Remarks by Ambassador Beyrle
Remarks by Ambassador John Beyrle on International Education Week
November 24, 2008
American Center Moscow
I’m very glad to join you today in this celebration of International Education Week.
I and all diplomats know that the best way to understand what is good and unique about your own country is to spend some time in another country abroad. That is what exchange programs are all about.
I was fortunate to be an exchange student myself at Leningrad State University in 1976. My experience taught me many things, not least a great respect for Russian culture, the Russian language, and the strong historical tradition in Russia of valuing and promoting education as a cultural and national value. These exchange experiences led me to a career in diplomacy that has had a strong Russian focus.
That experience has also made me a dedicated proponent of more educational exchanges.
Last year there were over five thousand Russians studying at American Universities, an increase from previous years, while there were two thousand American students at Russian universities. I hope to see these numbers continue to increase in the future.
Last year the U.S. Government sponsored 650 Russian students on exchange programs.
I’m particularly proud of the Fulbright Program, the oldest and best-known of our exchange programs. The number of Fulbrighters has more than tripled in the last five years. Last year there were 152 Russian Fulbrighters at American universities and institutes, and 87 American Fulbright students and scholars studying, teaching and doing research in Russia.
In addition to Fulbright, we have several other programs that offer exchange opportunities to a wide range of students and scholars. Last year, 329 Russian high school students participated in the FLEX program, giving them the opportunity to attend high school for a year, live with American families, improve their English language skills and observe American culture first-hand, not through movies and soap operas.
For university education, Russian students are able to take advantage several different exchange programs. Through the Global UGRAD program of the IREX organization, Russian undergraduate students can attend and earn credit for classes at universities across the United States. Also, the Edmund S. Muskie Fellowship allows Russians to pursue their graduate studies in the United States.
Mid-career professionals can also receive advanced professional training and make contacts in their field of expertise through the Humphrey Fellowship. And I’d also like to note that last year, 32 Russian high-school teachers participated in our “Teachers to Teachers Exchange” and received teacher in-service training and observed the pedagogy used in American high school classrooms for the subject of Language, Technology, Math, and Science.
In an exciting new initiative, over 50 students have received stipends to help defray the costs of applying to universities on their own via our new Opportunity Grant Initiative program.
Then there is the U.S. Summer Work Travel Program which, though not a formal academic exchange program, it provides Russian students with the opportunity to improve their English, discover America, and expand their horizons over the summer break between their studies. Last year nearly 32,000 Russian students participated.
These programs are absolutely essential to the Russian-American relationship. When I was a university student in Michigan, there were virtually no Russian students in the United States - we knew Russia only from what we saw on television or in the newspapers, or heard from our professors – some of whom were from the post-revolution émigré generation. Today there are Russians at almost every American university and high school, teaching Americans about Russia, and presenting the modern image of the country, and I am happy about it, but this is something we need to expand.
The greatest problem that I wish we could correct is the imbalance between the large number of Russian students going to America and the smaller number of Americans coming here. There are a number of reasons for this, the greatest one being that far more Russians study English than Americans study Russian. More courses taught in English here might help correct this imbalance, and perhaps stronger support by Russia for Russian language programs in the U.S. I hope we can find ways to bring more Americans here to your institutions and show them the real Russia. And I will do my best to increase this number.
Senator J. William Fulbright probably came closest to the heart of the matter we’re discussing here today when he said, “In the long course of history, having people who understand your thought is much greater security than another submarine.” I know all of you here today understand this. Thank you for your support and help for international education, which is so important to both our countries.
