Emily Grenz, a senior majoring in English education and history from Eureka, S.D., has been awarded a 2013 U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship. The scholarships provide full funding for participants to study at an intensive language institute for seven to 10 weeks this summer in one of 14 countries.
This is the second year Grenz has received the scholarship, and she will, once again, study Turkish in Turkey. “The Critical Language Scholarship affords me the opportunity to return to a country that I love, to learn more about a language that I have a passion for and to meet new people that I will probably remain in contact with for many years to come,” said Grenz, who is the daughter of Greg and Pat Grenz. “I cannot wait to return to this extraordinary culture.”
Grenz is one of approximately 610 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received the scholarship. Participants will spend seven to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in one of 13 countries to study Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish or Urdu. The program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.
The Critical Language Scholarship Program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It is administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers and American Councils for International Education. For more information about the program, visit www.clscholarship.org.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.