We welcome your interest in applying for the Asia Leadership Fellow program 2013.
Please note that the application deadline is Friday, December 21, 2012.
Before you fill out the Application Form, please make sure that you read the entire packet and that you meet all the terms of eligibility.
Inquiries should be made to, and the application documents should be sent to, the ALFP Secretariat.
The ALFP Secretariat
c/o Program Department
International House of Japan
5-11-16, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-3470-3211 / Fax: +81-3-3470-3170
e-mail: alfp_appli_2013#i-house.or.jp (please replace # with @)
What is ALFP?
In 1996, the International House of Japan and the Japan Foundation jointly launched the Asia Leadership Fellow Program (ALFP). The ALFP seeks to create a close, personal and professional network of public intellectuals in Asia, deeply rooted in and committed to civil society beyond their own cultural, disciplinary and geopolitical backgrounds.
During the two-month program in Japan, the Fellows from diverse backgrounds reside in the center of Tokyo and actively engage in group discussions and dialogue with counterparts in Japan from different fields and sectors.
Since the initiation of the program, over 90 Fellows from 16 Asian countries from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds have participated to date.
The ALFP believes that the fellows’ critical voices against the status quo and proposals for alternative solutions will lead to developing new norms and value-orientations for the future of the region.
Why ALFP?
More than 60 percent of the world’s population lives in the region called Asia, where different social institutions, economic systems, cultures, religions and ethnicities co-exist. This rich diversity includes a wide variety of problems. There is violence against human life and dignity in the form of socio-economic disparity, environmental deterioration, and racial, religious and cultural conflicts.
While globalization, along with social media, apparently offers the potential for broader unity across borders, there are also many stereotypes about and within Asia that often result in mistrust, intolerance, ignorance and indifference. States and markets alone are not capable of coping with the region’s challenges.
The challenges are many but should be and can be articulated, understood and addressed from the perspective of civil society. Indeed, the ALFP believes that the key to breakthrough lies in the solidarity of concerned people who recognize and respect each other’s cultural backgrounds and value systems while playing a leading role in initiating effective action. It is imperative to enhance intellectual dialogue and exchange among public intellectuals who share the same concerns about the future of the globe, and feel the need to build an equitable civil society in the region while reaching out to other parts of the world.
New arenas exist for Asian public intellectuals to collaborate on and address long-standing and emerging concerns in the region from a holistic standpoint. The ALFP seeks to be a catalytic forum for public intellectuals, and to extend its reach to the larger public sphere through old and new media.
The ALFP believes that the fellows’ critical voices against the status quo and proposals for alternative solutions will lead to developing new norms and value-orientations for the future of the region and beyond.
Who Is Eligible for ALFP?
- ・The ALFP is open to citizens of Northeast-, Southeast- and South-Asian countries, aged 35 to 59, inclusive.
- ・Applicants must have a good command of English to engage in deep and substantial discussion.
- ・Applicants need to have a solid background in their own professions and have access to a wide audience in their country or region through publications, teaching, media, performance, etc. to disseminate their thoughts and findings.
There is no prescribed set of professions for an ALFP fellow; the professions of past fellows include, but are not limited to, academia, journalism, business, national and local politics, education, administration, the arts, publications, and NGO and non-profit activities.
General Theme for 2013
The Future of Asia, the World and Humanity after Development and Growth
Program Period
September 9 to November 8, 2013
(Individual activity period from October 26 to November 8 is optional.)
Number of Fellows
Maximum of seven fellows selected from Northeast-, Southeast- and South-Asian countries
Selection Policy
ALFP seeks public intellectuals who are deeply rooted in and committed to civil society beyond their own cultural, disciplinary and geopolitical backgrounds. More particularly, we are looking for those individuals who…
- ・Have demonstrated a certain degree of achievement in their profession and have demonstrated outstanding leadership ability.
- ・Are willing to go beyond their discipline or field of specialty and to engage in constructive discussions with other fellows who have diverse specialties and cultural backgrounds.
- ・Are able to think tolerantly and alternatively about different ways of thinking and cultural values, and are willing to develop new social norms and value-orientations in order to build an equitable civil society in the region.
- ・Having concrete means of dissemination/communication to bring about social and/or intellectual impact in one’s community/country/region/world, in order to solve the problems facing global society today, from the broader perspective for the common public good and humanitarian causes.
- ・Having a good command of English that will enable one to communicate and engage in deep/substantial discussions in English
ALFP is not intended for:
・Leadership Development” training for students and young professionals
・Japanese Studies
・Supporting individual research projects of any kind
Fellowship Terms and Conditions
The program will provide each fellow with the following:
1. Round-trip airfare between Tokyo and the city where the fellow is based
2. A daily allowance (to cover accommodations, meals and other incidentals)
3. Medical insurance during the Fellowship in Japan
4. Other costs related to group activities set by the Program
Fellows must participate in all the program’s activities and make necessary preparations and later dissemination efforts as set by the program.
Fellows are required to spend the entire fellowship period at the International House of Japan in Tokyo except for the two-week individual activities period. Families cannot be accommodated for the duration of the fellowship.
Fellows are required to submit a final report, reflecting their fellowship experience, for publication in the Program Report.
NOTE: Although some activities are pre-set for fellows, the program is still flexible, leaving enough time and space for fellows in designing additional activities after their spending some time together as a group in Japan.
Documents to be Submitted
Applicants should submit the following documents by post to the ALFP Secretariat by Friday, December 21, 2012.
1. Designated Application Form, completed, dated and signed.
2. Curriculum Vitae in English. This must not exceed 5 pages in length.
3. An essay of 500-600 words in English on 1) the applicant’s objectives and expectations in participating in the ALFP and 2) the 2013 general theme of “The Future of Asia, the World and Humanity after Development and Growth.”
4. Two Letters of Recommendations, signed and sealed (using the designated form below), from people familiar with the applicant’s work who can comment on his/her professional achievements.
5. Two samples of recent written works in English, less than 10 pages in length (short essays, newspaper articles, etc.)
General Guidelines for Application
1. The Application Form and Recommendation Form can be downloaded.
See “Documents to be Submitted” section above.
2. Designated Recommendation Forms, signed and sealed, must be sent directly to the ALFP Secretariat by the recommenders. Recommendations written on forms other than the designated form will not be qualified.
3. Documents have to be originals and sent by post.
4. Application documents will not be returned.
5. Application documents submitted by those who are not eligible for this fellowship or that reached the secretariat after the deadline will not be subject for screening and will be so notified.
6. Receipt of application documents will not be acknowledged (unless specifically requested by applicants by e-mail [alfp_appli_2013@i-house.or.jp]).
7. Each applicant is responsible for ensuring his/her application is complete.
8. Due to the large number of applications received, we are unable to provide feedback to applicants who are not admitted.
Selection Schedule
December 21, 2012
Application deadline
January to March, 2013
Stage 1: Screening of application materials
Stage 2: Interviewing of applicants (for those who passed stage 1)
April 2013
Notice of selections
Contact
For more information on how to make a recommendation or how to apply, please contact:
The ALFP Secretariat
c/o Program Department
International House of Japan
5-11-16, Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, JAPAN
Tel: +81-3-3470-3211 / Fax: +81-3-3470-3170
e-mail: alfp_appli_2013#i-house.or.jp (please replace # with @)