Visakhapatnam: A corner to build global communities

Visakhapatnam: US Consul General in Hyderabad Joel Reifman said the American Corner provides a global platform to the students by bringing experts and resource persons together to cover various topics such as economics, literature, management, business, American studies, environment, etc., for free of cost and help build global communities.

Speaking at the launch of the corner in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, he said the city of Vizag was poised to grow. "As both the governments (US and AP) are working to create a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific Region, Visakhapatnam will play a pivotal role towards this endeavour," he added.

The American Corner, launched virtually by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, is a partnership between US Consulate General, Hyderabad and the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

With programmes focussing on major areas such English language learning and programming, US education advising Telugu people to study in the US universities, fostering relationships and bringing experts from the American corners to help students choose the right universities for higher studies, connecting alumni who participated in the US government-sponsored exchange programmes, the American Corner aims to bring in a host of channels to the students as well as professors.

Elaborating further, US Consulate General-Hyderabad public affairs officer David Moyer said there will be English language training for the professors at the corner, especially for those teaching engineering students and help the students prepare to take the English language assessment tests with ease. "Workshops will be held for the researchers working in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) field and to gain skills to draft proposals so as to tap into the US government funding and other sources of funds to pursue advanced research," David Moyer said. Andhra University vice-chancellor P V G D Prasad Reddy informed that about 100 workshops are scheduled in the coming months, covering 15,000 to 20,000 participants. "Apart from the local-level coordinator who will be made available at the American Corner, the resource persons from America will help upskill the students," he stated.

USAID Mission director Veena Reddy, district collector A Mallikarjuna, among others spoke.