Monday, October 13, 2014

Boren Scholarships & Fellowships for language study abroad - UW information session TUESDAY!

Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are available for undergrad & grad students in all fields planning to study languages abroad during 2015-16 and who are interested in government work. Please share this information widely. We are fortunate to have a representative from the Boren Awards program visiting UW tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 14 to provide information to students, faculty and staff. 

UW Information Sessions:

·         Tues., Oct. 14, 2014, 2:30pm, 171 MGH -- This session will be hosted by Hannah Grossblatt, Boren Program Coordinator, and will cover both Undergraduate Scholarships & Graduate Fellowships.

·         Wed., Nov. 12, 2014, 3:30pm, MGH 173R (covering Undergraduate Scholarships only)

·         Tues, Dec. 2, 2014, 4:30pm, MGH 173R (covering Undergraduate Scholarships only)

·         RSVP at https://expo.uw.edu/expo/rsvp/event/239, though drop-ins are always welcome

Boren Scholarships provide up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The countries of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are excluded. For a complete list of countries, click here.

Boren Scholars represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages, including but not limited to Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili. For a complete list of languages, click here.

Boren Scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants should identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined.  NSEP draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness. To view the Program Basics for the Boren Scholarship, click here.

Undergraduate applicants must apply through UW to be considered for the Boren Undergraduate Scholarship Program. UW Seattle's deadline for undergraduate applicants is January 8, 2015 for study abroad programs during the 2015-16 academic year. Interested students are welcomed to contact me: Robin Chang, robinc@uw.edu, Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards.

UW Bothell undergraduate and graduate students interested in these opportunities can contact Natalia Dyba (NDyba@uwb.edu) for campus deadlines and application support. UW Tacoma undergraduate and graduate students can contact Cindy Schaarschmidt (cs65@uw.edu) for campus deadlines and application support.

The Boren program also offers Graduate Fellowships for graduate students, details are at http://borenawards.org/boren_fellowship. There is no Boren campus application process at the graduate level; the national deadline for the Boren Graduate Fellowship is January 27, 2015. Marilyn Gray (megray@uw.edu) in the Graduate School Office of Fellowships & Awards is the point of contact for graduate students interested in this program.