Hosting International Participants
Homestay Opportunities
Okinawa Global Leadership Program
High school students from Okinawa, Japan visit Bozeman every summer for three weeks. We are searching for host families who would be interested in hosting one or two of them for the duration of their stay. Students will be taking English and Leadership classes and learning more about American culture. Homestay opportunities are a primary means of allowing for true cultural immersion for the students.
Kumamoto University
Undergraduate students from Kumamoto usually visit Bozeman in September. Kumamoto is considered Bozeman's sister city, and Montana State University has had a partnership with Kumamoto University for 35 years. Students will be taking intensive English classes as well learning more about American culture and society. They also teach the Bozeman community about their own culture.
Naha Nikkei Business School
Undergraduate business students from Okinawa, Japan visit Bozeman for four weeks from mid-January to mid-February. Students take ESL classes, participate in cultural activities, and present about their own culture to the local Bozeman community.
Friendship Families
Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) Student Leaders Program
Student Leaders live on campus in the dorms during the course of four week program; however, we invite community members of Bozeman to serve as what we call "friendship families." Friendship families are people who offer support and encouragement to program participants and are available weekly to have student leaders over for dinner, take them on an excursion, or simply show them their favorite places in Bozeman.
Our friendship family component of our programs has proven to be conducive to the fostering of strong cross-cultural connections, mutual understanding, and student success.
Fulbright Teaching Excellence & Achievement Program (TEA)
Participants of Fulbright TEA are accomplished teachers from all over the world, and they live in a hotel in Bozeman for the duration of the program. We are also looking for 'Friendship Families' for this program to welcome TEA participants to the Bozeman community and make them feel at home. The success of past TEA programs serve as testimonials to the importance of partnering participants with members of the community.
One former TEA participant from Tanzania, Mahamba Sebastian, shared his thoughts on his experience with his host family in Bozeman: "I have been impressed with my host family I was partnered with; I was not only treated as a family member but also as a true blood-related son. They humbly treated my homesickness to great passion."
Rikkyo University
Seven administrators from Rikkyo University will be visiting Bozeman for an intensive weeklong professional program where they meet with administrators of Montana State University while learning about the university's best practices. We would love to coordinate an opportunity for them to eat dinner or attend an event with members of the local community.
Interested in volunteering?
If you would like to volunteer as a host family, please contact Janelle Rasmussen: [email protected]
Please note: Dates of future programs are currently pending.