{"id":106009,"date":"2025-09-25T12:59:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/?page_id=106009"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:38:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:38:31","slug":"advocacy-guide-for-international-education","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.historians.org\/why-history-matters\/your-voice-matters\/advocacy-guide-for-international-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocacy Guide for International Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Contents<\/h4>\nThreats to International Education Today<\/a>
\nHow Is Federal Policy Threatening International ECEs?<\/a>
\nDemonstrating the Value of International Education<\/a>
\nResources for Crafting Your Argument<\/a>
\nHistorians and International Education<\/a>
\nCountering Arguments against International Education<\/a>
\nEnacted & Pending Policies Affecting ECE Programs<\/a>
\nAdditional Resources on International Education<\/a>\n

\n\t\t\tThreats to International Education Today\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tSupport International Education Exchanges\t<\/h4>\n\t

For decades, federal educational and cultural exchange (ECE) programs-including the Fulbright, Title VI, and Fulbright-Hays-have provided invaluable opportunities for students, scholars, and educators in history and other disciplines.<\/strong> International exchanges play a pivotal role in many aspects of historical study, and federal funding ensures that students and scholars of all backgrounds have the ability to conduct research, further language acquisition, and collaborate with scholars in their fields.<\/p>\n

More than 45 programs sponsored by the Departments of State, Education, and Defense enable tens of thousands of educational exchanges each year.<\/strong> Sponsored exchanges range from PhD students conducting dissertation research, to master’s students undertaking degrees at international institutions, to distinguished scholars lecturing in the USand overseas, from K-12 teachers and administrators learning about education in other parts of the world, to future federal employees learning languages critical to national interests, to supporting children of veterans with international education, and more. These exchanges are bilateral, bringing international students and scholars to the United States and in turn sending Americans abroad.<\/p>\n

All historians-not solely those who research other parts of the world-benefit from international exchanges.<\/strong> State-sponsored exchanges first arose in the aftermath of World War II and during the Cold War, when the United States and its allies promoted international education with the goal of sharing knowledge between nations, strengthening international ties, and promoting global stability, all in the interest of national security and diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The AHA has a strong record<\/a> of supporting Title VI, Fulbright-Hays, Fulbright, and other ECE programs<\/strong>, as its own history demonstrates the scholarly and diplomatic benefits of supporting international education. Since the AHA’s founding in 1884, at least 99 presidents had international experiences-including studying, teaching, living, or working abroad-or were international scholars themselves. Fourteen of the last 15 winners of the AHA’s prestigious Herbert Baxter Adams Prize completed academic exchanges or were international-born scholars. International scholars and international scholarly exchanges contribute in countless ways to the field of history in the United States, from pathbreaking research to teaching the next generation of Americans.<\/p>\n

International scholars and international scholarly exchanges contribute in countless ways to the discipline of history in the United States<\/strong>, from pathbreaking research to teaching the next generation of Americans. Essential ECE programs are under threat due to policy and funding objectives of the Trump administration. Proposed funding cuts threaten the ability of American universities to train a new generation of historians. While funding and maintaining such international exchange programs does require significant financial and personnel investment, their intellectual, diplomatic, and economic benefits far outweigh the costs.<\/p>\n\t\t\t

“International connections were an absolutely essential-and wonderful-component of my long career. \u00a0I could also add that I advised European PhD students and that several of my PhD students were advised by my European friends and colleagues.”Thomas F. X. Noble<\/strong>Andrew V. Tackes Professor Emeritus, University of Notre Dame<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t

“Ultimately, spending a year abroad in an unfamiliar place gave me fresh eyes. What I learned from my time abroad, and subsequent re-entry, can be summed up as follows. We come to the university-to history and to the humanities more broadly-with questions. An education provides us not so much with answers, but with the tools to pursue those questions-and the means to build the skills-listening, writing, research, engaging in conversation-to fathom a sense of who we are in the world-to clarify a fullness of being, of meaning, that no one else could have fully envisioned or articulated for us.”Laura Hostetler<\/strong>Professor, Univ. of Illinois, Chicago<\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t

“As a Fulbright Lecturer in Hiroshima, Japan in 1977-78, along with my wife and two young children (4 and 7), I enjoyed all the joys and challenges of another culture and the enhanced perspective of my own . . . . Perhaps the most unanticipated benefit for all of us was on our return to the US and the realization of the impact this experience had on our sense of ourselves and our own culture. I was inspired to devote the remainder of my academic career in some aspect of international education, witnessing what even a two-week international study tour could mean for young people-and even faculty members–who had never been outside their state or the US.”Blaine Brownell<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\n\t\t\t

“I was a Fulbright Scholar in Hungary in 2013. I learned a great deal about the university system in Hungary, and in continental Europe in general. How general education and majors work was quite different. The same goes for how attendance, exams, and grading worked. This came in handy about a year and a half after I returned, when I was tapped to help lead my university’s general education program. My European experience helped me offer comparisons and contrasts to colleagues and to students, so that we could all understand what we gain and what we lose in either model.”Gabriel Loiacono<\/strong>
Professor of History & Associate School Director of Public Affairs & Global Engagement, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh<\/p>\t\t\n

\n\t\t\tHow Is Federal Policy Threatening International ECEs?\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy Is This Important?\t<\/h4>\n\t

Now is the time to advocate for international education.<\/strong> The executive branch seeks to eliminate all funding for ECE programs, while Congress appears divided.Final votes on the FY2026 budget have not been cast.<\/p>\n

The current presidential administration (in the FY2026 Executive Discretionary Budget Request and Department Budget Justifications) seeks to eliminate funding for all ECE programs at the State Department and Department of Education, including Fulbright, Fulbright-Hays, and Title VI programs. Not only would these cuts effectively dismantle longstanding programs established by acts of Congress, but they would also considerably impact independent study abroad organizations that rely on government grants and\/or administration to facilitate international exchanges.<\/p>\n