Deadline: March 15, 2026
American Councils is pleased to offer a truly ground-breaking overseas program that combines social entrepreneurship with Central Asian studies beginning fall semester 2026. Open to students of all academic interests and backgrounds, the program is hosted by the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek.
Social Entrepreneurship: Community and Innovation in Central Asia places U.S. students in teams of Central Asian peers to conduct research on local community needs and develop products or services to address those needs. Students will create actual prototypes of the products they conceive in the AUCA Maker Space, an open-access workshop equipped with 3d-printers and other high-tech equipment. At the semester’s end, student teams will pitch their new products to a small group of investors and community leaders. These activities will be conducted as an integral part of semester coursework in Design Thinking and Principles of Social Entrepreneurship, taught by AUCA faculty.
Students will also complete a four-credit semester course, Central Asian Society, designed to provide a greater understanding of contemporary life in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Designed to provide a broad but substantive introduction to the region, the course will include travel Almaty, Kazakhstan as well as weekly activities and outings.
All courses will be taught in English. Students will receive a total of 16 semester credits from Bryn Mawr College for the full semester program. While students have the option of studying Russian or Kyrgyz in addition to the regular course offerings, language study is not required.
Program participants will live with local host families who will provide private, furnished bedrooms and two meals a day. A full time American Councils resident director will provide ongoing support to students, including 24-hour emergency aid, throughout the semester. Students will also be matched with AUCA peers who will help them adapt to daily life on and off campus.
The program is uniquely designed to help U.S. participants engage with their host communities and Central Asian peers through collaborative research and shared service. It also offers students hands-on, professional experience in precisely those areas most in demand by today’s employers, including problem-solving, leadership, communication, teamwork, and adaptability.
At a time when U.S. students face growing financial challenges to study abroad, American Council has launched several critical initiatives to increase scholarship support for our students. These efforts include a new President’s Scholarship for Travel, which provides roundtrip airfare from participants’ home cities to their overseas sites, and increased funding for our Opportunity Scholarship and the Dan E. Davidson Fellowship.
We hope that you will encourage students to consider this innovative and exciting new program. More information can be found at our website
https://www.studyabroad.americancouncils.org/socialentrepreneurship
Or by contacting American Councils directly at outbound@americancounicls.org