Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC)

Founded in 1981, the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) is a private not-for-profit federation of independent overseas research centers that promote advanced research, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, with focus on the conservation and recording of cultural heritage and the understanding and interpretation of modern societies. CAORC fosters research projects across national boundaries, encourages collaborative research and programmatic and administrative coherence among member centers, and works to expand their resource base and service capacity.

CAORC member centers maintain a permanent presence in the host countries where they operate-in Europe, Latin America, the Near and Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, and West Africa . The centers are the primary vehicle through which American scholars carry out research vital to our understanding of and intersection with other cultures. Some centers have existed for over a century while others were founded in the decades following World War II in response to American scholarly needs and host country invitations. Nearly four hundred American universities, colleges, and museums hold multiple memberships in the centers which serve their institutional members, individual fellows and members, as well as affiliated scholars through a broad range of research- and teaching-support services. Funding is awarded from sources including the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as from private foundations and individuals.

American overseas research centers promote international scholarly exchange, primarily through sponsorship of fellowship programs, foreign language study, and collaborative research projects. They facilitate access to research resources, provide a forum for contact and exchange, offer library and technical support and accommodation, and disseminate information to the scholarly and general public through conferences, seminars, exhibitions, and publications. Because of the centers' contributions to the generation of knowledge, the creation of area expertise, and cordial relations between the United States and the host countries, scholars seek CAORC's help in establishing similar centers in other parts of the world.

U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes

Sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, the Critical Language Scholarships Program was launched in 2006. In its inaugural year, the Program offered intensive overseas study in the critical need foreign languages of Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu. In 2007, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and Russian institutes were added along with increased student capacity in the inaugural language institutes.

The Program is part of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), a U.S. government interagency effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Scholarship recipients - U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master's and Ph.D. students and recent graduates - receive funding to participate in beginning, intermediate and advanced level summer language programs at American Overseas Research Centers and affiliated partners. Recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills in their professional careers.

U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes recipients are among the more than 30,000 academic and professional exchange program participants that are overseen annually by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Other programs the Bureau manages include the Fulbright Program and the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program.

National Security Language Initiative (NSLI)

On January 5, 2006 , President Bush launched the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) to further strengthen national security and prosperity in the 21st century through strategic language learning. The NSLI initiative will increase dramatically the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, Farsi and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce.

The NSLI initiative is a coordinated federal government program that includes the Department of State, Department of Education, Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

"The ability to engage foreign governments and peoples, especially in critical world regions, is essential to U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Americans must become better equipped with the languages needed to effectively promote understanding, encourage reform, and express respect for other cultures," said Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Dina Habib Powell.

State Department NSLI programs are providing new opportunities for American high school students, teachers, undergraduates and graduate students to study critical need languages abroad and are strengthening foreign language teaching in the U.S. through exchanges and professional development.

"This is the largest initiative of its kind focused on language in half a century," said Thomas A. Farrell, deputy assistant secretary for academic programs at the State Department.