Spring International Language Center (SILC) has been providing excellent academic, cross-cultural, and language learning experiences for over twenty-five years. We believe that language learning contributes to greater understanding among peoples of diverse cultural backgrounds and to peace. SILC embraces the goals of William J. Fulbright for internatinal educational exchange.

Program Overview

“Civil Rights and the American South” seeks to provide student leaders with opportunities to learn about the United States while they develop their leadership abilities. The program offers SUSI grantees intensive study of the Civil Rights Movement as well as exposure to a broad spectrum of American social justice efforts past and present. Through course work, lectures, and workshops, students will be challenged to expand their skills as critical thinkers. Hands-on volunteer work and visits to grassroots organizations will add to students’ understanding of how social justice efforts function in the United States. The program’s final component, a seven-day bus tour along the historic Freedom Trail, will introduce students to the key sites in the struggle for Civil Rights, and will allow them to hear personal remembrances from people who played roles in the movement. At Spring International Language Center, we are committed to preparing SUSI grantees to return home both inspired and informed about ways to become agents of positive change in their communities.

The Study of the United States Institute for Student Leaders will help participants to:

• Engage in intensive study of the United States and the American South;
• Learn about the Civil Rights Movement from multiple perspectives;
• Strengthen their leadership skills;
• Grow as critical thinkers; and
• Gain the skills and knowledge to become catalysts for social justice.

Students will be expected to:

• Actively participate in classes and workshops;
• Attend weekly social and cultural activities; and
• Participate in co-hort discussion groups with other Student Leaders.

Orientation sessions and workshops for Student Leaders will include:

• Orientation to the campus and the community;
• Dealing with cross-cultural adjustment and stress;
• Getting involved on campus; and
• Cultural and social field trips and activities.

The University of Arkansas Main Campus in Fayetteville

The University of Arkansas is a beautiful campus located in the delightful town of Fayetteville in Northwest Arkanas. The University has a student population of 15,500 from throughout the United States and more than 900 international students from over 100 countries. The campus is surrounded by the great natural beauty of the Ozark Mountains, which offers wonderful places for outdoor sporting and hiking. International students find the friendly and safe environment of Fayetteville a wonderful place to live.

Spring International Language Center

Spring International Language Center provides intensive English and cross-cultural education to international students and professionals. The programs serve students visiting the U.S. for cultural exchanges and prepare international students for U.S. universities, including but not limited to English language mastery, research skills, academic writing, and social and cultural orientation. Fundamental to SILC’s academic programs is the extensive use of community based learning. As an integral part of their cross-cultural academic program, SILC’s students are provided with a multitude of opportunities outside the traditional classroom to facilitate a greater understanding of American culture, and to encourage interaction with Americans while fostering independence and leadership development in students.

Faculty

All classes and academic activities will be conducted by qualified and experienced instructors with master’s degrees in TESOL, Linguistics, or related fields. Supplemental lectures or meetings will be provided by University of Arkansas faculty in various academic fields of study. Special sessions and workshops will be designed by faculty members to address the specific needs of the Student Leaders.

Project Leadership

Leyah Bergman-Lanier
        Dr. Leyah Bergman-Lanier brings more than 20 years of ESL teaching and administrative experience to her position as Director of Spring International Language Center at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Her teaching spans all ages from kindergarten through adult levels. She served as Director of the Program in ESL at the University of California at Irvine, Assistant Director of ESL at Pitzer College, and Program Coordinator of Adult Education and K-12 Programs in Claremont, California; Leyah has also directed the Spring Institute for International Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. Dr. Bergman-Lanier speaks fluent Japanese and taught in Japan for four years. She has also taught and conducted research in the People's Republic of China. Her undergraduate degree comes from the University of California at Berkeley, and she completed her M.A. (Education and Reading) and Ph.D. (Education and Sociolinquistics) at Claremont Graduate School. Dr. Bergman-Lanier has traveled extensively in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Her home town is in West Los Angeles. In her spare time, Leyah enjoys weaving, reading and exploring the outdoors.

Gwen Sullivan
        Gwen Sullivan has been teaching for more than fifteen years in several venues. She earned her B. A. from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho where she was awarded the English department's Outstanding Graduate Award. She taught high school English and reading on the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho for five years before working two years as an Assistant Language Teacher in Nishinomiya, Japan. At the University of Idaho, Moscow, where she earned an M. A. in English, she taught composition. At Washington State University, Pullman, where she is currently a Ph. D. candidate in English, she has taught film and literature classes in addition to freshman composition. Beginning with an internship in 2001, Gwen has worked at Spring International Language Center. Two of those years were as a full-instructor in the regular program, and she continues to return to Fayetteville in the summers to teach in the special programs. Reading and writing are Gwen's avocation as well as an integral part of her vocation. In addition, she enjoys quilting, gardening, and spending time with family, especially her grown children and delightful grandchildren. Given the opportunity, she would love to live near mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

Sara Bartlett

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Study of the United States Institutes for Student Leaders is sponsored by the Branch for the Study of the United States, Office of Academic Exchange Programs, within the State Department. Participants in Study of the U.S. Institutes are among the approximately 30,000 individuals who participate in exchanges managed by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) each year. Other ECA exchange programs include the Fulbright Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program. Through a range of academic and professional exchanges, the Bureau seeks to increase mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.

U.S. Department of State D.E.B.