These are some typical questions that young Germans often have about the United States of America. The Meet US program is designed to help clarify the picture by bringing Americans – U.S. citizens from all backgrounds of life residing in Germany, as well as U.S. embassy/consulate staff – together with secondary school students in Germany to engage them in a dialogue about everyday life in the United States. The goal is to give youth in Germany a better understanding of the U.S. and to break down stereotypes.
The Meet US program is an important part of the cultural outreach activities of the U.S. Embassy and Consulates. It reaches out to all secondary schools in Germany. This program is free of cost to the schools.
Fulbright Germany with its mission to promote transatlantic exchange supports the program. The U.S. Fulbright grantees will contribute as speakers to the Meet US program and bring their American experience to classrooms across Germany.
The Americans meet with the students, either in their classrooms or virtually, to talk about anything that helps give the students a first-hand impression of American society.
The topics can be tailored to complement the school curriculum.
However, the intention is not to provide scientific or academic lectures, but rather to offer a personal look on social, historical or cultural aspects of the United States and the interests and aspirations of Americans. The guest speakers usually start with a short introduction and then open the floor to discussion and questions. The main goal is to generate an open and direct dialogue between the students and their American guests. The discussions may be conducted in either English or German.
As of February 24, 2023, the registration for host schools has closed. A later registration is not possible to give speakers and schools enough time to organize their visits by the end of the school year. If you would like to be informed about future Meet US sign-ups, please send an email to meetus@fulbright.de.
If you would like to specifically request a discussion with an official representative of the U.S. embassy/consulate, please contact the embassy/consulate in your region directly. Contact information can be found at: https://de.usembassy.gov/de/meet-us-de/
The map below shows schools participating in Meet US 2022-23. It will be updated as speakers sign up for schools. All “green” schools are still open – the “red” schools already have matched with a Meet US speaker. You can zoom in and out and click on the green icons to learn more about each school, including their preferred language and topic ideas.
Fulbright Germany coordinates the participation of U.S. Study/Research Grantees, English Teaching Assistants (ETA) and second year Fremdsprachenassistent:innen (ETAs 21-22). If you are part of these programs and willing to participate as speaker, please contact us at meetus@fulbright.de.
Otherwise, if you are an American living in Germany and interested in sharing your experience with German high school students, please contact the embassy or consulate responsible for your region. A list with contact details can be found here.
Participants can share their experience on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #MeetUSGermany and by tagging Fulbright Germany as well as the Embassy or Consulate responsible for the school's region:
Fulbright Germany
US-Botschaft Berlin (Berlin, Brandenburg)
US-Generalkonsulat Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
US-Generalkonsulat Frankfurt (Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland)
US-Generalkonsulat Hamburg (Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein)
US Generalkonsulat Leipzig (Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen)
US-Generalkonsulat Munich (Bayern)
Read about the experiences of Fulbright grantee and Meet US speaker Sophia Warner, who taught as an ETA at the Carl-Friedrich-von-Siemens-Gymnasium in Berlin (see photo at top).
Fulbright Germany
Lützowufer 26
10787 Berlin
Germany
