US Department of State Press Release - Alison-Leigh Zielen Beatty Selected for U.S. DoS Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program

U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
2012 Critical Language Scholarship Program
Description: CLS-Program_color_horizontal_press_release.gif

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bryan Messerly
Date: x Telephone: 202-632-3270

Alison-Leigh Zielen Beatty Selected for U.S. Department of State

Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program

Alison-Leigh Beatty of University of Texas at Dallas has been selected for the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program to study Chinese in China during the summer of 2012.

Alison-Leigh Beatty is among the approximately 630 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students selected for the U.S. Department of State’s CLS Program in 2012 to study Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla/Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish, or Urdu languages. U.S. students will spend eight to ten weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in 14 countries where these languages are spoken. The CLS Program provides fully-funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to increase language fluency and cultural competency. CLS Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.

The CLS Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Selected finalists for the 2012 CLS Program hail from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia and represent 239 public and private universities from across the United States, including land-grant universities, liberal arts colleges, minority-serving institutions, and community colleges.

During CLS Program outreach activities, particular attention is paid to states/regions of the United States that have been historically under-represented in the CLS applicant pool and to students from diverse backgrounds and academic majors. The CLS Program also encourages diversity in the independent, merit-based review process. In 2012, 256 professionals representing 44 states and 143 institutions participated in the selection process for the CLS Program.

CLS Program participants are among the more than 40,000 academic and professional exchange program participants supported annually by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The CLS Program is administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) and American Councils for International Education.

For further information about the CLS Program or other exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please visit our websites at http://www.clscholarship.org and http://exchanges.state.gov .