More Than a Touristic VisitMore Than a Touristic VisitScholar Exchanges as a Communication Method in Public Diplomacy

H.Efe SEVINEmerson College

IABD 21st Annual ConferenceSt. Louis, Missouri

IntroductionIntroduction

Rationale

What is Public Diplomacy?

Foreign Fulbright Program

Other Cases

Conclusions

Rationale: Why Pay a Student?Rationale: Why Pay a Student?

What is Public Diplomacy?What is Public Diplomacy?

• Necessity and Vitality• Traditional vs. Public Diplomacy• Definition• Scholar exchanges

What is Public Diplomacy?What is Public Diplomacy?

The attempts of gov’ts to challenge the prejudices and stereotypes about their own values and attitudes in other countries, and in doing so to provide more accurate images of their own societies to the rest of the world.

Short SurveyShort Survey

Impressionistic Study

59 respondents

Online survey

6 multiple choice questions

2 open-ended optional (83% response rate)

Foreign Fulbright ProgramForeign Fulbright Program

Little history

Alumni285,000 alumni from 155 countries39 Nobel Prize WinnersSecretary General of the United Nations

(Boutros Boutros-Ghali) Secretary-General of the North Atlantic

Treaty Organization (Javier Solana)

Survey: Why USA? Survey: Why USA?

Survey: Why USA?Survey: Why USA?

Yes83%

No17%

Fulbright's Impact on Decision

Survey: American ImageSurvey: American Image

Survey: Effects of American ExperienceSurvey: Effects of American Experience

Open ended questions:◦Fact rich◦“Change”

Average : 4.872 or below: 25.4% (15) BUT 8 or above: 33.8% (20)

Change after US Experience: 66 % (39) - 8 or above

Academic Methods: 59.5 % (35)Daily life habits: 35.6% (21)

Survey ConclusionsSurvey Conclusions

The Fulbright program gives the US institutions a comparative advantage in recruiting qualified foreign scholars.

Regardless of their prior views of the US, the scholars become integrated into the society and try to understand the values and dynamics.

Scholars’ views of the US do not necessarily change during their stay in the US, however, their experience in US changes their lives in social and cultural terms.

The scholars are willing to take what they have been practicing in the US back to their home countries.

Other CasesOther Cases

Monbukagakusho

Chevening

Jean Monnet

ConclusionsConclusions

Soft Power – Public Opinion

Scholar exchanges◦Influential People◦Personal Experiences◦Social Responsibility

Future of Scholar Exchanges

ConclusionsConclusions

“I'm sure that President Johnson would never have pursued the war in Vietnam if he'd ever had a Fulbright to Japan, or say Bangkok, or had any feeling for what these people are like and why they acted the way they did. He was completely ignorant.”

Senator J. William FulbrightJune 26th , 1986

Thank you for your attention!Thank you for your attention!

Questions? / Comments?

H.Efe SEVIN

efe@efesevin.comhttp://www.efesevin.com/

http://efesevin.wordpress.com/