The Religion in the United States: Pluralism and Public Presence 2009 Summer Institute is hosted at the University of California, Santa Barbara and has been funded by a grant from the Department of State's Study of the U.S. Branch of the Office of Academic Exchange Programs. The program will run from June 20, 2009 to August 3, 2009. Participants in Study of the U.S. Institutes are among the approximately 30,000 individuals who participate in exchanges manged by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) each year. Other ECA exchange programs include the Fulbright Program and the International Visitor Leadership Program. Through a range of academic and professional exchanges, the Bureau seeks to increase mutual understanding between the United States and other countries. UCSB's Religious Pluralism Institute is pleased to welcome foreign scholars from eighteen countries for 2009. Scholars will be introduced to religious pluralism in the American context through lectures, readings, discussions, films, panels and field visits.