The University of Kansas has been educating U.S. Foreign Area Officers for more than 50 years. The interdisciplinary MA program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at KU is one of the longest established in the nation, having trained over 150 Foreign Area Officers since 1968. Providing courses in over 40 foreign languages, KU offers one-year (12-month) MA programs for well-prepared FAOs in the Americas, South Asia, Europe, Eurasia, China, North Africa, Middle East, North Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. There are only 20 universities nationwide that have, or are developing, 12-month regionally-oriented MA programs. Of the 20 universities, only two have more than one regional focus – the University of Kansas will have eight.
Foreign Area Officers. Joint FAO Course, Phase I. Language Training. In-Region Training (IRT) Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS) Intermediate Level Education (ILE) Sustainment. Curriculum focused on key FAO missions in the Army and JIIM. Between 26 and 63 weeks. Pending results of foreign area staff non-commissioned officer beta test, a similar opportunity for retroactive designation will be open to qualified enlisted personnel. The FAO Program Office is responsible for planning and executing the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course (JFAOC), Phase I, which provides all U.S. Department of Defense Foreign Area Officers with a one-week orientation of the FAO career field. 823X Foreign Area SNCO Program. Foreign Area Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (FAS) provide language skills, regional expertise and cultural capabilities (LREC) to MAGTF commanders throughout the phases of military operations and across the range of military operations to achieve U.S. Government objectives. FAS's will apply LREC to the Marine. Programs carried out in assisted nations under joint U. Civilian and military auspices. Military advisor assignments are of special interest to the Foreign Area Officer Program (FAOP) because of the overlap between such assign- ments and MAAG duty positions which.
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KU’s commitment to international area studies is evident in the support it provides for an Office of International Programs governed by an Associate Vice Provost; four US Department of Education-funded Title VI National Resource Centers (NRC); five Title VI Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) programs, which annually award undergraduate and graduate FLAS fellowships in 28 languages; and six modern language departments. The NRC/FLAS programs comprise the University’s International Area Studies Centers, which include:
- Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS)
- Center for Global and International Studies (CGIS)
- Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES)
- Center of Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS)
- Kansas African Studies Center (KASC)
KU’s language departments collaborate with its area studies centers to offer 40 languages, the most of any institution between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The language departments include:
- Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
- Department of French and Italian
- Department of Spanish and Portuguese
- Department of Germanic Languages and Literature
- Department of African and African American Studies
Additional languages are housed in CGIS and CLACS. The Centers work synergistically and collaborate with KU language departments and other partners to advance the University’s international mission as articulated by KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little: “In the twenty-first century, a great university must be global in its outlook and aspirations. At the University of Kansas, our research and teaching focus on understanding an interconnected world where crises and capital flow as easily across borders as ideas and issues. Providing students with the cultural, analytical, and linguistic skills necessary to navigate a global world is central to KU's mission.”
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For more information about KU’s FAO programs, contact:
Download Joint Foreign Area Officer Program Application
Mike Denning
FAO coordinator
gmjdenning@ku.edu
Download Joint Foreign Area Officer Program Forms
NDU Foreign Student Sponsors Needed: The International Student Management Office of the National Defense University, located on historic Fort McNair, is looking for potential volunteers amongst the DC community to participate in the NDU Community Sponsorship Program. Annually, over 100 Senior Officers from over 50 different countries attend the National Defense University to obtain their Master's Degree from the National War College, the Eisenhower School, and the Center for International Security Affairs. Throughout the academic year, International Fellows will learn about American government institutional, political processes and economic systems. They will also learn about American society and culture, our neighborhoods and families via the International Fellows' Community Sponsorship Program. Officers attending NDU will arrive on 1 July.
For over 30 years the Sponsorship Program has been helping foreign military officers adjust to and enjoy their time in the United States. Being a sponsor is not designed to be an interruption of but rather an integration into your normal schedule; you are not expected to set up special functions for your international guest but rather include to officer in those things that you and your family do ordinarily. Being a sponsor is not a monetary commitment, you are not providing the officer with financial support or housing, but instead provide cultural support and friendship. Sponsors are also invited to certain events hosted at NDU throughout the year.
Those who decide to participate in the Sponsorship Program play an invaluable role for the International Fellows, sharing first hand their knowledge of American culture-and in return- making new friends and learning new things about the world we live in. This is truly a special opportunity to participate in a vital American foreign policy initiative.
If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, please feel free to contact Laura Garvie at laura.m.garvie.civ@ndu.edu or 202-685-0594. For more insight into the role of a sponsor please check out the program's website at https://ismo.ndu.edu/Incoming-Students/ISMO-Courses-Programs/Sponsor-Program
Download Joint Foreign Area Officer Program Requirements