One of the most common characteristics of any alumni network is the immediate connection one feels toward other alumni based on shared experiences, personal and educational backgrounds, career goals, etc. Such networks, once established, become natural resources for networking, socializing with like-minded people, and professional development, especially for newer alumni. However, for more established alumni who are farther along in their careers, proactive outreach to newer alumni can actually be quite fulfilling and beneficial as well.

In addition to the intangible benefit helping guide, advise, and mentor young professionals aspiring to positions in similar fields, newer alumni in a network can also be a great source of new employee leads, or perhaps even new recruits themselves. Regardless of the benefits, a growing and vibrant alumni network requires proactive outreach in both directions – from older alumni to newer alumni and vice versa. And it requires an openness to connect with other alumni when they take the initiative to reach out.

In this vein, I have been taking some time on several of my frequent work trips overseas to try to find and reach out to Boren scholars and fellows who are currently studying abroad on their funded programs. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting these bright new Borens, and I very much appreciate their fresh perspective on countries that I have been living and working in at various points for nearly a decade.

If you’re a working professional member of the Boren Forum and you have some time on your next work trip overseas to visit and network with a few current scholars and fellows, try reaching out to the Boren Forum or to the National Security Education Program (NSEP) or Institute of International Education (IIE) offices to find out if you can get in touch with some folks in the countries you’ll be traveling to or working in.

– Alexander Nicholson, President, The Boren Forum 2012

Photo: Alex and Boren alumni in Amman, Jordan.

The theme of this year’s event was “Intelligence and Policy: Two Paths in One Direction.”  The event began with a panel of experts whose career paths span intelligence, policy, and beyond — (below, from left) Dale Garvin of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ramona Harper of the U.S. Department of State, Jeff Hayes of the National Security Council, Joyce Connery of the National Security Council, and Todd Chappell of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The panelists spoke about the intersection of policy and intelligence in the U.S. federal government and their career trajectories.  They emphasized the importance of making the most of every job opportunity, as well as how to leverage specific skills, such as language abilities.  The topic was an important one for Boren fellows and scholars with cultural and language expertise now seeking careers in the federal government.

After the panel, attendees had a chance to chat with recruiters and representatives from a dozen different federal agencies.

Many thanks to all the panelists, agency representatives, recruiters, volunteers, and attendees who helped make this annual event a big success!

Photo Credit: Dan Pan

Now there’s another reason to enjoy learning another language — it may actually make you smarter. A recent story in the New York Times Opinion Pages highlighted findings by different researchers that suggest being bilingual can improve cognitive skills not related to language. Knowing a second language may even shield individuals from Alzheimer’s disease in old age.

The collective evidence from a number of such studies suggests that the bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind — like remembering a sequence of directions while driving.

Why does the tussle between two simultaneously active language systems improve these aspects of cognition? Until recently, researchers thought the bilingual advantage stemmed primarily from an ability for inhibition that was honed by the exercise of suppressing one language system: this suppression, it was thought, would help train the bilingual mind to ignore distractions in other contexts. But that explanation increasingly appears to be inadequate, since studies have shown that bilinguals perform better than monolinguals even at tasks that do not require inhibition, like threading a line through an ascending series of numbers scattered randomly on a page.

The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment. “Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often — you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language,” says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain. “It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving.”…

According to the story, the bilingual experience affects the brain from infancy to old age and there is reason to believe these findings apply even to individuals who learn a language later in life.

The Boren Forum held its annual Open House on February 8 at the Goethe Institute in Washington, DC.

After introducing the 2012 Board of Directors, President Alex Nicholson presented the Spirit of Service Award to Congressman Dan Boren for his commitment to public service.  Congressman Boren has represented Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional district since 2005 and is a strong supporter of the National Security Education Program (NSEP), especially when he served on the House Select Committee on Intelligence which has Congressional oversight of the U.S. intelligence community.

Congressman Boren’s father, David L. Boren, was the principal author of the legislation that created NSEP and the scholarships and fellowships that bear his name.  Congressman Boren spoke about his father and how his family instilled in him a dedication to public service.

AMS is a non-partisan, non-profit, members-based organization that serves as a broad forum for the growing numbers of Americans who have studied, researched, and lived in Greater China since the early 1980s, all of whom have Mandarin language capabilities. The Society aims to facilitate communication, intellectual synergies, cultural and educational exchanges, and other productive collaboration among Americans and Chinese in an effort to support the development of future stewards of U.S.-China relations.

You can become a member by clicking on the sign up link on the AMS website.  Members have access to invitations to lectures and events in Chinese; weekly readings, videos, and news updates in Chinese and English; analysis of current China issues, policy updates, and discussion forums; Chinese language learning programs, resources, and tools; and networking opportunities and a jobs board.

**Members must be American citizens or permanent residents who have formally studied Chinese for at least one semester (or summer) and lived in Greater China during or after such studies.  Native speakers of Chinese are welcome to join as long as they are American citizens (or permanent residents) and continue to be engaged in issues relating to Greater China in a professional or personal capacity.**

(Hat tip to NSEP for highlighting this opportunity.)

“We are pleased to inform you that the U.S. Department of State’s 2011 Diplomacy Fellows Program will open on Wednesday, August 10. The online application link will be available on August 10 when the vacancy announcement is posted. The deadline to submit completed applications is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on September 26, 2011. Any applications received after that date will be disqualified.

Visit the Diplomacy Fellows Page (http://careers.state.gov/dfp) for more information, eligibility, and to subscribe to receive email updates. Please note that the Diplomacy Fellows Program is open only to those who have participated in one of the approved programs listed on the site.”