News
Washington, D.C. (August 30, 2024) – The Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program’s class of 2024 gathered in Washington, D.C. on August 15th and 16th for a final program Debriefing event to reflect on and share their summer experiences, ways they grew professionally and interculturally, and to learn about ways to stay engaged with the program as an alum.
The seminar commenced with sessions focused on reflecting on the Fellows’ summer experiences. The first reflection session encouraged Fellows to look back at the professional goals set during Orientation and discuss within groups how they achieved those goals or how the goals changed. To learn about the importance of public service in U.S. culture, and to immerse themselves in their internship community, participants complete a volunteering service opportunity at an organization of their choice. In the second reflection session, Fellows drew a picture detailing the service activity they participated in before hanging it on the wall for other Fellows to view.
Throughout the summer, Muskie Fellows participated in online U.S. Work Culture sessions focused on helping Fellows understand specific U.S. norms like small talk, how to ask someone to be a mentor, and communication styles. Cassandra Sánchez, Cultural Vistas Senior Advisor of ICDEI, led these summer sessions and returned for one final in-person closing session at Debriefing. Here, Fellows took the lead in advising their cohort about tactics they used through their summer fellowships to form connections. To finish the day’s sessions, Denise Marques, Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), debriefed the Muskies on how their intercultural competency has grown and changed since they first took the test in February and again in August.
To end the day, groups went to the National Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of African American History and Culture for the program’s cultural activity. Muskie Fellows could learn and explore more about important foundational parts of American history at their own pace.
Albina Yildiz, a 2019 Muskie alumna from Uzbekistan, started the second day of programming by showcasing ways to stay engaged with other Muskies as an alum. As a 2022-2024 Muskie Alumni Council member, Albina spoke of the council’s work with the alum community. She also talked about her Muskie Alumni Small Grants project and gave tips on submitting a successful application to implement community development projects. Albina also joined the Muskie Program’s 2022 Alumni Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, and spoke about the importance of reconnecting in person and her excitement for the 2024 conference in Istanbul, Türkiye. Marion Lange, Regional Alumni Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State, joined afterward and spoke of ways to stay engaged with the U.S. government and Fulbright programs.
As part of the two-day event, 28 Muskie Fellows presented their summer internship experiences. Their topics ranged from the different uses of artificial intelligence to how mass protests and the loss of democracy affect political action in youth to how regenerative ranching helps achieve climate goals. Fellows showcased what they learned through their internships, gave their advice, shared U.S. workplace experiences, and fielded their peers’ questions.
Many participants saw the Muskie Program as one of the only ways to receive practical working experience and learn about how their industries run in the U.S. while completing their master’s degrees, and they spoke to that in their presentations and reflections during the event.
“Muskie offered one of the big opportunities which was to use all this knowledge in practice… especially for lawyers, you need to learn the skills to use your knowledge in practice. Of course, it is important to have the education and academic knowledge that I gained throughout the year, but if I don’t see how I can use the skills in practice, they somehow get lost in the process,” explained Mari Tokhosashvili, a Muskie Fellow from Georgia who studied law at the University of Buffalo and interned in New York City at the Center for Justice Innovation.
The debriefing event concluded with a certificate ceremony, during which program staff gave send-offs. The certification ceremony highlighted that while the 2024 Muskie Program has ended, the ties between participants are lasting, and the memories created will live on. Whether ending their journeys in the U.S. or starting new ones elsewhere, Muskie Fellows will remain together in community.
About Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program
In its 10th year of programming, the Edmund S. Muskie Professional Fellowship Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by Cultural Vistas, gives Fulbright Program emerging leaders from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia the opportunity to gain real-world experience that complements and enriches their graduate studies in the U.S.
Since 1992, the U.S. Department of State has provided thousands of graduate school fellowships for students from across Eurasia to build democracies, strengthen the transition to market economies, and establish strong civil societies. Cultural Vistas has built upon that foundation by providing hands-on, professional skill-building opportunities across the United States for more than 400 graduate students over the last ten years.