AFS Intercultural Programs
Encyclopedia
AFS Intercultural Programs (or AFS, originally the American Field Service) was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew
, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University
and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
. Begun as a service of volunteer ambulance
drivers in 1914, AFS has evolved into an international youth exchange organization.
Worldwide, AFS is a group of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations called partners, each with its own network of volunteers, professionally staffed office(s), volunteer board of directors
and website. In 2007, almost 13,000 participants traveled abroad on AFS cultural exchanges between 65 countries, as supported by 36,000 active volunteers. The U.S.-based partner, AFS-USA, sends more than 1,500 U.S. students abroad and places international students with more than 2,800 U.S. families each year. More than 370,000 people have gone abroad with AFS and over 100,000 former AFS students live in the U.S.
. The "American Ambulance" of 1914 took over the premises of the unfinished Lycée Pasteur
in the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine—and was run by the nearby American Hospital of Paris.
The volunteer drivers of 1914 found themselves behind the wheels of motorized, not horse-driven, vehicles: Model-Ts, purchased from the nearby Ford plant in Levallois-Perret.
In the fall of 1914, when the war front moved away from Paris, the American Ambulance set up an outpost in Juilly and sent out detached units of volunteer drivers to serve informally with the British and Belgian armies in the north. In early 1915, one of those drivers—A. Piatt Andrew—was appointed “Inspector of Ambulances” by the head of the American Ambulance, one of his colleagues from the Taft Administration. In April 1915, Andrew succeeded in soliciting an agreement from the French High Command authorizing "foreign sanitary sections" to work at the front as part of the French Army Automobile Service This marked the formal beginning of American Ambulance Field Service, three units of which would made their mark during battles in northern France, the Champagne, Verdun and the Vosges.
By the summer of 1916, the Field Service severed its ties with the American Ambulance and moved its operations from cramped quarters in Neuilly to Paris, onto the spacious grounds of the Delessert château at 21 rue Raynouard in the Passy. There, it grew rapidly over the next year, continuing to provide "sanitary sections" to the French Army, while also serving as a recruitment source of combat pilots for the newly-formed Escadrille Lafayette, one of whose prime movers, Dr. Edmond Gros, was the Field Service’s in-house physician.
When the United States entered the war in April 1917, the French Army successfully appealed to the Field Service for drivers for its military transport sections —and so, no longer limited to medical transport, the organization renamed itself the “American Field Service”, thus establishing today’s well-know acronym, “AFS”.
Before the AFS was absorbed into the much larger, federalized U.S. Army Ambulance Service
, it had numbered more than 2500 volunteers, including some 800 drivers of French military transport trucks. It had actively recruited its drivers from the campuses of American colleges and universities, promoting morale by creating units with volunteers from the same schools. All financed their own uniforms and transportation to France where they worked under the same conditions as French ambulance drivers—with the same pay—and often found themselves serving under extremely dangerous missions on the Front. By the end of the war, some 127 men who had served with the AFS were killed and a notable number of individuals and units earned the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de Guerre for their heroic actions as drivers.
Other volunteer ambulance corps served the French Army as “foreign sanitary sections” during World War I. The first was Henry Harjes’ “Formation” units under the American Red Cross, followed by Richard Norton’s American Volunteer Motor-Ambulance Corps, organized in London under the St. John’s Ambulance (the British Red Cross). Later, both would merge —under the American Red Cross—as the “Norton-Harjes”. In the summer and fall of 1917, when all the volunteer ambulance services were invited to join the new U.S. Army Ambulance Service, Norton’s units simply disbanded, while Harjes’, under the American Red Cross, moved into Italy where they would subsequently serve under the USAAS.
Once the Americans entered the war, many drivers joined combat units, both French and American, serving as officers in a wide variety of assignments, notably in air force and artillery units. At the same time, .a large percentage of volunteers signed up for the military, thenceforth members of USAAS units, but remaining identified with their AFS past—a past kept alive through the work of HQ, still at 21 rue Raynouard, where a Bulletin was published and where visiting ambulance drivers could find temporary lodgings and meals.
