The Foreign Policy Association of Central Pennsylvania believes that the youth of America should be well informed on international issues and U.S. policy in foreign affairs. We have instituted the following programs to that end.
Governor’s School Scholarships
The first program was in conjunction with the Governor’s School for Global and International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. This Governor’s School program invited high school sophomores and juniors to a four week on-campus session in global and cultural studies. The Foreign Policy Association invited Central Pennsylvania students attending the Governor’s School to apply by submitting an essay on a selected foreign policy issue. Three students were selected and interviewed. The winning student or students was invited to attend one of our monthly dinner meetings along with their parents and give a presentation to our audience before receiving their $600 scholarship. The student presentations were excellent! However, due to COVID, the University of Pittsburgh discontinued their Governor’s school temporarily; so we have replaced this scholarship program with the Student Scribe Scholarship program.
Student Scribe Program, Scholarships and Embassy Trip
The Foreign Policy Association has a college student scribe for each of our monthly dinner meetings. The student scribe attends the dinner and speaker sessions for free, writes a short summary of the speaker’s remarks for our monthly newsletter and receives a $25 stipend.
Student Scribe Scholarship and Embassy Trip
The Foreign Policy Association invites all scribes from the previous season to submit an essay on a selected foreign policy issue. As in the previous Governor’s School Program, students with the top three essays are interviewed to pick a winner. The winner makes a ten-minute presentation at one of our dinner meetings and is awarded a $600 scholarship and an invitation to join our embassy trip free of charge.
In the embassy trip we travel to Washington DC to visit a foreign embassy for a day. We first stop at the State Department for a briefing on the country whose embassy we will be visiting. We then have lunch at a restaurant with the cuisine of the embassy’s country. In the afternoon, we visit and tour the embassy, and have the opportunity to hear an embassy speaker talk about his or her country and their relations with the United States.
If you are interested in participating in the Foreign Policy Association’s scribe program, please contact our Secretary, Akash Banerjee at akash.banerjee1918@gmail.com.
Student Scribe Scholarship Recipients
2021-22 Scholarship Winner Matthew Smith, Elizabethtown College
Mathew Smith was the winner of the $600 2021-22 Student Scribe Scholarship. Matt is currently studying for a Masters in Philosophy in Modern Middle Eastern Studies at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Elizabethtown College in 2021 and served as Board Secretary for the Foreign Policy Association during the 2020-2021 term. Currently, he is performing research on early state formations in Jordan between 1920 and 1940. Following graduation in 2023, Matt hopes to return to the US and begin a career in foreign policy in Washington DC. We hope to have him as a speaker one day!
Governor’s School Recipients
2018 Award Winner:
Akash Banerjee was the 2018 recipient of the Foreign Policy Association’s Governor School Honorarium. Akash, from Warwick High School in Lancaster, spoke to the Foreign Policy Association at the March, 2019 meeting. His topic was Global and International Implications of Mental Health. His talk was provocative and very well received by the 100+ members in attendance. After his presentation, Akash received the $600 Foreign Policy Association honorarium
2017 Award Winners:
– Divya Rajachadran, Dallastown Area High School, “Human Rights / Global Security”
– Emma Marie Spearing, Penn Manor High School, “Women’s Treatment Globally: Gender-Based Violence”
– Austin Glass, Hempfield High School, “Refugee Prosperity”
