Providence to host global ‘ambassador’ seminar

THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE will play host to nearly 130 Fulbright Scholar Program participants from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24.
THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE will play host to nearly 130 Fulbright Scholar Program participants from Feb. 21 to Feb. 24.

PROVIDENCE – Roughly 130 Fulbright Scholar Program participants from across 60 countries will call the city of Providence home for the weekend in a move to create interaction and dialogue with local residents.

The entire event is set to take place from Feb. 21 until Feb. 24 at the Omni Providence Hotel.

Alongside the seminar, the local chapter of the World Affairs Council announced on Tuesday that it would begin accepting applications for residents to host “an evening of home hospitality” for groups of Fulbright Scholar students. Supporters are being asked to host dinners at their homes on Friday Feb. 22.

Martin K. Pottle, former host and membership chair of WACRI, told the Providence Business News that the students are “exceptionally smart, speak fluent English and are a delight to host.”

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The Fulbright Program, a division of Institute of International Education, is funded primarily by the State Department’s Education and Cultural Affairs bureau and other government agencies. In 2011 annual reports, public funding supported 66 percent of IIE income.

Introduced by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Scholar program is designed to “increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries,” operating out of 155 countries.

The most recent Rhode Island recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship was University of Rhode Island student Megan O’Brien in 2012.

The World Affairs Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to dedicated to promoting cross-cultural diversity and information with 900 chapters and 87,000 members worldwide.

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