The Dialogue Institute (DI) is hosting 20 young adult students from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey, July 5-August 9, 2015, for an intensive five-week education and immersion program focused on religious pluralism and democracy in the United States.
The program—officially called Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Religious Pluralism in the United States—is run in conjunction with the U.S. Department of State (Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs), and introduces students from the Middle East and Southeast Asia to central elements of U.S. history, society, institutions and democracy through a focus on American religious freedom. The DI, along with the International Center for Contemporary Education, has been hosting Institutes twice a year since 2010.
The program includes a four-week residential program in Philadelphia, as well as visits to New York City, Washington, DC and other parts of the country. Activities include: classroom-based learning with lectures and interactive workshops/trainings/discussions, religious and historical site visits; community service projects; and visits with American host families. Topics include: dialogue and critical thinking; roots of religious tolerance in Philadelphia; volunteerism in a pluralist society; immigration, race, and ethnicity; gender and religious participation; and leadership.
Click here for more information about the SUSI program.
