Texas State undergrad to study 'Critical Language' in Azerbaijan

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
May 17, 2017

Lucretia Stanley, a undergraduate student at Texas State University, has been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Turkish in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the summer of 2017.

The CLS program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. CLS scholars gain critical language and cultural skills that enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. Stanley is one of approximately 550 competitively selected American students at U.S. colleges and universities who received a CLS award in 2017.

“Critical” languages are those that are less commonly taught in U.S. schools, but are essential for America’s engagement with the world. CLS provides scholarships to U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to spend eight to 10 weeks overseas studying one of 14 critical languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish or Urdu. The program includes intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. CLS scholars are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future careers.

For further information about CLS or other exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please contact ECA-Press@state.gov and visit our websites at www.clscholarship.org/ and studyabroad.state.gov/.

About Texas State University

Founded in 1899, Texas State University is among the largest universities in Texas with an enrollment of 38,849 students on campuses in San Marcos and Round Rock. Texas State’s 170,000-plus alumni are a powerful force in serving the economic workforce needs of Texas and throughout the world.  Designated an Emerging Research University by the State of Texas, Texas State is classified under “Doctoral Universities:  Higher Research Activity,” the second-highest designation for research institutions under the Carnegie classification system.