American students/Russian racism

[Eric Christensen]

Thank you for raising this question about the Critical Language
Scholarship (CLS) Program on behalf of your student.

American Councils for International Education
(http://www.americancouncils.org) has administered the CLS institutes
in Russia, as well as Turkey, Azerbaijan, China, South Korea, Japan,
and Indonesia, since 2009.

Recruiting a diverse applicant pool is mission-critical for the CLS
Program. “Diversity” is considered  broadly and includes, but is not
limited to academic discipline, rural/urban background, geographic
location, career goals, institutional type (e.g. community colleges,
small liberal arts colleges, minority-serving institutions, large
universities, etc), racial or ethnic background, gender,
socio-economic status, or unique personal qualities or experiences.

American Councils discusses a range of topics for students traveling
to Russia, including basic health and safety, racial attitudes,
friendship and romantic relations, sexual orientation, and religious
affiliations in the pre-departure program materials and during the
orientation sessions in Washington, DC and the host city.

In addition, each CLS institute has a dedicated on-site staff, which
includes a Resident Director and local program personnel. The Resident
Director is on call around the clock to respond to any crises or
emergencies that may arise, and to assist students as they adjust to
the host environment.

Prospective students and faculty are encouraged to visit the CLS
website (www.clscholarship.org) for more information on the program
and individual CLS institutes. The application process is administered
by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC), and
questions regarding the application can be directed to cls at caorc.org.

We also encourage students to take advantage of the resources on
ExchangesConnect, an international online community managed by the
U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs.
On this site, alumni have started discussion board topics addressing a
variety of issues of interest to potential applicants, including race,
gender, religious affiliation and sexual orientation for students
interested in applying to the CLS program. The link to this website is
http://connect.state.gov/group/cls.

Sincerely,

Eric Christensen

echristensen at americancouncils.org

Program Officer, Critical Language Scholarship Program
American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS
1828 L St NW, Suite 1200
Washington, D.C. 20036

Phone: (202) 833-7522
Fax: (202) 833-7523


On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 5:16 AM, anne marie devlin
<anne_mariedevlin at hotmail.com> wrote:
> David,
> Out of the many identity issues facing students living in another culture (be they American or not), race and gender seem to be the most salient.  From what I have witnessed, racism (and sexism) exists at a low but constant level.  Direct attacks or extreme threats are very rare.  Students, especially females, often feel under threat due to a difference in subject positioning.
>  It might be an idea to get your students to read Pellegrino Aveni's book Study Abroad and Second language Use. Constructing the Self.  It's an analysis of ethnographic material - diaries, interviews etc - taken from students in a study abroad programme in Russia.  It gives excellent insight into the difficulties they may experience in expressing their identity.  I can't remember if racism is dealt with in particular, but I think it will be interesting reading nontheless.
> AM
>
>
>> Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:56:40 -0500
>> From: dmborgmeyer at HOTMAIL.COM
>> Subject: [SEELANGS] American students/Russian racism
>> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
>>
>> Dorogie kollegi,
>>
>>
>> I know that periodically the
>> topic of racism and American students studying in Russia has been raised on SEELANGS,
>> and I don’t want to revisit the whole topic with my question. However, I have a nontraditional African-American
>> student who is interested in studying in Russia through the Critical
>> Language Study scholarship program in Ufa, Vladimir, or Kazan. She isn’t concerned about 'petty' racism as
>> much as potential threats to her personal safety. Does anyone on the list have recent information, anecdotal or otherwise,
>> about African-American students’ experiences and/or racially-motivated violence
>> in these places or with this program?
>> Thanks in advance!
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> DB
>>
>>
>> *******
>>
>> David
>> Borgmeyer, Ph.D.
>>
>> Assistant
>> Professor
>>
>> Center for
>> International Studies
>>
>> Saint Louis
>> University
>>
>> dborgmey at slu.edu
>>
>>
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