Unique Initiative Between The U.S. Department Of State and Miami University’s Farmer School of Business Fights A Different Battle In Afghanistan

OXFORD, OH –September 30, 2011—To help address the social and economic issues that are at the foundation of Afghanistan’s instability, the U.S. Department of State has partnered with the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business to conduct a unique social entrepreneurship seminar for 70 Fulbright students from Afghanistan who are currently studying in the United States.

The intensive five-day social entrepreneurship program, which will be held on Miami University’s campus in Oxford, Ohio, from September 28 – October 2, will focus on providing Fulbright students with a deep understanding of social entrepreneurship, and specifically demonstrate how social entrepreneurial solutions can help rebuild Afghanistan and advance sustainable social change.

Participants will learn both theoretical and practical knowledge related to the conceptualization, development and implementation of social entrepreneurship initiatives in developing nations through a series of workshops and interactions with social entrepreneurship faculty and practitioners. Students will also be involved in site visits to learn how social entrepreneurship has impacted the United States, cultural activities, home stays with local families, and ongoing interactions with Miami University students and each other.

“The number one goal of the seminar is to equip these very bright students, who are the future of Afghanistan, with real tools that will allow them to overcome the challenges they face when introducing and implementing social entrepreneurship initiatives in their home country,” commented Brett Smith, Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business. “By helping them better understand how they can apply entrepreneurship skills to their various disciplines of study, we’re giving these students practical knowledge to build businesses and create jobs, while also addressing the country’s persistent social problems when they return to Afghanistan, which they’re required to do for two years.”

Smith noted that the culmination of the seminar will be case study projects, conducted in small groups, that will require students to build on their academic and professional expertise to develop an innovative project, product or service to solve challenging social problems in Afghanistan. The case study projects will focus on developing entrepreneurial enterprises in key priority areas for Afghanistan, including education, engineering/infrastructure, international relations, public administration, and public health.

“The Social Entrepreneurship Seminar for Afghan Fulbright Students is helping to increase mutual understanding between the people of our two countries, while contributing to the rebuilding of Afghanistan,” said Marianne Craven, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. “We are especially pleased to partner with the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business for this year’s seminar.”

About the Center for Social Entrepreneurship
The Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business creates hands-on, experiential learning at the undergraduate level and strives to give students the tools they need to leave their mark on the world.

The Center defines social entrepreneurship as "innovative solutions to persistent social problems (hunger, poverty, education) that create social value through sustainable, systemic change.” Since its founding in 2006, the Center has received global recognition for its work including being: a two-time winner of the Ashoka U Innovation Awards selected to present at the Nelson Mandela Foundation conference in South Africa, and recognized by a variety of major media including BusinessWeek, the Financial Times, Forbes, and TIME magazine.

An example of one of the Center’s innovations is Edun Live on Campus, a wholly student-run initiative launched at Miami University in 2007 in partnership with Bono’s apparel company that has been scaled to more than a dozen other colleges and universities nationwide.

About the Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program and is supported by the people of the United States and partner countries around the world. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 310,000 participants from over 155 countries with the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. The Social Entrepreneurship Seminar for Afghan students is one of a variety of Fulbright enrichment activities hosted across the United States by ECA each year. Fulbright enrichment activities focus on key policy areas, including energy and food security, democracy and human rights, public health, social entrepreneurship, and women’s issues.

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This release was published on openPR.