John Akins (PhD, Political Science) and Jonathan Barsness (PhD, Political Science) are among four students receiving a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship. The Critical Language Scholarship Program is part of a U.S. government effort to increase the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Each participant in the program will be spending eight to ten weeks on location, studying one of these critical languages.

Akins will spend time in Lucknow, India, studying Urdu, and Barsness will be in Ibri, Oman, studying Arabic. Read more about the CLS program and these recipients.