The University of South Carolina announces the winners of three national fellowship competitions: the Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS) funded by the US Department of State, and the DAAD RISE summer program in Germany and the DAAD RISE Professional both funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
Critical Languages Scholarship (CLS)
Two students have been awarded Critical Language Scholarships to undertake intensive language study abroad. Adriana Bowman, a junior, will study Mandarin Chinese in Xi'an, China. Justin Mellish, a graduate student, will study Korean in Gwangju, South Korea. In addition, one student was named alternate, Anna Witkin.
A program of the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Critical Language Scholarship Program offers intensive summer language institutes in 14 critical foreign languages. The selection process is administered by American Councils for International Education with awards approved by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The CLS Program is administered by American Councils and The Ohio State University/Ohio University. This brings USC's total of CLS award winners to 21 since it was established in 2006. Critical Language Scholarships for Intensive Summer Institutes are part of a U.S. government interagency effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Scholarship recipients receive funding to participate in beginning, intermediate and advanced level summer language programs at American Overseas Research Centers and affiliated partners.
Bowman is a junior in the South Carolina Honors College and is majoring in Economics with minors in Chinese and Political Science. Previously, Bowman was awarded the national Gilman Scholarship for study abroad where she spent a semester in Chengdu, China. At USC, she is an Opportunity Scholar as well as a Ronald E. McNair Scholar and ultimately aspires to bring her studies of the Chinese language into a career as a diplomat.
Mellish is a first year graduate student in USC's Higher Education and Student Affairs master's degree program. A former CLS recipient to Korea in 2012, he completed his bachelor's degree in Intercultural Communication at Missouri State University. Mellish currently works as a graduate assistant for USC's International Student Services.
Witkin is a senior majoring in International Studies and Russian in the South Carolina Honors College. She is a CLS alumna, having participated in the 2015 program in Nizhny Novgorod. Anna is completing her senior year abroad at Moscow State University. She has accepted a position in the U.S. Foreign Service.
DAAD RISE Summer Research and DAAD RISE Professional
Three USC students have been awarded DAAD RISE summer research internships: Alexis Bantle, Justin DuRant, and William Rivers. Another student, Sky Jacques, has been awarded the DAAD Rise Professional for fall 2017. These students will complete a summer research internship at top German universities and research institutions, as well as in industry. All students are members of the South Carolina Honors College.
Bantle is a sophomore biology major and a chemistry minor. As a student in Dr. Beth Krizek's lab conducting research on plant genetics, Bantle plans to pursue a career in science research. At the University, she holds the Cooper Scholarship.
DuRant, a senior, is seeking dual degrees in biological science and music performance (organ). Named a national NOAA Hollings Scholar his sophomore year, he studied air quality as it relates to transportation sector emissions this past summer at the Earth System Research Lab (ESRL) in Boulder, CO. On campus, he was awarded the University's Magellan Scholarship and the Honors College SURF Grant for an ongoing research project to examine the impact of nuclear power plants in SC. He plans to continue his career as a science researcher. DuRant is a Palmetto Fellow and Lieber Scholar, both awarded by the University.
Rivers is a sophomore majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology with a minor in Spanish. He is certified as an Emergency Medical Technician and serves as public health chair for Engineers Without Borders (USC chapter). At USC, Rivers is a Carolina Scholar, holding the Winn Carolina Scholarship. He conducts research to understand the mechanism of iron regulation in the lab of Dr. Caryn Outten, department of chemistry and biochemistry.
RISE Germany offers about 300 summer research internships in Germany for undergraduate students from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In their internships, students are carefully matched with doctoral students whom they assist and who serve as their mentors. Interns receive a monthly stipend to cover every day costs. RISE Germany internships were first offered in 2005 to applicants from the United States and Canada, with the program extended to the United Kingdom in 2009. The program objective remains to promote student exchange to Germany in the fields of natural science, engineering and life sciences, and to motivate undergraduate students to learn more about Germany's research landscape and study opportunities. The awarding of these three DAAD RISE internships brings the total winners at USC to 18.
Jaques is a junior majoring in chemical engineering with minors in business and German. A (Robert) McNair Scholar, she will intern this fall at BASF's headquarters in Ludwigshafen, Germany, working primarily on a research project about polymers in paint formulations. RISE Professional offers summer research internships in Germany to Master's and Ph.D. students from North America at companies and non-university research institutions with strong relations to industry. Alumni of the RISE Summer Research Internship are also invited to apply and Jacques is a 2016 alumna of that program.
Students interested in the CLS, DAAD RISE and other national fellowships are assisted by the Office of Fellowships & Scholar Programs. For more information, contact the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs »