visiting scholars program
Administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars
The Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), the scholar division of the Institute of International Education (IIE), is well known for its expertise and extensive experience in conducting international exchange programs for scholars and university administrators. For the past sixty years, CIES (www.cies.org) has administered the Fulbright Scholar Program, the United States flagship academic exchange effort, on behalf of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA).
About the Visiting Fulbright Scholar Program
The Worldwide Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program brings visiting scholars and professionals from abroad to lecture at U.S. colleges and universities for one semester or one academic year.
Arranging an Occasional Lecturer Visit
Faculty and professional staff of U.S. colleges and universities can identify scholars to invite to their campuses for OLP visits by consulting the Directory of Fulbright Visiting Scholars, which lists all visiting scholars in the United States for the current academic year.
Institutions may contact scholars directly via the faculty associates and departments provided or they can also contact CIES staff to obtain scholars' telephone numbers or e-mail addresses.
Occasional Lecturer Awards are provided directly to scholars who apply for and receive an OLP Travel Award. To apply for an award, the Visiting Scholar must submit to CIES at least one month before the visit is to take place a formal letter of invitation from an institution, in which the institution indicates the dates of the OLP visit and the lecture topic. Within four weeks of receiving the application, CIES will inform the scholar whether or not the OLP Travel Award has been approved. The scholar is responsible for purchasing an airline ticket or arranging some other means of transportation, such as a train, bus or rental car. The Fulbrighter will then receive the award after the OLP visit.
Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program
Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World aims to promote Americans’ understanding of Islamic civilization and the history, politics, and culture of today’s Muslim world.
The program further aims to strengthen resources for enriching understanding of relevant global issues. The program offers a unique opportunity for U.S. colleges and universities to host specialists from countries with significant Muslim populations for short-term programs of intensive lecturing, public outreach, and consultation.
The Fulbright Visiting Specialists will lecture on and off campus in a variety of humanities and social science disciplines, including the arts, with a focus on Islamic society or civilization. The Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program encourages interreligious dialogue through on-campus and off-campus activities. The Visiting Specialists will also work together with the U.S. host institutions on projects with lasting benefits such as curriculum consultation, faculty development, and institutional linkage-building.
Institutions with few or no programs/courses related to Islam or the Muslim world are encouraged to apply. Institutions that have well-established Islam-related or area studies programs should clearly indicate that their proposed program for the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program is in a field/subject that is not currently supported at the institution.