Six UNC Students Receive Critical Language Scholarships from US Department of State

Chefchaouen, Morocco. Photo by Robin Hotard Roche '08 BA, '11 MSW
Chefchaouen, Morocco. Photo by Robin Hotard Roche ’08 BA, ’11 MSW

Six students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study critical needs languages during Summer 2016.

The UNC awardees are among the approximately 560 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State’s CLS Program in 2016. Participants will spend seven to ten weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in their host country.

The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers. Participants are among the more than 50,000 academic and professional exchange program participants supported annually by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to increase diversity among international educational exchange program participants and promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

UNC students may visit the Center for Global Initiatives website for more information about the award and support available to applicants.

2016 Critical Language Scholarship Recipients

  • Clarissa Constanten ’19, a peace, war and defense major, will study Arabic in Meknes, Morocco.
  • Leona Amosah ’17, a double major in global studies and Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures, will study Russian in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
  • Samah Choudhury, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies, will study Urdu in Lucknow, India.
  • Samantha Hoelzer ’18, a double major in biology and Asian studies minoring in chemistry, will study Chinese in Xi’an, China.
  • Caitlyn Carpio ’18, a global studies major with a minor in Chinese and business administration, will study Chinese in Suzhou, China.
  • Ryan McCord ’17, a double major in global studies and public policy, will study Swahili in Arusha, Tanzania.