9 UW–Madison students receive U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholarships

Nine students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been awarded U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) to study critical needs languages during the summer of 2016. These students are among approximately 560 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students nationally selected to participate in the 2016 program. CLS participants will spend eight to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes in 24 locations, studying Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. The Critical Language Scholarship Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. The fully-funded program provides intensive group language instruction and structured cultural-enrichment experiences. Participants are expected to continue their language study and apply their critical language skills in their future careers. The participating UW–Madison students, with language and host location, are:
  • Calla Buttke, Chinese, in Suzhou, China
  • Michelle Tong, Chinese, in Dalian, China
  • Alexandra Barkhaus, Arabic, in Madaba, Jordan
  • Margaret Radl, Chinese, in Tainan, Taiwan
  • Megan Perry, Russian, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
  • Bridget Johnson, Indonesian, in Malang, Indonesia
  • Hannah Lider, Hindi, in Jaipur, India
  • Ariela Rivkin, Russian, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
  • Morgan Smallwood, Arabic, in Ibri, Oman
Finalists for the 2016 CLS Program come from 48 states and the District of Columbia, and represent more than 200 institutions of higher education from across the United States, including public and private universities, liberal arts colleges, minority-serving institutions and community colleges. Over the past 10 years, the CLS Program has sent more than 5,000 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students overseas to learn critical languages. The CLS Program actively recruits in states and regions of the United States that have been historically under-represented in international exchange and encourages students from diverse backgrounds and academic majors to apply. The program also promotes diversity in the independent review process, drawing readers and panelists from a variety of institutions, including public and private universities, liberal arts colleges, minority-serving institutions, and community colleges. More than 377 professionals from 44 states and the District of Columbia, and 212 institutions participated in the selection process for the 2016 CLS Program. CLS 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. These programs build relations and respect between the people of the United States and other countries. The CLS Program is administered by American Councils for International Education. Find more information about the CLS Program or other exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.