Summer Awad and Andrea Flinn earn Critical Language Scholarship awards

CATEGORIES: Honored

Summer Awad (M.F.A. ’24 creative writing and environment ) and Andrea Flinn (Ph.D. ’24 applied linguistics and technology) have earned 2022 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program awards.

The CLS Program is administered by the U.S. Department of State and is part of a wider government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages which are critical to national security and economic prosperity.

Awad received a CLS to study Swahili and Andrea Flinn was named a CLS alternate to study Arabic.

The CLS Program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American students enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities. Students spend eight to 10 weeks abroad studying one of 15 critical languages.

Finalists for the 2022 CLS Program were selected from a diverse pool of more than 4,500 applicants representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. Applicants hailed from 583 higher education institutions across the nation – including 137 institutions serving underrepresented groups, 14 historically Black colleges and universities, and 64 community colleges.