,
president of AFS, established the American Field Service International Scholarships. During the 1947-48 school year, the first students came from ten countries including Czechoslovakia
, Estonia
, France
, Great Britain
, Greece
, Hungary
, the Netherlands
, New Zealand
, Norway
and Syria
.
As of 2008 there are over 55 AFS organizations worldwide, serving over 80 different countries, providing exchange opportunities for over 14,000 students and teachers annually.
AFS is one of the largest volunteer-based organizations of its kind in the world with more than 30,000 volunteers worldwide and more than 8,000 in the U.S. Tens of thousands of volunteers and a small staff make the AFS program happen worldwide. AFS volunteers are both young and old, busy professionals and retirees, and students and teachers. AFS provides development and training opportunities for volunteers.
AFS volunteers help in many areas including facilitating the AFS mission in the local community and schools by finding and interviewing students and families. Further involvement includes serving as a contact person for an AFS student, organizing fund raising events, and arranging activities for AFS students. As a volunteer-driven organization, AFS depends on donations of time to implement and monitor the delivery of programs.
Notable exception in the AFS network is its presence in China. Here AFS offers an outbound long-term student exchange program since 1997 and an inbound program since 2001. These programs however, are run and administrated by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), an organization focusing on teacher exchanges that was originally founded by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Education.
In 2011, NSLI-Y offers academic scholarships to learn Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish through summer and year-long programs in China, Egypt, India, Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and other countries around the world.
Abram Andrew
Abram Piatt Andrew Jr. was a United States Representative from Massachusetts.-Biography:Born in La Porte, Indiana, he attended the public schools and the Lawrenceville School...
, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
. Begun as a service of volunteer ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
drivers in 1914, AFS has evolved into an international youth exchange organization.
Worldwide, AFS is a group of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations called partners, each with its own network of volunteers, professionally staffed office(s), volunteer board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and website. In 2007, almost 13,000 participants traveled abroad on AFS cultural exchanges between 65 countries, as supported by 36,000 active volunteers. The U.S.-based partner, AFS-USA, sends more than 1,500 U.S. students abroad and places international students with more than 2,800 U.S. families each year. More than 370,000 people have gone abroad with AFS and over 100,000 former AFS students live in the U.S.
WWI
When war broke out in 1914, the American Colony of Paris organized an "ambulance"—the French term for a temporary military hospital—just as it had done in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 when the "American Ambulance" had been under tents set up near the Paris home of its founder, the celebrated Paris-American dentist, Dr. Thomas W. EvansThomas W. Evans
Thomas Wiltberger Evans was a dentist. He performed dental procedures on many heads of state, including Napoleon III, and received numerous medals for his dentistry, including the Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur...
. The "American Ambulance" of 1914 took over the premises of the unfinished Lycée Pasteur
Lycée Pasteur
The Lycée Pasteur is a French state-run secondary school in Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the outskirts of Paris. It accept students from collège through to classes préparatoires .Built in the grounds of the former chateau de Neuilly, the lycée is named in...
in the suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine—and was run by the nearby American Hospital of Paris.
The volunteer drivers of 1914 found themselves behind the wheels of motorized, not horse-driven, vehicles: Model-Ts, purchased from the nearby Ford plant in Levallois-Perret.
In the fall of 1914, when the war front moved away from Paris, the American Ambulance set up an outpost in Juilly and sent out detached units of volunteer drivers to serve informally with the British and Belgian armies in the north. In early 1915, one of those drivers—A. Piatt Andrew—was appointed “Inspector of Ambulances” by the head of the American Ambulance, one of his colleagues from the Taft Administration. In April 1915, Andrew succeeded in soliciting an agreement from the French High Command authorizing "foreign sanitary sections" to work at the front as part of the French Army Automobile Service This marked the formal beginning of American Ambulance Field Service, three units of which would made their mark during battles in northern France, the Champagne, Verdun and the Vosges.
By the summer of 1916, the Field Service severed its ties with the American Ambulance and moved its operations from cramped quarters in Neuilly to Paris, onto the spacious grounds of the Delessert château at 21 rue Raynouard in the Passy. There, it grew rapidly over the next year, continuing to provide "sanitary sections" to the French Army, while also serving as a recruitment source of combat pilots for the newly-formed Escadrille Lafayette, one of whose prime movers, Dr. Edmond Gros, was the Field Service’s in-house physician.
When the United States entered the war in April 1917, the French Army successfully appealed to the Field Service for drivers for its military transport sections —and so, no longer limited to medical transport, the organization renamed itself the “American Field Service”, thus establishing today’s well-know acronym, “AFS”.
Before the AFS was absorbed into the much larger, federalized U.S. Army Ambulance Service
United States Army Ambulance Service
The United States Army Ambulance Service was a unit of the United States Army during World War I. It was established by General Order No. 75 of the War Department in May 1917...
, it had numbered more than 2500 volunteers, including some 800 drivers of French military transport trucks. It had actively recruited its drivers from the campuses of American colleges and universities, promoting morale by creating units with volunteers from the same schools. All financed their own uniforms and transportation to France where they worked under the same conditions as French ambulance drivers—with the same pay—and often found themselves serving under extremely dangerous missions on the Front. By the end of the war, some 127 men who had served with the AFS were killed and a notable number of individuals and units earned the Croix de Guerre and the Médaille de Guerre for their heroic actions as drivers.
Other volunteer ambulance corps served the French Army as “foreign sanitary sections” during World War I. The first was Henry Harjes’ “Formation” units under the American Red Cross, followed by Richard Norton’s American Volunteer Motor-Ambulance Corps, organized in London under the St. John’s Ambulance (the British Red Cross). Later, both would merge —under the American Red Cross—as the “Norton-Harjes”. In the summer and fall of 1917, when all the volunteer ambulance services were invited to join the new U.S. Army Ambulance Service, Norton’s units simply disbanded, while Harjes’, under the American Red Cross, moved into Italy where they would subsequently serve under the USAAS.
Once the Americans entered the war, many drivers joined combat units, both French and American, serving as officers in a wide variety of assignments, notably in air force and artillery units. At the same time, .a large percentage of volunteers signed up for the military, thenceforth members of USAAS units, but remaining identified with their AFS past—a past kept alive through the work of HQ, still at 21 rue Raynouard, where a Bulletin was published and where visiting ambulance drivers could find temporary lodgings and meals.
Between the wars
Following the Great War, the AFS became sponsors for the French Fellowships—graduate student scholarships for study in France and in the US—which were ultimately administered by the Institute of International Education and were precedents for the Fulbright Foundation exchanges. AFS also created an association for its veterans, publishing a bullletin, organizing reunions and contributing a wing to house its memorabilia at the Museum of Franco-American Cooperation in Blérancourt, France.WWII
When World War II broke out, AFS reorganized its ambulance service, sending units first to France and then to the British Armies in North Africa, Italy, India-Burma and with the Free French for the final drive from southern France to Germany.Postwar
In September 1946, Stephen GalattiStephen Galatti
Stephen Galatti was for many years the Director General of the AFS, American Field Service. He transformed the AFS from a volunteer medical corps during World Wars I and II into an international educational exchange service that has profoundly transformed the lives of thousands of young people...
,
president of AFS, established the American Field Service International Scholarships. During the 1947-48 school year, the first students came from ten countries including Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
Modern Day
AFS is one of the largest volunteer-based organizations of its kind in the world with more than 30,000 volunteers worldwide and more than 8,000 in the U.S. Tens of thousands of volunteers and a small staff make the AFS program happen worldwide. AFS volunteers are both young and old, busy professionals and retirees, and students and teachers. AFS provides development and training opportunities for volunteers.
AFS volunteers help in many areas including facilitating the AFS mission in the local community and schools by finding and interviewing students and families. Further involvement includes serving as a contact person for an AFS student, organizing fund raising events, and arranging activities for AFS students. As a volunteer-driven organization, AFS depends on donations of time to implement and monitor the delivery of programs.
Notable exception in the AFS network is its presence in China. Here AFS offers an outbound long-term student exchange program since 1997 and an inbound program since 2001. These programs however, are run and administrated by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE), an organization focusing on teacher exchanges that was originally founded by the Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Education.
Statement of Purpose
AFS is an international, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding needed to create a more just and peaceful world.Notable AFS Ambulance Corps Volunteers
- Julien BryanJulien BryanJulien Hequembourg Bryan was an American photographer, filmmaker and documentarian. He is best known for documenting the daily life in Poland, Soviet Union and Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1939....
- Preston M. BurchPreston M. BurchPreston Morris Burch was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, breeder, and owner. -Biography:...
- Malcolm CowleyMalcolm CowleyMalcolm Cowley was an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist.-Early life:...
- Harry CrosbyHarry CrosbyHarry Crosby was an American heir, a bon vivant, poet, publisher, and for some, epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking families in New England, a member of the Boston Brahmin, and the nephew of Jane Norton Grew, the wife of financier J....
- Patrick DennisPatrick DennisPatrick Dennis was an American author. His novel Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade was one of the bestselling American books of the 20th century. In chronological vignettes "Patrick" recalls his adventures growing up under the wing of his madcap aunt, Mame Dennis...
- Sidney HowardSidney HowardSidney Coe Howard was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for Gone with the Wind.-Early life:...
- John Howard LawsonJohn Howard LawsonJohn Howard Lawson was an American writer. He was head of the Hollywood division of the Communist Party USA. He was also the cell's cultural manager, and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the Party's New York-based cultural chief...
- J. Roderick MacArthurJ. Roderick MacArthurJohn Roderick MacArthur was a U.S. businessman and philanthropist. The J. Roderick MacArthur Foundation, a philanthropic organization interested in Civil Liberties in the United States, and the MacArthur Justice Center at the Northwestern University School of Law are named after him. He is the...
- Waldo PeirceWaldo PeirceWaldo Peirce was an American painter, born in Bangor, Maine.Peirce was both a prominent painter and a well-known character. He was sometimes called "the American Renoir"...
- Leslie R. Taber (recruited by Lafayette Escadrille, then Northern Bombing group)
Notable AFS exchange students
- Lee BollingerLee BollingerLee Carroll Bollinger is an American lawyer and educator who is currently serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech...
, the 19th president of Columbia University (went to Brazil) - Catherine ColemanCatherine ColemanCatherine Grace "Cady" Coleman is an American chemist, a former United States Air Force officer, and a current NASA astronaut...
, American astronaut (went to Norway) - Dixie DansercoerDixie DansercoerDixie Dansercoer is an explorer, endurance athlete and photographer.As a student, he spent a year in Moscow, Idaho, United States with AFS Intercultural Programs in 1980....
, Belgian explorer (went to the US) - John DeightonJohn DeightonJohn Deighton , generally known as "Gassy Jack", was a Canadian bar owner who was born in Hull, England. The Gastown neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia is named for him....
, Harvard Business School Professor - Jan EliassonJan EliassonJan Kenneth Eliasson is a Swedish diplomat and Social Democratic politician.- Biography :Jan Eliasson was born in a working-class family in Gothenburg. He was an AFS exchange student in Indiana, United States, from 1957 to 1958 and was commissioned reserve officer after military training at the...
, former President of the UN General Assembly and Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs (went to the US) - Cesar GaviriaCésar GaviriaCésar Gaviria Trujillo is a Colombian politician and a Latin American statesman. He served as President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, and Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 until 2004.-Early life:...
, former President of Colombia (went to the US) - Yoshihiro HattoriYoshihiro Hattoriwas a Japanese exchange student residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States at the time of his death. Hattori was on his way to a Halloween party and he went to the wrong house by accident. The property owner, Rodney Peairs, mortally wounded Hattori with gunfire, thinking he was trespassing...
(went to the US) - Bill IrwinBill IrwinWilliam Mills "Bill" Irwin is an American actor and clown noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He is known for his vaudeville-style stage acts, but has made a number of appearances on film and television and won a Tony Award for a dramatic role on...
, American actor (went to Northern Ireland) - Ernesto JerezErnesto JerezErnesto Jerez is a sportscaster from the Dominican Republic.His parents are Angel Alejandro Jerez Matos, and Dulce María Bueno Núñez. He is the 3rd...
, a Dominican sportscaster - Kenneth I. JusterKenneth I. JusterKenneth I. Juster is a Partner and Managing Director at the global investment firm Warburg Pincus. Prior to joining Warburg Pincus, Juster spent over 30 years in government, law, business, and international affairs. He has served in senior positions in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S...
(went to Thailand) - Zalmay Khalizad, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations (went to the US)
- Christine LagardeChristine LagardeChristine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...
, current IMF Director, former Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment of France (went to the US) - Margaret H. MarshallMargaret H. MarshallMargaret Hilary Marshall was the 24th Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and the first female to hold that position. She was Chief Justice from 1999 to 2010. On July 21, 2010, she announced her retirement....
, 23rd Chief JusticeChief JusticeThe Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial CourtThe Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
, and the first female to hold that position (AFS to US from South Africa) - MilowMilow (singer)Jonathan Vandenbroeck , better known by his stage name Milow, is a Belgian singer-songwriter.-Biography:Milow was first heard on the 2004 Humo's Rock Rally competition...
, a Belgian singer (went to the US) - Jann KloseJann KloseJann Klose is a German-born pop singer-songwriter. Raised in Kenya, South Africa, Germany and northeast Ohio, he has released three albums and two EPs as a solo artist. His songs have been heard on the Grammy-nominated "Healthy Food For Thought" compilation as well as MTV Cribs and the movie "Dead...
, German-born singer-songwriter (went to the US) - Diana MuirDiana MuirDiana Muir, also known as Diana Muir Appelbaum, is a Newton, Massachusetts writer and historian. Muir is best known for her 2000 book, Reflections in Bullough's Pond, a history of the impact of human activity on the New England ecosystem....
, an American writer and historian (went to Chile) - Tiina NunnallyTiina NunnallyTiina Nunnally is an American author and translator.Nunnally was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and St. Louis Park, Minnesota. She was an AFS exchange student to Århus, Denmark in 1969-70. She received her MA in 1976 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and a...
, an American author and translator (went to Denmark) - Helmut PankeHelmut PankeHelmut G.W. Panke served as chairman of the board at BMW AG from May 2002 through August 2006.-Education:...
, a member of the board of directors at Microsoft (went to the US) - Gerhard PfanzelterGerhard PfanzelterGerhard Pfanzelter, born in 1943 in Innsbruck, is a prominent Austrian diplomat. He served as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations between September 7, 1999 and November 2008. In 2000 he served as Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and...
, Austrian Ambassador to the United Nations (went to the US) - Nicole RashNicole RashNicole Elizabeth Rash is an American model and actress . She is the 2007 winner of Miss Indiana and first runner-up to Miss America 2008 Kirsten Haglund. -Biography:...
, 2007 Miss Indiana (went to Bolivia) - Lieven ScheireLieven ScheireLieven Scheire is a Belgian comedian, mainly known for being a member of Neveneffecten.-Career:He followed secondary education at the Sint-Lodewijkscollege in Lokeren. After this, he took part in a year long AFS cultural exchange to Iceland...
, Belgian comedian (went to Iceland) - Yasuhisa ShiozakiYasuhisa Shiozakiis a Japanese politician who served as Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe until August 2007.Born in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, he was an AFS exchange student in high school, graduated with a liberal arts degree from the University of Tokyo and attended the John F. Kennedy School...
, Japanese politician (went to the US) - Frieda Van Wijck, Belgian television presenter (went to the US)
- Linda WellsLinda WellsLinda Wells is an American journalist and current editor-in-chief at Allure magazineLinda Wells graduated in 1980 from Trinity College in Hartford. Connecticut. She began her journalism career at Vogue, where she wrote and edited stories about beauty, health, nutrition, and fitness...
, American editor in chief (went to Turkey) - Craig WilsonCraig Wilson (columnist)Craig Wilson is a columnist for USA Today. He has been a feature writer at the newspaper for over two decades. He has written his The Final Word column each Wednesday since 2000...
, American columnist (went to Great Britain) - James Woolsey , a foreign policy specialist and former Director of Central Intelligence and head of the Central Intelligence AgencyCentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(February 5, 1993 - January 10, 1995) (went to Sweden) - Dato' Mahadzir Lokman, former Malaysian news presenter and prominent emcee (went to the US)
- Professor Colin BundyColin BundyProfessor Colin James Bundy is a South African historian and former Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford.Professor Bundy was an influential member of a generation of historians who substantially revised understanding of South African history...
is Principal of Green Templeton College, OxfordGreen Templeton College, OxfordGreen Templeton College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is the university's newest college having come into existence on 1 October 2008 from the merger of Green College and Templeton College...
(AFS to US from South Africa) - İsmail Cem İpekçi Turkish Foreign Minister went to USA
- Rogelio PfirterRogelio PfirterRogelio Pfirter is an Argentinian diplomat. He was the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons from 2002 to 2010. Pfirter was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, on 25 August 1948. He graduated as a lawyer from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral...
, Argentinian Diplomat (went to the US) - Adolfo Nanclares, Argentinian Ambassador (went to the US)
- Susana MalcorraSusana MalcorraSusana Malcorra is the current United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field Support. She was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in March 2008.- Biography :...
, served as Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (went to the US) - Diego Guelar, Argentinian Ambassador (went to the US)
- Marcelo Huergo, Argentinian Ambassador (went to the US)
- Guillermo GonzalezGuillermo GonzalezGuillermo Gonzalez may refer to:*Guillermo Gonzalez , American soccer player*Guillermo Gonzalez , astrophysicist and promoter of intelligent design...
, Argentinian Ambassador (went to the US) - Jorge Argüello, Argentinian Ambassador (went to the US)
- Julio Frade, Uruguayan Actor, Radio Announcer and Pianist (went to the US)
AFS-USA, Inc.
AFS-USA, Inc. (a.k.a., AFS-USA) is the AFS partner organisation in the United States and is a registered 501(c)(3). Approximately 1,400 participants go abroad with AFS-USA annually. Over 2,500 international AFS students from AFS-USA partner countries are hosted in the U.S. annually. AFS-USA is supported by a volunteer base of over 6,000. Students aged 15 – 18 may partake in AFS-USA programs, while Gap Programs are available for individuals over 18 years of age on a gap year.AFS-USA Public Diplomacy Initiatives
Public Diplomacy Initiatives at AFS-USA offer support for international students to study in the United States and for U.S. students to study abroad via full funded scholarships by grant-making foundations or by the Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of the U.S. Department of State.Congress Bundestag
The Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CB) was launched in 1983 by the U.S. Congress and the German Parliament. AFS currently provides 50 merit-based, full scholarships for U.S. students and 60 scholarships for German participants.National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y)
The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program is part of a broader government-wide presidential initiative that prepares American citizens to be leaders in a global world. Now more than ever, it is important that Americans have the necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogues, support American engagement abroad, and attain better understanding of global cultures and issues. NSLI-Y encourages a lifetime of language study and cultural understanding by providing approximately 600 fully funded scholarships to American high school students.In 2011, NSLI-Y offers academic scholarships to learn Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Russian, and Turkish through summer and year-long programs in China, Egypt, India, Korea, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and other countries around the world.
Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX)
The Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program originated in the FREEDOM Support Act, which was sponsored by U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and was passed by Congress in 1992. FLEX provides full merit-based scholarships to students from the countries of the former Soviet Union.Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES)
Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) was initiated by The Department of State in the aftermath of Sept. 11. It aims to build bridges of understanding between Americans and people in countries with significant Muslim populations.AFS-USA Scholarships
AFS-USA awards more than $3 million in financial aid and scholarships to students each year. More than 40% of AFS-USA participants receive some form of financial assistance each year either need-based, merit-based or both. A partial list of scholarships and financial aid:- Global Leaders is the primary AFS scholarship program, offering partial need and merit-based scholarships to qualified applicants.
- Faces of America is AFS-USA’s signature diversity program and makes it possible for high school students from underserved communities to receive scholarship awards to study abroad in more than 23 countries around the world.
- AFS Family Scholarships are awards are given to applicants who are former host family members, returnees, children of returnees, and of descendants of AFS Ambulance Drivers.
- The Yoshi Hattori Memorial Scholarship is a merit-based scholarship is designed to promote intercultural understanding and peace, and was created in memory of Yoshi Hattori, an AFS Exchange Student to the U.S. from Japan.
- The Toshiyuki Tanaka American Embassy Scholarship is a need-based and merit-based scholarship awarded through the Pacific Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the generosity of Mr. Toshiyuki Tanaka.
AFS-USA Executive Staff
- Jorge Castro, President and Partner Director
- Kerry McCollum, Chief Organizational Development Officer
- Keri Dooley, Chief Government Relations and Sponsored Programs Officer
- Susan Goldberg, Chief Financial Officer
- Kristen Bates, Chief Program Officer, Inbound
- Joanne Yokoyama-Martin, Chief Program Officer, Outbound
- Marlene Baker, Chief External Relations and Communications Officer
- Tara Hofmann, Senior Business Strategist
AFS-USA Board of Directors
- Joanne Berger-Sweeney
- Ambassador William A. Eaton, Vice Chair
- Francesco Favotto
- Jean M. Frazier
- Anne Herendeen
- Betty McManus
- William G. Meserve
- Damian Pisanelli
- Mary Porterfield, Chair
- Ambassador Thomas Robertson
- Al Russell
- Tsugiko Scullion
- John D. Shuck
- David Vodila
- Paula M. Wardynski
- Judy Weyand, Vice Chair
See also
- Congress-Bundestag Youth ExchangeCongress-Bundestag Youth ExchangeThe Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange is a youth student exchange program founded in 1983. The program, which is dually sponsored by the United States Congress and the German Bundestag, funds exchange programs for German and American students through grants to private exchange organizations in...
- EducationUSAEducationUSAEducationUSA is a global network of more than 400 advising centers supported by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State...
- Fulbright Fellowship
- International students
- List of ambulance drivers during WWI
- Student exchange programStudent exchange programA student exchange program generally could be defined as a program where students from secondary school or university choose to study abroad in partner institutions...
- Youth for UnderstandingYouth For UnderstandingYouth For Understanding is one of the world's oldest, largest, and most respected international exchange programs. Each year, YFU exchanges approximately 4,500 students worldwide.-Organization:...
External links
- AFS Official Website
- European Federation for Intercultural Learning
- Video interview of AFS students in INDIA, Ludovica Fois & Sophia Mersmann
- Our Story
- AFS in WWI - Digital Collection
- AFS in the Hospitality Club
- National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) program site