Three Ohio State Area Studies Centers have been awarded more than $5.5 million in U.S. Department of Education grants for the next four years. These awards support language and area studies learning and provide grant opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and professional school students.
The Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies and the East Asian Studies Center have been selected to receive Title VI Comprehensive National Resource Center and Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship grants (FLAS) for the 2022 – 2026 award period. The Center for Latin American Studies also received Title VI FLAS funding. The grants will be used by the Area Studies Centers to sponsor a wide range of academic activities, provide training for secondary school teachers, expand instructional initiatives, conduct outreach activities with community colleges and minority-serving institutions and support area studies and foreign language expertise.
“These prestigious Title VI awards reflect Ohio State’s expertise in international affairs and recognize the university as a national leader in area studies and critical language training,” said Melissa Gilliam, executive vice president and provost. “The awards will enable Ohio State to advance knowledge of world areas and effectively prepare the global leaders of tomorrow.”
Title VI National Resource Center grants are awarded to Area Studies Centers around the country through a rigorous and highly competitive review process. They are designed to ensure a steady supply of graduates with expertise in less commonly taught languages, world areas and transnational trends.
“We are extremely proud that three of our Area Studies Centers received Title VI funding,” said Gil Latz, vice provost for global strategies and international affairs. “With these grants our centers will deliver scholarly events, disseminate Ohio State’s faculty expertise to the educational, cultural, governmental and business communities in the region, and support lectures, conferences and courses.
“All of these resources combined play a substantial role in training experts in a variety of fields that will have an impact on the United States’ ability to be competitive on global issues and solving the challenges that affect our world today.”
These grants are some of the only federal funding available that enables recipients to invest resources at post-secondary levels to maintain a strong foundation in area studies expertise and critical languages across disciplines and regions.
FLAS fellowship funding, coupled with matching funds in the form of tuition awards from the Graduate School, allows the centers to provide academic year- and summer-long fellowships to undergraduate, graduate and professional school students undergoing training in less commonly taught languages and related area or international studies.
Annual National Resource Center and FLAS fellowship grants over the four-year funding cycle are as follows:
