Are you interested in immersing yourself in a foreign culture or society? Would you like to pursue an independent, two-year reporting project overseas? If so, an Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA) fellowship may be the opportunity you’re looking for. 

Founded in 1925, ICWA advances American understanding of international cultures and affairs by sending outstanding young professionals abroad on two-year independent writing fellowships to study countries, regions, and globally important issues. The institute provides fellows with full financial support during their fellowships. ICWA alumni have become some of this country’s leading journalists, scholars, diplomats, activists, and businesspeople.  

I first learned about ICWA on Instagram in 2019 and submitted my letter of interest in 2020. My two-year fellowship exploring the culture and geopolitics of Greece’s border regions (2021-2023) was a life-changing experience, one that enabled me to build off the previous five years of working in Greece, traveling throughout the country, and studying the language. The fellowship gave me the opportunity to dive deeper into Greek history and culture than ever before, to live in remote villages and islands, and to travel to neighboring countries. I formed deep bonds with the regions and people I studied, and the 24 monthly dispatches I wrote as a fellow are still read and shared by journalists and researchers.  

Could you be one of ICWA’s next fellows? The institute plans to appoint three fellows this year for the 2026-2028 fellowship cycle, open to any topic and region. Letters of interest are due by June 15, 2025.

Preparing to Apply 

Before you start drafting, spend time reviewing ICWA’s About section, the eligibility requirements, and the current and recent fellows to learn what kinds of projects the institute has supported in the past. ICWA is one of the rare organizations that offers its researchers two years of full financial support in the field. Compared to other fellowships, it also has relatively few eligibility requirements. Candidates must be under 36 years of age by the June 15 due date for the letter of interest. The fellowship is open to non-U.S. citizens, but candidates must show “strong and credible” ties to U.S. society. 

Fellows submit monthly dispatches about their research, travel, and life while in the field. Finally, given the depth and frequency of institute dispatches (usually journalistic narrative or feature writing), candidates must have excellent written and spoken English-language skills. They must also have the necessary foreign language skills to carry out their proposed projects in the country or countries they propose. The fellowship is particularly suited for candidates who have completed or are in the process of completing graduate studies.

Choosing a Country, Region, or Issue

Selecting a country and topic of study is probably the most important decision you’ll make regarding your fellowship, because it will define your experience, affecting all subsequent plans and decisions.

Why do you want to study in this country or region? In your letter of interest, you should have a clear rationale that connects your research interests and experience to the country or countries you propose as your base. Keep in mind that fellowships are not aimed at covering news events, and the institute will not send fellows to war zones or places where “intense security concerns prevent them from interacting with the local population.” 

Some of the most rewarding ICWA fellowships take advantage of the two-year time horizon to develop intimate relationships with locals, allowing fellows a depth of understanding normally unavailable to journalists writing on deadline. For example, Matthew Chitwood (2017-2019), spent two years living in a rural village in southwestern China. He became a part of village life, renovated a house in the village, and used his base to report on how Chinese infrastructure development was transforming the land and its people.

There are many ways to structure an ICWA fellowship. You can live in one city or one village for the entire two years, as Matthew did. I chose to split my fellowship into thirds, spending roughly eight months in three different regions along Greece’s borders. This was perfect for me, because I was already well versed in traveling around the country. ICWA allowed me to immerse myself in places where it would be difficult to find work, and where I could track trends such as migration and security across culturally different border regions.  

If you’re interested in studying a particular issue, such as healthcare or LGBTQAI+ rights, you might want to propose a region or multiple countries as your base. Rowland Robinson, the current Andrew Weil Global Health Care Fellow, is researching integrative approaches to problematic substance use in the Netherlands, Portugal, and Brazil. Edric Huang, the David Mixner LGBTQ+ Fellow, is based in Taiwan but also travels to report on queer rights in Singapore and other southeast Asian countries. 

So few fellows are appointed each year that it’s important to know where current and recent fellows have been stationed, because the institute prefers not to post new fellows in locations where other fellows have recently worked. You can search ICWA’s alumni archive by location to find out how many fellows have researched in your proposed country and when the last fellow was there. Countries such as China, Russia, India, and Turkey often host fellows more frequently, but it’s generally safe to allow about a decade to pass before proposing a country where a fellow has recently studied. 

