University of Richmond First-Year Student Awarded Competitive State Department Scholarship to Study Indonesian This Summer

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — Claire Morris, a first-year University of Richmond student, has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, the CLS program provides immersive language learning opportunities for students to learn languages essential to America's engagement with the world. Selected student scholars spend eight to 10 weeks studying one of 13 critical languages, including Arabic, Azerbaijani, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portugeuse, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.

Morris, of Richmond, Virginia, will use this scholarship to study Indonesian in the city of Malang in East Java, Indonesia this summer. While in Indonesia, she will further her language studies by staying with a host family and taking Indonesian classes at Universitas Negeri Malang. In addition to Indonesian, Morris has also studied Spanish and Arabic. She plans to major in Arabic and political science with the hope of pursuing a career in the foreign service.

In addition to Morris, one other University of Richmond student was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship this year, and another was selected as an alternate. Finalists for the CLS program are selected from a pool of about 5,000 applicants. To date, 26 University of Richmond students have received this scholarship.

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