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Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Writer: Joelle Prine, 706/583-0727, jprine@uga.edu University of Georgia students win language study scholarships Athens, Ga. — Two University of Georgia students and two recent graduates were awarded national scholarships to travel abroad and study foreign languages deemed essential to the United States in fostering international relations. Matthew Anderson, a rising senior from Roswell, and Lee Moore, a rising senior Honors student from Jonesboro, have been named recipients of the National Security Education Program (NSEP) David L. Boren Scholarship. Spring 2006 graduates Jennifer Bartmess, a Foundation Fellow from Florence, Ala., and Fareed Abdullah of Stone Mountain have been selected to receive Critical Languages Scholarships from the U.S. Department of State and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. “I am very pleased that our students are receiving such prestigious scholarships supporting study abroad in languages critical to U.S. security,” said David Williams, director of UGA’s Honors Program. “It is most important that our best and brightest pursue such studies, which are not only vital to national interest but also to promoting global understanding.” The merit-based NSEP Boren Scholarships were established by the National Security Education Act of 1991 and named after the legislative author and current University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren. The scholarship aims to give recipients the tools and skills needed to become well-rounded global citizens through the study of less commonly taught foreign languages and immersion in those cultures. The award covers the full academic year or one semester, starting with summer 2006, based on the student’s study abroad proposal. In exchange for the travel-study award, the recipients agree to work for one year for the departments of homeland security, defense, or state or the intelligence community. Anderson, a double major in international relations and international business, will study Mandarin at Huangshan University in Huangshan City, China during the 2006-2007 academic year. He also will have an internship through the mayor’s office while in China. His other experiences include spending last summer in Valencia, Spain through the UGA en España program. After completing his UGA degrees next May, Anderson plans to pursue a graduate degree in East Asian affairs and a career with the federal government. Moore, who is majoring in comparative literature in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will study Mandarin at Yunnan Normal University in Kunming, China during the fall and continue at Beijing Language and Culture University in the spring. Moore’s participation in the Security Leadership Program and the Student Ambassador Program through UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security helped prepare him for his international career. After his 2007 graduation, he would like to work for the U.S. government, focusing on nonproliferation and China. “These students are making an admirable commitment to study intellectually challenging foreign languages and cultures,” said Steve Elliott-Gower, associate director of the Honors Program and NSEP’s representative at UGA. “Such a commitment, in our increasingly small world, helps promote international understanding and reduce the potential for international conflict.” The Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Language Institutes is part of the National Security Language Initiative, an effort of federal government agencies to increase the number of American citizens studying and developing critical-need foreign language skills. The scholarships provide funding for study of languages such as Arabic, Hindi and Turkish at American Overseas Research Centers. Bartmess, who obtained a bachelor’s degree in linguistics with minors in music and Arabic, and Abdullah, who graduated with a degree in international affairs with a minor in Arabic, were two of 15 students nationally awarded these scholarships. They are studying Arabic in a nine-week summer program at the Yemen Language Center in Sana’a, Yemen, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the Islamic world. During Bartmess’s academic career at UGA, she gave presentations about the Arab world to high school students as a student ambassador through UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security and studied abroad in Morocco and Peru. She hopes to apply her Yemen experience toward Middle Eastern studies or in studying human geography with a focus on the Arab world. “Arabic captured my fascination when I began studying it two years ago, and studying the language has opened up an entire world different from the one I knew before,” she said. “Since Arabic is intertwined with a culture, a religion and a history unknown to many Westerners, striving to learn the language reveals much that is lost in translation and is one of the most important ways in approaching much-needed understanding in the world at present.” Abdullah, who has called New York, New Jersey, Saudi Arabia and Senegal home, has participated in language immersion programs in Morocco and Egypt while at UGA. After his summer program, he would like to attend graduate school for Middle Eastern studies, international affairs and Arabic and then pursue a law degree in similar fields. “The program fits into my career plans because I have decided that working with the Arab community is one of my ultimate goals,” he said. “I enjoy learning about the world, especially the Middle East and look forward to the great new food and amazing language.” Ken Honerkamp, a professor in Islamic studies and Arabic at UGA, was pleased his former students received the scholarships. “The study of Arabic today offers better job and travel opportunities as the need to understand and participate in constructive discourse with the peoples of the Arab world becomes increasingly critical,” he noted. For more information on the NSEP Boren Scholarships, visit http://www.iie.org/nsep. ## |
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