The UMass Civic Initiative is a leading partner for the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Study of the U.S. Institutes. We bring over a decade of experience to the development, implementation, and administration of our international programs, and we are uniquely positioned to execute every aspect of successful program management including logistical planning; academic schedule modeling; finance tracking; modeling and creation of program websites; contract negotiation with program vendors; and assistance with day-to-day concerns such as health issues, miscommunications, and the miscellaneous blips that occur in new cultural settings.

U.S.-based programs: Each year, we bring nearly 200 students and scholars from around the world to the UMass Amherst campus to participate in programs that examine topics in government, entrepreneurship, and education. Currently, we run the following programs:

• American Political Development and Political Thought for international professors
• Pakistani Young Leaders Comparative Public Policy for undergraduates
• Economic Empowerment for entrepreneurship undergraduates from the Middle East and North Africa

Overseas and Exchange Programs: In addition to organizing conferences and seminars that provide opportunities for our program alumni to reconvene and network in their home countries, we conduct educational trainings and coordinate speaking tours in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. Most recently, we’ve led curriculum and secondary school teacher development programs with Iraq and Indonesia, in addition to running seminar series and tours on comparative public policy in Argentina, Pakistan, and Croatia. Our current programs include:

• Indonesian Educators
• Indonesian Religious Tolerance
• Pakistani Teacher Exchange

Technical Assistance and Consulting: We provide technical assistance to the three other sub-grantees in our Public Policy Program, helping to create, model, and maintain their program websites.