The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) is pleased to host a Study of the U.S. Institute for Secondary Educators on behalf of the U.S. State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. This intensive six-week Institute, “The American Dream: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy of a Cultural Heritage,” provides 30 secondary educators from around the globe with an interdisciplinary examination of what many call America’s most “enduring myth” – the American Dream.

Structured around four sub-themes, the Institute offers informed lectures, pedagogy workshops, panels and discussions with educators, government officials, and community residents, local site visits, and sustained engagement with the host community. Study tours to Boston, Chicago and San Francisco connect to program themes of a culturally and geographically diverse America. A Curriculum Project provides participants with the resources to create their own curriculum scaffold for a course on American Studies. Additionally, the Institute provides a follow-on online course for Institute alumni to assist them as they develop lessons, units, and courses on American Studies for their students.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a world leader in research, teaching and public engagement. President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act 150 years ago, establishing Illinois as one of the nation’s original public land-grant universities. Today Illinois continues to lead the nation and the world as one of the top ranked public institutions of higher education with a commitment to public service that extends far beyond national borders. Illinois is consistently ranked one of the top 20 research institutes in the nation in number of international students on campus, hosting over 8000 in 2011.