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Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will issue a 2018-2022 Request for Proposals for Title VI National Resource Center/Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship grants for which The Middle East Studies Center (MESC) is preparing to apply. ED's timeline is unknown at this point. If received, these funds would provide support for Academic Year 2018-2019 FLAS Fellowships. Due to the delay in announcing the Request for Proposals, MESC will not know the results of this competition in March 2018. Fellowship competition results will not be made until the results of the Title VI NRC/FLAS competition are announced. The awarding of these fellowships is dependent upon the continued receipt of Title VI funding from the U.S. Department of Education. MESC staff will keep applicants updated. Graduate students in particular are encouraged to discuss this with their home program and graduate program coordinator. 

Info sheet for graduate fellowships at go.osu.edu/FLAS-Info-G, and undergraduate fellowships at go.osu.edu/FLAS-Info-UG.  Reference form is downloadable here.  The online application is located at go.osu.edu/FLAS-Mideast Further details are located here. Questions? Contact us at https://mesc.osu.edu/FLAS-contact

The Middle East Studies Center is applying for the U. S. Department of Education’s Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program. Languages for which awards would be made (pending funding) through MESC: Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish. Applicants are responsible for examining the courses offered by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and ensuring their requested level of language instruction will be offered.  Please note: the awarding of FLAS fellowships is dependent upon the availability of U.S. Department of Education Title VI funding. 

Eligibility:
These fellowships are available to undergraduate, graduate and professional students in any department who are pursuing a course of study which requires advanced foreign language and area studies training.  The fellowships are expected to carry a stipend and cover some tuition expenses.  All applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Priority is given to students who intend to undertake advanced language study, but who have not yet achieved native language competence (native fluency will disqualify the applicant).  FLAS Awards are restricted to students who remain under 260 graduate credit hours of study in their graduate program during the tenure of their fellowship. Due to increasing demand, the MESC Executive Committee has stated that after three FLAS fellowships have been awarded to the same individual, the applicant is expected to explore other funding sources. 

Requirements and types of fellowships:
Academic Year Fellowships

As FLAS Fellowships are based on language and area studies, all recipients must be enrolled in appropriate language and “area studies*” courses each semester during the tenure of the Academic Year fellowship. All academic-year award recipients must register for a minimum of 12 credit hours every semester, which must include at least one classroom-taught, 3 credit hour language course (in the FLAS award language), and one classroom-taught, 3 credit hour area studies course, in addition to regular degree courses.  Individualized instruction is not allowed.

* “Area Studies” courses (for the purpose of the FLAS Fellowship) pertain to the area where the FLAS language is spoken as the dominant language, and should provide knowledge for understanding that area of the world. It can be in any discipline, but at least 25% of the course must be directly related to said world area. Final papers do not count as “content”. Content must be directly reflected in syllabus.

**Note on Dissertation Research: Any proposed research must be submitted with advisor’s signature and is subject to MESC’s approval.

Undergraduate students will receive up to $10,000* toward tuition and general fees plus $5,000 stipend, while graduate and professional students will receive up to $18,000* toward tuition and general fees and a $15,000 stipend. Stipends will be disbursed in monthly installments on the last working day of the month August through May. Due to limitations on FLAS fellowship funds, students may need to receive additional scholarship support to cover a tuition shortfall.

*Less a required benefits charge.
 

Summer Fellowships
Summer fellowships are awarded for intensive language study only.  Intensive programs eligible for support must provide the equivalent of a full year of language study with at least 140 contact/classroom hours of instruction for intermediate students and 120 contact/classroom hours for advanced students, and must last for a duration of at least 6 weeks.  Summer award recipients must enroll in courses which will transfer a minimum of 6 semester credit hours to their OSU transcript.  Individualized instruction, dissertation research and audited classes are ineligible for a summer FLAS.  Subject to US Department of Education approval, summer fellowships may be used for intensive language study at institutions other than OSU, including study abroad programs. Summer fellows will receive up to $5,000* toward tuition and a $2,500 stipend paid in two equal installments on the last working day of June and July.

*Less a required benefits charge.

Study Abroad
Only fellows at the intermediate level or higher are eligible to enroll in an overseas program.  Overseas study must be as part of an eligible program, and be approved by the US Department of Education.  In such cases, applicants must provide complete information on the Study Abroad/Domestic non-OSU Program Form included in the application, and a flight itinerary including all flight numbers. U.S. government regulations require that all FLAS applicants applying for a travel reimbursement (only available for summer FLAS Fellowships) comply with the provisions appearing in the Fly America Act. Students may not use a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship to study in countries with travel warnings. You can check which countries have travel warnings on the Department of State's website.


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