ABOUT THE CENTER
The mission of the Fulbright Center is to foster peace and justice through collaboration. The Center convenes leaders from the private and public sectors to examine issues and develop policies that advance the principles and values of Senator and Harriet Fulbright. These principles and values are grounded in the concepts of mutual respect and cooperation rather than arrogance and conquest. The Center seeks to promote a new framework of global cooperation to address the complex issues aimed at building peace that confront the world community and threaten peace, stability and security everywhere.
What is the relationship between the Fulbright Scholarship Program and the J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center?
The J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center is a non-profit, non-governmental organization with a unique Board of Directors, separate from the Fulbright Program which is sponsored by the United States government through the Department of State. The Center does not benefit from any federal government appropriation to the Fulbright Program. The Center works cooperatively with the Institute of International Education (IIE), the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), Fulbright Commissions, and the Fulbright Association.
Why is the J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center needed?
J. William Fulbright was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1942. Two years later he entered the Senate and served there for the next thirty years, fifteen years as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. During his tenure, Senator Fulbright and his colleagues shaped American foreign policy during the Vietnam War and the Cold War. Cuba, Latin America, and political changes in Africa also challenged the United States government in those years. Today some areas of conflict may be different, but the lessons to be learned remain the same: The cycle of unresolved conflicts and violence always claims a human toll that takes generations to heal. And, while détente, political agreements, and commercial activity tie countries and communities more closely, they sometimes conceal deeper, more complicated questions of history and values that may disrupt peaceful development.
The J. William and Harriet Fulbright Center believes that development of trust, so necessary to impede or prevent cycles of conflict, lies in international collaborations among colleges and universities, and in exposing young people to other cultures long enough to develop an understanding of different ways of looking at the world. The Fulbright Center has developed two core programs in response to these goals: International Collaborations for colleges and universities, and Global Connections for students.
Senator Fulbright always searched for new ways and creative ideas for world peace and non-violent means of resolving conflicts. The Senator believed in the need to expand and extend this vision. This is also the lifework of Mrs. Harriet Fulbright. Therefore, the Fulbright Center's core program, Cultural Immersion and Leadership, will serve as a laboratory for new ideas that fit within the Center's mission.