USA Study Abroad, part of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and its Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program are pleased to invite students, faculty and staff across campus to attend the 2022 International Education Week virtual event: “From Study Abroad to the State Department: How Developing Global Perspectives Supports U.S. Foreign Policy.”

This two-hour webinar will feature an interview with Secretary of State Antony Blinken exploring how U.S. diplomatic work impacts the lives of the American people and how studying abroad furthers the State Department’s foreign policy mission. U.S. study abroad students, serve as citizen diplomats sharing American culture while abroad, and then later in impactful careers applying skills and knowledge they learned abroad, providing great value to their U.S. communities and to the United States overall. Some study abroad students even continue serving as diplomats working for the State Department or in other federal agencies.

Webinar attendees will hear directly from the Secretary of State and a panel of U.S. foreign service officers focusing on how their work at the State Department advances U.S. foreign policy, how that work impacts Americans, and how study abroad shaped their careers and continues to impact their lives as American diplomats. The webinar will also highlight State Department fellowship and employment opportunities with a session presented by the Department’s Bureau of Global Talent Management, followed by interactive networking and breakout sessions focused on study abroad opportunities through State Department scholarships, life inside the State Department, and information on State Department career pathways. For those interested but unable to attend live, the webinar will be recorded and made available on the Gilman Scholarship program website.

Interested in learning more about how the State Department furthers foreign policy goals around the world? This event will also preview our 2023 Inside U.S. Foreign Policy series—a six-part virtual series beginning in January that will offer an inside look at how the State Department works to combat climate change, secure the global food supply, foster entrepreneurship and promote other important foreign policy priorities on behalf of the American people. Tune in to learn more!