Campus News

Students spend summer studying critical languages

Ten UGA students participated in summer language institutes abroad as recipients of 2011 Critical Language Scholarships from the U.S. Department of State.

The department’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs created the Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes program in 2006 to increase opportunities for U.S. students to study critical-need languages abroad that are deemed essential to the U.S. in fostering international relations. These ten UGA recipients are among the approximately 

575 undergraduate and graduate students from across the country who participated in seven- to 10-week intensive immersion programs in 13 languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Turkish.

The summer 2011 participants who studied Arabic abroad are seniors Elizabeth Allan of Atlanta; Amnah Hillou of Lawrenceville; Mai Himedan of Lawrenceville; Matthew Sweat of Fayetteville; junior Christelle Lorin of Kennesaw; and spring graduate Laura Eaton of Watkinsville.

Senior Aisha Mahmood of Kennesaw studied in China, while seniors Amarachi Anukam of Athens and Samantha Gray of Springfield, Va., traveled to Japan. 

Duncan Lien of Atlanta, another spring graduate, studied in Turkey.