MIDDLE EAST FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND AREA STUDIES FELLOWSHIPS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships support graduate students who will study Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish and Urdu as an integral part of an academic program.

Applicants must plan to enroll full-time in a graduate degree program at NYU for 2008-09. Incoming applicants to NYU and currently enrolled NYU students are eligible to apply. Students from all NYU graduate degree programs in all NYU graduate schools are eligible to receive FLAS Fellowships.

FLAS applicants should have scholarly and professional interests that focus on the Middle East and must demonstrate a strong commitment to the study of the Middle East in their applications.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status.

Competitive priorities for 2008-09 FLAS fellowships include 1) applicants who will achieve advanced level language proficiency before graduation and 2) master's level applicants who plan to pursue careers in government and public service , and 3) applicants studying the Less Commonly Taught Languages, as defined by the Department of Education (Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu).

There are three kinds of FLAS fellowships.

The Academic Year FLAS fellowships will consist of 24 points of NYU tuition remission and a stipend of approximately $21,000. Academic Year FLAS may be used for study abroad at institutions where all courses are taught in the target language.

Doctoral students who have completed course work may apply for Research Abroad awards to support extended research projects in the Middle East that will incorporate language acquisition equivalent to two semesters of language study; the awards will consist of NYU maintenance of matriculation fees and a stipend of approximately $15,000.

Summer FLAS fellowships cover the cost of full tuition plus a stipend of approximately $2,500. Summer language awards must be used to attend programs that meet language proficiency standards set by the U.S. Department of Education. A listing of summer language programs, some of which meet USDE standards, can be found on our website at http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast/3_summer_language.html

Attendance at any particular summer program with a FLAS fellowship will be contingent upon the availability of matching funds beyond the $4,000 Department of Education tuition cap.

Summer 2008 & Academic Year 2008-09
Application deadline:
January 31, 2008

APPLICATION FORMS

Academic Year:
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Application Academic Year 2008-2009
AY Recommendation form. Note, applicants need two copies of the form (one for each professor)

Research Abroad:
Application for Research Abroad (2008-09)
Research Abroad Recommendation Form. Note, applicants need two copies of the form (one for each professor)

Summer FLAS Fellowships:
Summer 2008 Application
Summer Recommendation Form. Note, applicants need two copies of the form (one for each professor)

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND AREA STUDIES (FLAS) FELLOWSHIPS - GENERAL GUIDELINES

1. All awards are subject to U.S. Department of Education guidelines.
2. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or have permanent resident status.
3. Eligible languages of study at NYU are Arabic, Hebrew, Pashto, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu. Applicants may apply to study other modern Middle East languages in order to support research on the Middle East. Competitive priority will be given to applicants studying the Less Commonly Taught Languages, as defined by the Department of Education (Arabic, Pashto, Persian, and Turkish) and to second ME language acquisition, for those who have already achieved advanced proficiency in one ME language.
4. Students in all graduate degree-granting programs at NYU are eligible to apply. Competitive priority will be given to master's level students and applicants who are considering careers in government, public service, and professional fields.
5. Students at all levels of language proficiency, except those with native fluency, are encouraged to apply. Competitive priority will be given to students who plan to achieve Advanced level proficiency before graduation.
6. All applications must include a statement of purpose, a current transcript, and two letters of recommendation (preferably, one from a language instructor). Applicants to both summer and academic year submit only one set of supporting materials.

Summer 2008 Awards

1. Summer awards are for language study. Applications for research or non-language programs will be rejected.
2. Each individual program of language study must be approved by the Department of Education in advance of any payment for tuition or stipend (at least one month before the start of the language program).
3. Eligible programs must be the equivalent of one year of language study with a minimum of 140 classroom hours.
4. Students at the Elementary level are limited to studying at programs within the U.S. Students at Intermediate and Advanced levels are eligible to study outside the U.S.
5. Each award will include full tuition and will provide a stipend of approximately $2,500.
6. Preference will be given to applicants who have applied for other sources of funding, if available. Applicants must advise the Center if other funding is awarded.
7. Attendance at any particular summer program with a FLAS fellowship will be contingent upon the availability of matching funds beyond the $4,000 Department of Education tuition cap.
8. FLAS fellows may receive funding from other sources to cover tuition above the $4,000 tuition cap.

1. Students must have full-time status (a minimum of 12 points each semester), or full-time equivalency status, in 2008-09.
2. Students must enroll in at least one language and one Middle East area studies course each semester.

Research Abroad 2008-09 Awards

1. Applicants must be doctoral students who have completed all course work.
2. Research Abroad awards support research performed outside the U.S. during the period September 2008 through May 2009.
3. A project proposal must be approved by the Department of Education no later than August 15, 2008, before the award is final.
4. Use of the target language in the research project must be the equivalent of one year of language study. Enrollment in language study programs is not covered by research abroad awards.
5. Research abroad applications must include a one-page dissertation abstract and a one-page project proposal.
6. Preference will be given to applicants who apply for other sources of funding, if available. Applicants must advise the Center if other funding is awarded.

The Title VI FLAS Fellowship program at NYU is administered under the directives of the Office of International Education Programs, Office of Postsecondary Education, US Department of Education.

For information about FLAS and other USDE OPE programs, follow this link to their home page:
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/iegps/index.html

For further information, please contact Bill Carrick

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