets of the program and to stimulate U.S. private
sector, including foundation and corporate, support. Applicants must
submit a comprehensive budget for the entire program. The Bureau
reserves the right to reduce, revise, or increase proposal budgets in
accordance with the needs of the program, and availability of U.S.
government funding.
Please refer to the ``POGI'' in the Solicitation Package for
complete institute budget guidelines and formatting instructions.
Announcement Name and Number: All communications with the Bureau
concerning this announcement should refer to the following titles and
reference numbers:
Religion in the United States
(ECA/A/E/USS-02-01A-Bate)
U.S. Foreign Policy: Foundations and Formulation (ECA/A/E/USS-02-01B-
Bate)
Contemporary American Literature
ECA/A/E/USS-02-01C-Taylor)
Immigration and Ethnicity: The American Experience
(ECA/A/E/USS-02-01D-Taylor)
American Studies for Foreign Secondary School Educator
(ECA/A/E/USS-02-01E-Emerson)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a Solicitation Package
containing more detailed program information, award criteria, required
application forms, specific budget instructions, and standard
guidelines for proposal preparation, applicants should contact:
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs, Office of Academic Exchange Programs, Study of the U.S.
Branch, State Annex 44, ECA/A/E/USS--Room 252/301 4th Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20547, Attention: Richard Taylor.
Telephone number: (202) 619-4557.
Fax number: (202) 619-6790.
Internet address: rtaylor@pd.state.gov.
Please specify Senior Program Officer Richard Taylor on all
inquiries and correspondence. Interested applicants should read the
complete Federal Register announcement before addressing inquiries to
the office listed above or submitting their proposals. Once the RFGP
deadline has passed, Bureau staff may not discuss this competition in
any way with applicants until after the proposal review process has
been completed.
To Download a Solicitation Package Via Internet: The entire
Solicitation Package may be downloaded from the Bureau's Web site at
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/rfgps/. Please read all
information before downloading.
Deadline for Proposals: All proposal copies must be received at the
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m. Washington DC time
on Friday, January 11, 2002. Faxed documents will NOT be accepted, nor
will documents postmarked January 11, 2002 but received at a later
date. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure that
proposal submissions arrive by the deadline.
Submissions: Applicants must follow all instructions in the
Solicitation Package. The original and 13 copies of the complete
application should be sent to:
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs, Reference: (insert appropriate reference number from above,
e.g. ECA/A/E/USS-02-01x-xxxxxx) Program Management Staff, ECA/EX/PM,
Room 534, State Annex 44, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547.
Applicants should also submit the ``Executive Summary'' and
``Proposal Narrative'' sections of the proposal on a 3.5'' diskette,
formatted for DOS. This material must be provided in ASCII text (DOS)
format with a maximum line length of 65 characters.
Diversity, Freedom and Democracy Guidelines
Pursuant to the Bureau's authorizing legislation, programs must
maintain a non-political character and should be balanced and
representative of the diversity of American political, social, and
cultural life. ``Diversity'' should be interpreted in the broadest
sense and encompass differences including, but not limited to
ethnicity, race, gender, religion, geographic location, socio-economic
status, and physical challenges. Applicants are strongly encouraged to
adhere to the advancement of this principle both in program
administration and in program content. Please refer to the review
criteria under the ``Support for Diversity'' section for specific
suggestions on incorporating diversity into the total proposal. Public
Law 104-319 provides that ``in carrying out programs of educational and
cultural exchange in countries whose people do
[[Page 52961]]
not fully enjoy freedom and democracy,'' the Bureau ``shall take
appropriate steps to provide opportunities for participation in such
programs to human rights and democracy leaders of such countries.''
Public Law 106-113 requires that the governments of the countries
described above do not have inappropriate influence in the selection
process. Proposals should reflect advancement of this goal in their
program contents, to the full extent deemed feasible.
Review Process
The Bureau will acknowledge receipt of all proposals and will
review them for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed
ineligible if they do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein
and in the Solicitation Package. All eligible proposals will be
reviewed by the program office. Eligible proposals will then be
forwarded to panels of senior Bureau officers for advisory review.
Proposals may also be reviewed by the Office of the Legal Advisor or by
other Bureau elements. Final funding decisions are at the discretion of
the Department of State's Assistant Secretary for Educational and
Cultural Affairs. Final technical authority for assistance awards
(grants or cooperative agreements) resides with the Bureau's Grants
Officer.
Review Criteria
Technically eligible applications will be competitively reviewed
according to the criteria stated below. More weight will be given to
items one and two, and all remaining criteria will be evaluated
equally.
1. Overall Quality
Proposals should exhibit originality and substance, consonant with
the highest standards of American teaching and scholarship. Program
design should reflect the main currents as well as the debates within
the subject discipline of each institute. Program elements should be
coherently and thoughtfully integrated. Lectures, panels, field visits
and readings, taken as a whole, should offer a balanced presentation of
issues, reflecting both the continuity of the American experience as
well as the diversity and dynamism inherent in it.
2. Program Planning and Administration
Proposals should demonstrate careful planning. The organization and
structure of the institute should be clearly delineated and be fully
responsive to all program objectives. A program syllabus (noting
specific sessions and topical readings supporting each academic unit)
should be included, as should a calendar of activities. The travel
component should not simply be a tour, but should be an integral and
substantive part of the program, reinforcing and complementing the
academic segment. Proposals should provide evidence of continuous
administrative and managerial capacity as well as the means by which
program activities and logistical matters will be implemented.
3. Institutional Capacity
Proposed personnel, including faculty and administrative staff as
well as outside presenters, should be fully qualified to achieve the
project's goals. Library and meeting facilities, housing, meals,
transportation and other logistical arrangements should fully meet the
needs of the participants.
4. Support for Diversity
Substantive support of the bureau's policy on diversity should be
demonstrated. This can be accomplished through documentation, such as a
written statement, summarizing past and/or on-going activities and
efforts that further the principle of diversity within the organization
and its activities. Program activities that address this issue should
be highlighted.
5. Experience
Proposals should demonstrate an institutional record of successful
exchange program activity, indicating the experience that the
organization and its professional staff have had in working with
foreign educators.
6. Evaluation and Follow-Up
A plan for evaluating activities during the Institute and at its
conclusion should be included. Proposals should discuss provisions made
for follow-up with returned grantees as a means of establishing longer-
term individual and institutional linkages.
7. Cost Effectiveness
Proposals should maximize cost-sharing through direct institutional
contributions, in-kind support, and other private sector support.
Overhead and administrative components, including salaries and
honoraria, should be kept as low as possible.
Authority
Overall grant making authority for this program is contained in the
Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, Public Law 87-
256, as amended, also known as the Fulbright-Hays Act. The purpose of
the Act is ``to enable the Government of the United States to increase
mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the
people of other countries * * *; to strengthen the ties which unite us
with other nations by demonstrating the educational and cultural
interests, developments, and achievements of the people of the United
States and other nations * * *.and thus to assist in the development of
friendly, sympathetic and peaceful relations between the United States
and the other countries of the world.''
Notice
The terms and conditions published in this RFP are binding and may
not be modified by any Bureau representative. Explanatory information
provided by the Bureau that contradicts published language will not be
binding. Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment
on the part of the Government. The Bureau reserves the right to reduce,
revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of
the program and the availability of funds. Awards made will be subject
to periodic reporting and evaluation requirements.
Notification
Final awards cannot be made until funds have been appropriated by
Congress, and allocated and committed through internal Bureau
procedures.
Dated: October 11, 2001.
Patricia S. Harrison,
Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Department of
State.
[FR Doc. 01-26122 Filed 10-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-11-P
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