Global South Languages Fellowships
Global South Languages Fellowship
The Center for African Studies, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, through support from the Provost Office, are proud to announce a call for applications for the Global South Languages Fellowship. The goal of this fellowship program is to provide support for graduate students interested in the study of Less Commonly Taught Languages of the Global South, including Arabic, Hindi, Quechua, Persian, Portuguese, Swahili, Wolof, and Zulu. These fellowships will offer academic year support (AY 2021-2022) to graduate students at the MA or PhD level. Successful applicants will receive a $15,000 stipend and a waiver of tuition and some fees. As cultural and language training go hand in hand, fellows will be required to take one language course and one relevant area studies course each semester that they hold a fellowship. Additional requirements may be listed in awards letters. Academic advisors at each center will assist fellows in selecting the appropriate language and area studies courses.
Eligible Languages by Center
Center for African Studies
• Arabic
• Swahili
• Wolof
• Zulu
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
• Quechua
• Portuguese
Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Arabic
• Hindi
• Persian
• Turkish
Applicant Eligibility
• This fellowship supports study of eligible languages (see list above) at all levels, from elementary to advanced.
• Applicants must be degree-seeking students in good academic standing enrolled in graduate programs at the University of Illinois.
• Incoming graduate students are eligible to receive a fellowship if they are accepted for enrollment and matriculate for the 2020-2021 academic year or are already enrolled full-time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Application Materials
All applicants must submit to the relevant center the following:
• A cover page
• A two-page and double spaced personal statement explaining your rationale for studying a particular language, experience with the language (if any) and/or any other foreign languages, how the proposed language study fits in with your field of study and relates to the specific area studies you are apply to, as well as how the study of the language will advance your academic/professional goals.
• Unofficial transcripts
• Two letters of recommendation (one must be from your current advisor)
Applications are due by Friday, February 26, 2021. All materials, with the exceptions of letters of reference, should be bundled into a single PDF and uploaded here.
Files should be named using the following convention LastName_Language_Center_AY2022 (i.e. Szremski_Quechua_CLACS_AY2022). Recommenders should also upload their letters at the same website.
Contacts
Center for African Studies: Dr. Maimouna Barro [barro@illinois.edu]
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies: Dr. Kasia Szremski [szremski@illinois.edu]
Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies: Dr. Angela Williams [aswillms@illinois.edu]