Three Pitt undergraduate students have received David L. Boren Scholarships from the National Security Education Program via the Institute of International Education to study abroad in China and Tanzania in exchange for promising to work in the federal government for at least one year after completing their education. The Boren program’s mission is to help students “acquire language skills and experience in countries critical to the future security and stability of our nation.”
Five Pitt students and one 2013 graduate have received Critical Language Scholarships from the U.S. Department of State to study this summer in China, India, Tajikistan, and Turkey at intensive language institutes designed to aid a U.S. government effort to “expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages.”
The following undergraduate students in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences have received David L. Boren Scholarships.
Patrick Farrell, a senior majoring in Chinese, political science, and economics and minoring in French language and literature, will study Mandarin in China during the next academic year. He is planning to eventually work in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. “My classes will give me the necessary training and vocabulary to engage in more complex discussions of the Chinese economy,” he says. “The rapid growth of China’s economy and the expansion of China’s political influence are quickly changing the balance of power in Asia and the world.” Farrell is from Summerfield, N.C.
Abigail Majane, a junior majoring in political science and Chinese and minoring in economics, will study Mandarin in China during the next academic year. She would like to pursue a career with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, where she has already completed an internship. “I can use my knowledge and experience to help streamline the bilateral discussion process between the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and its Chinese counterparts in order to help better defend both American and Chinese consumers from unsafe products,” she says. Majane is from Germantown, Md.
Viveka Mandava, a senior pursuing a major in religious studies, a minor in political science, and a certificate in global health, will spend the fall semester studying Swahili in Tanzania. She would like to eventually work in the Bureau for Food Security of the U.S. Agency for International Development. “My father often repeated to me that food is the foundation of health, and I’ve taken that mantra further. Health is the foundation of a functioning society. Therefore, to develop functioning societies across the map, we need to focus on food.” Mandava was born in Switzerland and attended high school in Aurora, Ohio.
The following four undergraduates in Pitt’s Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences have received Critical Language Scholarships from the U.S. Department of State.
Nicholas Collins, a senior economics major, will study two dialects of Persian in Tajikistan. He is aiming to pursue a career as a diplomat. “On a daily basis I listen to Persian music, usually through bia2.com—a Persian Internet radio site,” he says. “This has helped improve my listening comprehension and also my pronunciation. Additionally, I watch at least one Persian film a week, usually without subtitles, to supplement my learning and enhance the cultural side of learning a foreign language.” Collins is from Sycamore, Ill.
Cody Dickerson, a senior pursuing majors in Chinese and religious studies and a certificate in Asian studies, will study Turkish in Turkey. Last year he studied Mandarin in China as a Boren Scholar, and now he is studying Turkish because he would like to pursue a career that involves studying and interacting with the Uyghur, a Turkic minority group living in western China. “I started taking Turkish last summer through the Slavic languages program at Pitt, and I’m excited for the opportunity to go over there and speak Turkish,” he says. Dickerson is from Plattsburg, Mo.
Stephen Sloto, a junior pursuing majors in linguistics and anthropology and a certificate in Russian and East European studies, will study Turkish in Turkey. He’s president of Pitt’s student linguistics club, Yinzling, and he plans to become an academic scholar who investigates how social life shapes languages and vice versa. “I would like to study the Turkish language reform, a series of changes initiated after the foundation of Modern Turkey. It involved the excision of Persian and Arabic loan words, the creation of new words to take their place, and the invention of new suffixes,” he says. Sloto is from Pottstown, Pa.
Audrey-Marie Winn, a junior double majoring in Chinese and English writing, will study Mandarin in China. She is aiming to become a lawyer for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. “In August of 2008, I injured my wrist during a volleyball scrimmage and was permanently benched. My mother started bringing me magazines and books to distract me from losing volleyball. A New York Times article titled ‘Dynamic Young Engines Driving China’s Epic Boom’ changed my life. Soon, the Chinese labor force was my new passion,” she says. Winn is from Pine Grove, Pa.