Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLASF), USA

University of PittsburghUniversity Center for International Studies
Center for Latin American Studies - Center for Russian and East European Studies European

Studies Center – Asian Studies Center
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships

Academic Year 2009-2010

The Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Russian and East European Studies, the European Studies Center and the Asian Studies Center are pleased to announce the competition for the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (FLASF) for the University of Pittsburgh 2009-2010 Academic Year.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in applying for a summer FLASF from any of the area studies centers, please contact the appropriate center for a separate application.

The FLASFs are authorized under Title VI of the Higher Education Act and are administered by the United States Department of Education. The purpose of the FLASF program is: “To assist in the development of knowledge, resources, and trained personnel for modern foreign language and area studies, to stimulate the attainment of foreign language acquisition and fluency, and to develop a pool of international experts to meet national needs.” As such, these fellowships may only be awarded to U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents. The FLAS Fellowship is a prestigious award that enables the recipient to devote full time to graduate study. Each of the area studies centers generally award 4 to 8 fellowships for the academic year.

What is the FLAS Fellowship? FLAS Fellowships are given for two award periods – the academic year and the summer. (Please contact the individual area studies center for information on applying for the summer.) The academic year FLASF provides awardees with full tuition and most fees in addition to a stipend of approximately $16,000. The Fellowship may be supplemented with other funding from other sources. FLAS Fellowships will be awarded only for the study of a modern, foreign language.

Academic year fellows must be enrolled in an area studies course and a language course during each term of the award period. Please contact the FLASF coordinator in the appropriate area studies center for restrictions regarding the use of an academic year fellowship for dissertation-level students.

Language priorities are assigned by the US Department of Education and are therefore important criteria in the selection process for awardees. Generally, preference is given to those students who intend to study “Less Commonly Taught Languages” (e.g. Korean, Polish, Portuguese) and “Least Commonly Taught Languages” (e.g. Quechua, Hungarian, Swedish). For “Most Commonly Taught Languages,” (e.g. French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish), preference is given to students studying at the advanced levels (third year and above). Other factors that are important in the review of applicants include the overall quality of the student’s work and the relevance of the FLASF target language to the student’s plan of study.

Application Procedures

Deadline: February 13, 2 0 0 9

FOR STUDENTS: Application packets should be submitted directly to your Dean or Chairperson rather than to the area studies centers. Therefore, please check for your department/school deadline for application submissions; in some cases, their deadline may be as many as three weeks prior to the date listed above. Separate application packets must be submitted when applying to more than one area studies center. Application packets should contain three copies and an original of the following materials. Only completed application packets will be accepted.

The student will satisfy FLAS requirements, the extent of current or previous language training, and the student’s native language.Please see the last page of the application for a list of eligible FLAS languages.

Contact:
Julian Asenjo
Center for Latin American Studies
4207 Wesley W. Posvar Hall
412-648-7396
Email: mailto:%20juasenjo@pitt.edu