Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships Student Profiles

Celia Smalls–Law, Arabic

As a 2nd year law student, the FLAS scholarship provided me the opportunity to further study in Arabic language and Islamic law, particularly Islamic finance law. I was able to take Arabic language classes alongside Islamic law classes to strengthen my understanding of classical Arabic words and legal concepts.

Walker Frahm–Sociology, Russian

As a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, I have been studying advocacy groups, migration, and human trafficking in Eastern Europe. The FLAS fellowship allowed me to enroll in regional studies courses that tremendously deepened and broadened my understanding of the political, cultural, and social history of the former Soviet space. These courses introduced me to new bodies of academic literature on security and area studies, which have become central components of my research agenda.

Katie MacDonald– Internatoinal Studies and NELC, Persian

During the summer of 2012 I was able to study Farsi and Tajik in the Republic of Tajikistan for nearly ten weeks, and immeasurably improve my understanding of both. As my language skills advanced I was able to participate in family life and gain a first-hand understanding of cultural traditions associated with everything from weddings to funerals. 

Daniel Kirk–International Studies and Public Affairs (MAIS/MPA), Arabic

A FLAS fellowship in Arabic has allowed me to build on the basic language skills I first developed as a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan from ’07 to ’09. The training I have received in Modern Standard Arabic at UW has made it possible for me to follow along in Arabic newspapers, tune in to Arab newscasts, and use some Arab media sources in writing my MA qualifying paper.

Charlotte Guard–International Studies and NELC, Arabic

I am a third year undergraduate . I first became interested in Turkey when I participated in the National Security Language Initiative exchange program to Adana, Turkey. The  academic year FLAS from the Center for Global Studies has allowed me to continue learning Turkish as well as look at the history and politics within the country.

Sarala Puthuval–Linguistics, Russian

In Summer 2012 I studied first-year Russian in the summer intensive program at UW in Seattle. My MA thesis in General Linguistics concerns words borrowed from Russian and Chinese into different dialects of Mongolian, and my dissertation research will also be about contact between Mongolian and neighboring languages.

Jacob Reidhead–Sociology, Chinese

This last summer I was fortunate to spend at Sichuan University where I pursued advanced Chinese, built relationships with local researchers in my field, and laid the groundwork for future collaboration in China.