InterAmerican Workshop Inc. IAW

The InterAmerican Workshop Inc. (IAW) was incorporated in 1973 to develop and implement cultural programs, seminars, workshops and training programs and to facilitate, administer and coordinate international and/or intercultural programs and exchanges.

• IAW evolved from a series of initiatives conducted by the organizers in the 1960’s including:
• Design and implementation of student exchanges for both pre-university and university age students with a focus on international studies and people-to-people interaction.
• Design and implementation of adult and professional cross-cultural exchanges based on shared interests for groups such as the Friends of the Smithsonian (Museum) and National Woman’s Press Club.
• Cross-cultural resource implementation such as collaboration with the Mexican Olympic Committee to recruit and screen homestays. Ultimately, over 10,000 visitors from 23 countries lived in Mexican homes during the 1968 Games, giving both visitors and their hosts valuable one-on-one cross cultural experiences and contributing to the success of the many world culture events which paralleled the sporting competitions.
• Academic resource development including implementation of an evaluation system for language and culture courses for foreigners offered by Mexican academic institutions. Results of this project were distributed by the Consejo Nacional de Turismo in North America and Europe - and contributed to a significant increase in the number of foreigners going to Mexico to study the language and culture and live with host Mexican families.

From the early 1970’s through the mid 1990’s, the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. continued to research and develop intercultural programs and to assist foreign centers with curriculum development. As information was gathered on international education opportunities, a number of things became apparent. First, that high quality foreign language and culture immersion centers were looking to recruit students from around the world. Second, that there was increasing interest and need for language and culture programs. Third, that a storage and retrieval system for international education information was necessary.

To effectively deal with these issues, the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. collaborated with other organizations. In 1968, the National Registration Center for Study Abroad (NRCSA) began registering students to attend a select number of pre-evaluated schools offering cultural immersion programs. In 1988, Worldwide Classroom (WWC) began providing the public with detailed listings of educational opportunities around the world. In 1995, both organizations offered their services on the Internet. In 1999, Adventures Abroad was created. It became an open forum for interested individuals and program providers to share information.

The first three decades in the history of the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. demonstrate the importance of collaborative efforts in finding solutions in the intercultural arena.

Here are a few of the activities that IAW Inc has designed, created, and carried out since 1973:

Pre-University Initiatives:

Curriculum and program development:
Curriculum and study materials developed by the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. were recommended by the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction as a bona fide part of the regular school curriculum. The Embassy of the United States in Mexico recognized the programs and commended the IAW for the preparation, field methodology, program implementation, and course content.

Design and Start-up of study programs and centers in foreign countries:
Thousands of high school students and teachers from over 100 schools in 15 states participated in the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. Student Exchange Programs through 1984 - and elements of the IAW model continue to be available to K-12 students and teachers through Interact.

Surveys on cross-cultural issues:
Pre and post-travel questionnaires help assess the concerns, needs and success of cross-cultural experiences. Student evaluations allow program leaders and instructors to continually modify and improve all aspects of the intercultural exchange. As IAW surveys student needs, suggestions are made to foreign study centers as to how to best address those needs.

University & Professional Initiatives:

Methodology developed by the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. to review foreign language & cultural immersion programs has been used to evaluate thousands of institutions in 45 countries. Schools selected based on the IAW system have hosted tens of thousands of foreign students with positive results - including students from 450 US universities, teachers from over 150 school districts and staff from 500 corporations, government agencies, medical facilities, non-profits, and NGO’s. The National Registration Center for Study Abroad (NRCSA) continues to use this model to successfully evaluate academic and cross-cultural programs around the world.

Outreach Initiatives:

To participate in multicultural programs, people must be able to find programs which best meet their needs. To address this need, the InterAmerican Workshop Inc. created a directory of institutions around the world which welcome people from different countries. That directory was added to the internet in 1995. The web based directory is used by over 2 million people from 120 countries annually and contains contact information for about 15,000 institutions in 90 countries.

The directory is maintained by Worldwide Classroom at http://www.worldwide.edu

Program Design & Development Initiatives:

Planning, Safety & Security Initiatives:

Thoughtful planning for an intercultural program enhances the overall experience for everyone involved. Examples of pre-departure planning documents prepared by IAW can be found below: