Fourth U of A Student Selected for U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship Program

The U.S. Department of State has awarded a fourth U of A student with a Critical Language Scholarship to study critical languages during the summer of 2021.

Spencer Hazeslip joins Lucas Ros as well as graduate students Rome Henandez Morgan and Vasantha Sambamurti, who were previously awarded scholarships in March 2021. Hazeslip, an Honors College student studying biochemistry and Spanish, will focus on Russian language skills.

The scholarship program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. CLS scholars gain critical language and cultural skills that enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. Nearly 700 competitively selected American students at U.S. colleges and universities received a CLS award in 2021.

The CLS Program provides opportunities to U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to spend eight to 10 weeks studying one of 15 critical languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish or Urdu. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. The CLS Program is developed in partnership with local institutions in countries where these languages are commonly spoken. CLS scholars are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future careers.

The CLS Program plays an important role in preparing U.S. students for the 21st century's globalized workforce, increasing American competitiveness and contributing to national security. CLS scholars also serve as citizen ambassadors, representing American values and the diversity of the U.S.

Recipients of the 2021 CLS awards include students from over 255 institutions of higher education across the U.S., including public and private universities, liberal arts colleges, minority-serving institutions, military academies and community colleges. They come from almost every U.S. state and territory, as well as the District of Columbia.

The CLS Program is a program of the U.S. Department of State and is supported in its administration by American Councils for International Education.