It’s also important to take the culture of your proposed country into consideration. In Greece, for example, locals were very open and willing to share their opinions, experience, and expertise, especially when speaking in Greek. On the other hand, other cultures are generally more closed to foreigners, and this could make it more difficult to adjust socially or even find sources willing to speak with you for your dispatches. 

Could you see yourself living in this country for two years straight, without returning to the United States? Because the goal of the fellowship is complete immersion, fellows are not permitted to return to the United States at any point during their two-year fellowship, except in extreme circumstances. While you will maintain contact with the institute via email and video chat, you will usually not be in the same country as other current fellows, and you are expected to design and pursue fieldwork on your own. Therefore, it’s important that you feel comfortable living and working independently. The fellowship does provide some support for dependents.

Finally, in addition to its open call, ICWA is interested in candidates who want to conduct research in Japan and South Africa during this application cycle. Candidates should have a compelling reason and background to support research in these countries. 

Writing Your Letter of Interest

According to the ICWA’s How to Apply tab, your letter of interest should state “what you would do if you had a two-year, self-designed fellowship overseas and why you’re the right person to carry it out.” In addition, your letter needs to demonstrate your promise, curiosity, enthusiasm, and maturity. There is no fixed length for the letter of interest, just as much space as it takes you to adequately respond to this prompt. My own letter of interest was three single-spaced pages in the form of a letter addressed to “The Selection Committee.” I’ve read other successful letters of approximately the same length. 

Let’s break that down by paragraph:

• An introductory paragraph that grabs the reader’s attention with sensory, place-based details and that addresses the heart of the country and issue you’d like to study. I opened my letter with a conversation I had with an islander on Greece’s border with Turkey, a perspective on the bilateral relationship more nuanced than those I’d heard in Athens. 
• A paragraph introducing myself, indicating my age, and discussing my connection to Greece
• A paragraph about the current state of Greece and what drew me to its border zones
• Three paragraphs about professional and educational experiences in Greece that prepared me to pursue research as an ICWA fellow
• A paragraph introducing my ICWA research project and why I’d be the right candidate to carry it out
• Three paragraphs outlining each of my proposed bases on Greece’s borders: why I had chosen those specific places and topics I wanted to write about in each place
• A paragraph about the larger implications of my research for regional and European affairs and for the U.S.-Greece relationship
• A paragraph about how my fellowship would add to ICWA’s coverage of the Eastern Mediterranean, engaging with the last fellow to report on the country
• A paragraph about what interested me about the ICWA fellowship and former fellows
• A closing paragraph that linked back to my introduction, returning to the conversation with my local guide

Keep in mind that although extensive professional experience in a proposed issue or country is not always necessary, candidates should demonstrate in the letter how they are prepared to carry out their overseas research from day one. Because I was already living in Greece at the time I applied, I already had the necessary Greek language skills and was able to visit my three proposed bases in preparation for writing my letter of interest. As a result, I had a sense of the important issues affecting each place and a list of contacts I could reach out to when I arrived.

View your letter of interest as the first sample of your writing that the institute will read. Revise and proofread it carefully.  

Fill out the application form here, and upload your letter of interest and resume or CV as a single PDF document. 

What’s Next

Once you’ve submitted your letter of interest, take a moment to congratulate yourself! This is the first step in a rigorous, multistage application process. The candidates with the strongest letters of interest will be invited to submit a full application by August 15, 2025. 

The full application consists of an updated CV or resume, three writing samples, a draft monthly budget, and two essays: a fellowship rationale and a personal/professional autobiography. The two essays can reuse material from your original letter of interest. Subsequent steps include interviews with ICWA’s staff and trustees.

If you have the time and resources, consider summer travel to your proposed country. You might also wish to reach out to current fellows for more information about their experiences applying to or on fellowship. 

ICWA’s two-year writing fellowship is an incredible opportunity, one that requires creativity, resourcefulness, and self-discipline. Keep in mind that the more work you put into your application, the better prepared you’ll be to start if you’re selected!

Steven Tagle has 20 years of experience teaching and mentoring students with expertise in crafting standout personal statements and statements of purpose. Steven is eager to share his expertise to help applicants achieve their dream acceptances. Want Steven to help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch.

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• Showcasing Leadership in Admissions, a free guide
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