The Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA) is an operating foundation established in 1925 by US industrial heir and magnate Charles Richard Crane to advance American understanding of international cultures and affairs by sending young professionals abroad to study countries, regions and globally important issues. Institute alumni include leading journalists, scholars, diplomats, activists and businesspeople.
ICWA says it selects its fellows from a diverse group of young professionals for two years of cultural immersion in locations around the globe. Fellows explore their topics through self-designed and fully funded programs of study, thought and writing. They record their research and analysis in monthly dispatches.
While in the field, fellows receive support and mentoring from ICWA staff, former fellows and ICWA members with expertise in fellowship areas.
Former fellows credit the intensive immersion experience of an ICWA fellowship, free from deadlines and career pressures, with enabling them to cultivate their talent and engage with their subject in ways that have a profound impact.
The Institute of Current World Affairs is recognized as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
History
The Institute of Current World Affairs supports fellowships for promising young people to gain in-depth understanding of global affairs from a local perspective. ICWA says it chooses candidates with the potential to make substantial contributions to public life in the United States.
The institute, which pays living expenses for fellows and their families, has sent more than 170 people abroad through its fellowship program.
In addition to publishing fellows' dispatches on its website, ICWA also offers analysis and commentary on global news and other developments.[1]
It also produces two podcasts: The Cable, which addresses threats to democracy in Europe and the transatlantic relationship,[2] and From the Field, which takes listeners around the world with ICWA fellows studying cultures and societies in depth.[3] In October 2020, ICWA launched a partnership with U.S. online magazine Slate to offer select fellow dispatches for publication.[4]
Alumni
The Institute of Current World Affairs has supported individuals who go on to notable careers that leverage the expertise learned during the fellowship, especially in the fields of journalism, academia and public service.
The work of the Institute's fellows has appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. Fellows have published dozens of books and appeared across media outlets as country experts.
The fellowships are credited with launching the careers of notable writers, leaders and foreign policy experts, including:
Julie Barlow, Canadian journalist, author, and conference speaker
David Binder, British-born American journalist, author, and lecturer
Cheng Li (China, 1993–1995), author, Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform, director, John L. Thornton China Center, and senior fellow at Brookings Institution[7]
Ann Mische, sociologist and associate professor of sociology at University of Notre Dame and professor of peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
Nicolas Schmidle, writer, The New Yorker and fellow in Pakistan who wrote a January 2008 article for The New York Times Magazine, "Next Gen Taliban"[9] He was deported by Pakistan's government the day after the article appeared.[10]
Jeffrey Steingarten, food critic at Vogue, National Magazine Award and James Beard award winner, author, The Man Who Ate Everything and It Must've Been Something I Ate, which was named food book of the year by the British Guild of Food Writers and awarded the 1998 Julia Child Book Award for literary food writing.
Susan Sterner, Brazil, (1998–2000), documented First Lady Laura Bush as a White House photographer[11]
