The State Department is prepared to spend $15 million to create “gender scholars” at American universities in Egypt and Lebanon by promoting gender studies at those institutions, according to a public grants database.
The State Department is offering to spend up to $15 million over five years as part of its “Tomorrow’s Leaders Gender Scholars Program” which will “support students to advance and deepen their engagement in gender studies” and “increase their participation in gender studies.” As part of the program, students who enroll in at least one gender studies course per semester will have their tuition paid by U.S. taxpayers.
To reap the benefits of U.S.-funded free tuition, Middle-Eastern students are required to “participate in an additional activity or short-term project where students can promote and advocate for gender equality” in addition to enrolling in a gender studies course, according to the grant.
Universities applying for grants must require students to write a paper and be tested on their “awareness of gender issues” every semester they are participating in the program. Grant applicants must also outline mentorship opportunities that would be available to students to aid them in conducting “gender research.”
The State Department claims that “the integration of gender studies in higher education increases the attention given to social, political, and economic interests and outcomes; promotes understanding of personal and social values, and intellectual merit.” The grant also argues that promoting gender studies could increase economic growth and improve student’s skills in other areas, like finance and public policy.
American University in Cairo, one of the institutions involved with the program, says on its website that it “aims to empower students to become gender-sensitive” and to advocate for feminist policy reforms. The American University of Beirut in Lebanon, another participating institution, touts the program as giving students an opportunity to “be at the heart of a growing and vibrant culture of gender studies,” according to its website.
Some gender studies courses offered at the American University in Cairo include “Gender and Feminist Research Methodologies,” which “provides an introduction to gender and feminist approaches to dominant theories of knowledge” and “Reading Capital,” which introduces students to “Marxist conceptions of the making of histories.”
Egypt received $170,221,103 from the United States during the 2023 fiscal year, according to the U.S. government. Lebanon got $187,797,256 in foreign assistance.
This is not the first time the U.S. government has used taxpayer dollars to fund gender studies and gender equity initiatives in the Middle East. The United States spent $787.4 million on advancing gender equality in Afghanistan, according to a 2021 government report.
The State Department is currently bankrolling 90 young female journalists in the terrorist-controlled Gaza Strip to “write about gender issues and be aware of how to address gender issues in journalism,” according to a federal grant database. Similarly, the department opened applications for up to $12 million in grant funding on May 15 for universities in Iraq to teach Iraqis to appreciate “gender diversity” and to provide more courses and majors related to “gender issues,” according to a grant posting.
The State Department did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.