Summer Work and Travel a Crucial Means of Experiencing U.S.

January 30, 2012

Thousands of students travel to the U.S. from around the world each year to pursue everything from research opportunities to work experience to greater exposure to U.S. culture.

In early December 2011, the U.S. Department of State initiated a review of one of the country’s most popular cultural exchange programs. The Summer Work Travel Program has invited more than 100,000 students each year to learn about the U.S. through exposure to communities and business environments across the country.

While some legislators were critical of the program in the wake of issues that had been raised, Tara Sonenshine, the executive vice president of the United States Institute of Peace and President Barack Obama's nominee for the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, was steadfast in her defense of cultural exchange organizations as a concept.

"Public diplomacy is a shared means to a shared goal of extending America’s reach and security by influencing how individuals around the world come to know and understand us," Sonenshine explained to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a confirmation hearing.

Cultural exchange organizations play an important role in the students’ development as well. Coming to the U.S. offers an interesting experience in a unique environment, but it can also offer valuable exposure to a different language or the opportunity to build connections in an important part of the global economy.

Sonenshine also noted that the U.S. government bears a responsibility for the well-being of visiting students, as well as making their time in the country a "positive cultural engagement experience." With so many students coming into the nation each year this can be challenging, but a growing number of mechanisms are being put in place to help these visitors.

While problems have emerged in some cultural exchange programs at times, Sonenshine emphasized that the the experiences offered by legitimate cultural exchange organizations are crucial to the understanding of American culture abroad, and international culture in the U.S.

"There is no substitute for having a student from another country at your dinner table, in a classroom, seeing our institutions at work," Sonenshine insisted. "We need exchanges that make connections with civil society across many fields and help us identify the next generation of leaders."