Got the message below in email today from the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa, where I've previously enjoyed some fun MOOC courses, including a great one about writing poetry. But they obviously do a lot of good work beyond that, and so this is just very sad to see. But we should not avert our eyes to the specific effects of the ongoing savaging of the US government and its effects not only on domestic education but international relations. No good can come of this.
«Dear Friends,
We write today with a difficult update. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the International Writing Program (IWP) learned that its grants with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, were being terminated. This notification explained that the IWP’s awards “no longer effectuate agency priorities,” nor align “with agency priorities and national interest.” The immediate result was the cancellation of Between the Lines (the IWP’s summer youth program), and the dissolution of Lines and Spaces Exchanges, Distance Learning courses, and Emerging Voices programs. The overall Fall Residency cohort will be reduced by around half due to the loss of federally funded participants; the IWP’s other long-time funding partners, including a combination of donors, grants, foreign ministries of culture, and NGOs, will continue to support writers.»
For fuller information:
https://iwp.uiowa.edu/announcement-iwp
I
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