Policy Monitor Weekly Digest
► Reacting to a recent New York Times article by Harvard University President Lawrence Summer, a variety of voices discussed in the Times whether learning another language is necessary or useful.
► The registration deadline for Advocacy Day is today, so go online and register now: http://www.alliance-exchange.org/policy-monitor/01/10/2012/register-now-our-2012-advocacy-day-and-raise-your-voice-international-exch.
If your organization still wants to register staff members after today, please just let us know by emailing Lisa at lheyn@alliance-exchange.org.
► Register now for the Alliance’s 2012 Advocacy Day! Detailed information about this year’s Advocacy Day and the online registration form are available on the Alliance website: http://www.alliance-exchange.org/policy-monitor/01/10/2012/register-now-our-2012-advocacy-day-and-raise-your-voice-international-exch. We hope to see many of you on February 29 and March 1 here in Washington and to raising our voice for international exchange with you.
► The U.S. Department of State issued a notice in the Federal Register on Tuesday announcing changes to grant guidelines and procedures.
- Tara Sonenshine, nominee for the role of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, stressed the value of people-to-people exchanges in U.S. public diplomacy during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
► The Alliance released “Highlights of a Cultural Exchange,” a video that details the positive experiences local American communities and international students have through the State Department’s Summer Work Travel program.
► The Institute of International Education (IIE) and NAFSA: Association of International Educators both released their annual reports earlier this week. Among their key findings are an increase in the number of international students studying in the U.S.
► Newly appointed chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, talked about her U.S. high school exchange experience in an article in the Washington Post, saying that her exchange year mattered more than any in her life.
► Earlier this week, AIPT and CDS announced a new name for their recently merged organization: Cultural Vistas.
► At the closing luncheon for the Department of State's TechWomen Initiative on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton celebrated the completion of the first-ever TechWomen exchange program and announced the planned launch of a similar "TechGirls" initiative next year.
