Checking In With The U.S. – Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program

Posted under: Center for Global Leadership By /

Pakistani students at the Potomac River (in their Army Public School uniforms!)

The U.S. – Pakistan Global Leadership and STEM Program is an exchange program that engages ten female Pakistani students in a variety of leadership building and STEM-focused educational activities. During their stay, students participated in an immersive nanotechnology curriculum at SUNY Polytechnic institute. When I arrived at the 4H Center a little over a week ago, I was greeted by a room full of exuberant smiles. Ten Pakistani girls, having just touched down from their respective hometowns the night before, were clustered at the long tables pulled together in the meeting room. They literally sparkled, clothed in traditional shalwar...

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Korean-American Exchange

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Korean and American delegation during their first week in D.C.

As a Programs Intern with Meridian International Center, I have had the privilege over the past month of working on the U.S. Congress – Republic of Korea National Assembly Exchange Program. This program will send ten American students to Seoul and ten Korean students to the United States. During their time in their host countries the students will learn about Korean-American relations and about how the two governments compare and differ. The program officially began last Thursday July 7 when all of the participants flew into Washington, DC for a week long orientation and team bonding. Their experience will culminate...

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Spotlight on Soft Power: July 2016

Posted under: MCCD By /

J-Pop Summit

Pop is Our Tradition

Hello Kitty®, Sailor Moon, sushi, anime, manga, and Studio Ghibli® are just a few examples of Japanese Pop culture that have gained popularity in the United States. J-Pop Summit looks to foster this growing interest and bring Japan straight to America. Since 2009 J-Pop Summit has been held annually in San Francisco. It was created and hosted by SUPERFROG project, whose goal is to educate the American public about the uniqueness of Japanese Pop culture. The project continues to be sponsored by a growing number of well known enterprises: UNIQLO, SEGA, Mazda, Funimation, and Lyft, just to name a few.

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YLAI Pilot Alumni Continue to Make Progress

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YLAI Pilot Fellows at Meridian House

In February and March 2016, Meridian was proud to welcome 24 entrepreneurs from 20 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean as part of the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Pilot Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Meridian is always happy to hear from its alumni, and is particularly proud to share what Luis Loaiza, Alejandro Carbonell, and Triston Thompson have been up to since the conclusion of the program. Continue  

Program Theme Spotlight: The Changing Face of Journalism

Posted under: IVLP By /

IVLP visitors gather behind the newsdesk at KOMU Television in Columbia, Missouri.

Support for free and independent media has long served as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. In releasing the 2015 U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Secretary of State John Kerry focused on this point when he said “Far from threatening the democratic process, a free press and open civil society are the release valve and life blood of a thriving democracy.” Continue