Students Awarded Fellowships To Study Less Commonly Taught Languages

(2005-07-13)

Not many students enroll to study languages such as Kiswahili, Yucatec Maya and Hindi. A group of 11 University of Iowa graduate students pursuing fluency in languages not commonly spoken or taught in the United States have won Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to support their study.

The summer fellowships have been awarded to students pursuing international careers in law, political science and second language acquisition, and many others, with the intention of helping students gain fluency in languages that will be of value to their professional careers.

All fellows receive a stipend plus full tuition to pursue beginning level course work in approved less commonly taught languages at a U.S. institution or intermediate or advanced-level intensive language study at an institution in the United States or abroad.

FLAS fellowships are funded by a Title VI National Resource Center grant from the U.S. Department of Education. UI International Programs administers the fellowship program. For more information on the FLAS fellowships, contact Janet Delwiche, International Programs, National Resource Center, at 319-335-1466.

International Programs consists of a number of offices, centers, academic programs, research projects, and services. Organized under the associate provost and dean for international programs, these units serve to further internationalize the campus and community and promote global scholarship, research and teaching.

FLAS fellowship winners are listed alphabetically by hometown with Iowa students listed first:

CENTERVILLE: Brooke Sherrard, a graduate student in religious studies, is studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan.

MASON CITY: Holley Hansen, a graduate student in political science, is studying Russian at the University of Pittsburgh. She will also travel to Moscow.

OTTUMWA: Megan McMillan, a student in the UI College of Law, is studying Arabic at the University of California-Los Angeles.

WEBSTER CITY: Erin Johnson, a graduate student in business, is studying Polish in Krakow, Poland.

Maryland

BALTIMORE: Jaimie Baron, a graduate student in cinema and comparative literature, is studying Arabic at the University of California-Los Angeles.

New Jersey

ASBURY PARK: Robert McGrath, a graduate student in political science, is studying Yucatec Maya in the Yucatan, Mexico, through a program administered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Pennsylvania

HARRINGTON: Ellen Sweeney, a graduate student in cinema and comparative literature, is studying Hindi in Jaipur, India.

RADNOR: Jennifer Cabrelli, a student in the second language acquisition program, is studying Portuguese in Salvador, Brazil.

Tennessee

PARIS: David Denison, a student in the UI College of Law, is studying Japanese in Hikone, Japan.

Virginia

VIRGINIA BEACH: Charlotte Miller-Lewis, a graduate student in history, is studying Kiswahili in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Wisconsin

MADISON: James Krueger, a graduate student in political science, is studying Indonesian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa News Services, 300 Plaza Centre One, Suite 371, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2500.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lois Gray, 319-335-2026, lois-gray@uiowa.edu; Writer: Kent Nguyen