Critical Language Scholarship Program

Woman gazing over a picturesque town in the distance.

The Critical Language Scholarship Program lets US college students from the University of Rochester and elsewhere learn languages essential for global engagement.

Critical Language Scholarship logo.The Critical Language Scholarship Program is a summer study abroad opportunity for American college and university students to learn languages essential to America’s engagement with the world, as well as its national security and economic prosperity. Sponsored by the US Department of State, it is part of a government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages, and to attract college students from diverse academic fields to study the languages offered.

Participants are expected to continue their language skills beyond the scholarship period by applying those skills to their future professional careers.

Learn more about the Critical Language Scholarship Program and other fellowship, scholarship, and award opportunities available to Rochester students.

Recent Critical Language Scholars

Congratulations to our most recent University of Rochester Critical Language Scholars!

Headshot of Clarice.

Clarice McKee ’24
Language: Chinese
Areas of study: History (BA), political science (BA)

The Baldwin, Maryland, native is heading to New Tamkang University in Taipei, Taiwan, to study advanced Chinese. At Rochester, she received the Phi Beta Kappa Suzanne O’Brien Award and was in the history honors program. McKee was a research assistant for faculty in the history and political science departments, served on Mock Trial, and has performed archeology work in the field and in labs in New Mexico, Bermuda, and Colorado. She’ll attend Oxford University to pursue a master’s degree in archaeology with a focus on Asian archaeology.

Headshot of Daniel.

Daniel Thomas ’26
Language: Japanese
Areas of study: History (BA), Japanese (BA)

Thomas is from Pittsburgh, but his mother grew up in Tokyo, so he was exposed to the Japanese language and culture at a young age. He’s heading to Okayama, Japan, to hone his Japanese language skills while challenging himself to develop new understanding of and insights into the culture. He’s a member of the Army ROTC, color guard, and Tiger Battalion at Rochester Institute of Technology. Thomas is a co-fundraising chair for the University’s student organizations Habitat for Humanity and a member of the Japanese Students’ Association. After graduation, he intends to pursue a career in the US Army.

Past Critical Language Scholars and Alternates

2023 Scholars

Jesse Campanelli '25
Language: Mandarin
Area of study: International relations (BA)

Mikhail “Misha” Studenkov '25, ’25E
Language: Japanese
Areas of study: Japanese (BA), jazz piano (BM)

2021 Scholars

Diego Encinas ’23
Language: Portuguese
Areas of study: Psychology (BA) and Latin American studies (BA)
Minor: Anthropology

Jason Hahn ’23
Language: Russian
Area of study: Optical engineering (BS)

Ada Wightman ’21 (declined)
Language: Punjabi
Area of study: History (BA) and international relations (BA)
Minor: East Asian studies

2020 Alternates

John Cole ’19, '20 (T5)
Language: Chinese
Areas of study: Economics (BA) and international relations (BA)

Jennifer Joseph ’20
Language: Arabic
Areas of study: International relations (BA) and French (BA)

2018 Scholars

John W. Cole ’19, '20 (T5)
Language: Chinese
Areas of study: Economics (BA) and international relations (BA)

Joy P. Nicholas ’19
Language: Swahili
Area of study: Health, behavior, and society (BA)
Minor: Anthropology

Jacqueline Tran ’18
Language: Arabic
Area of study: Anthropology (BA)
Minor: Women's studies

2018 Alternate

Madeline R. Clark ’18
Language: Japanese
Areas of study: Linguistics (BA) and Japanese (BA)

2017 Scholars

Daria E. Lynch ’18, ’19 (T5)
Language: Turkish
Area of study: History (BA)
Minor: Turkish studies

Christian Wooddell ’17
Language: Chinese
Area of study: Anthropology (BA)

2017 Alternate

Patrick McConeghy ’17
Language: Japanese
Areas of study: Applied math (BS) and financial economics (BA)

2016 Scholars

Fatima Bawany ’16
Language: Arabic
Areas of study: Religion (BA) and biology (BA)

Aaron Schaffer ’16
Language: Turkish
Area of study: International relations (BA)
Minors: Sustainability and anthropology

Saralinda Schell ’19
Language: Turkish
Areas of study: Computer science (BS) and international relations (BA)

2016 Scholar-Elect

Patrick McConeghy ’17 (declined)
Language: Japanese
Areas of study: Applied math (BS) and financial economics (BA)

2015 Scholar

Aaron Schaffer ’16
Language: Turkish
Area of study: International relations (BA)

2014 Scholar

Daniel K. Webb ’14
Language: Russian
Area of study: Spanish (BA) and Russian (BA)
Minor: Math

2014 Scholar-Elect

Natalie Y. Tjota ’16 (declined)
Areas of study: Biomedical engineering (BS) and East Asian studies (BA)

2014 Alternates

Fatima R. Bawany ’15
Language: Arabic
Areas of study: Religion (BA) and biology (BA)

Dillon Bowman ’15
Language: Arabic
Area of study: International relations (BA)

Kathleen Dickson ’14
Language: Russian
Area of study: Russian (BA)
Minor: International relations

Shyam Venkateswaran ’14
Language: Bangla
Area of study: Biology (BA)

2013 Scholars

Emily N. Hein ’14
Language: Chinese
Area of study: Chinese studies (BA)
Minors: Music and linguistics

Nathaly Luna ’13
Language: Arabic
Area of study: Arabic and Arabic studies (BA)

Samantha R. Whalen ’15
Language: Indonesian
Area of study: Anthropology (BA)

Simone A. Zehren ’14
Language: Turkish
Area of study: Archaeology, technology, and historical structures (BA) and history (BA)

2013 Scholar-Elect

Alexander J. Turpin ’12E, ’13 (T5) (declined)
Language: Russian
Area of study: Applied music: voice (BM)

2013 Alternates

Spencer T. Kingsbury ’13
Language: Chinese
Area of study: Chemical engineering (BS)

Garrett M. Rubin ’12E, ’13 (T5)
Language: Arabic
Area of study: Applied music: voice (BM)

2012 Scholars

Gabrielle E. Cornish ’13
Language: Russian
Area of study: Russian (BA) and music (BA)

Lili C. Sarayrah ’14E
Language: Arabic
Area of study: Applied music: violin (BM)

2012 Alternate

Madeleine M. Klingler ’13
Language: Russian
Area of study: Russian (BA)

2011 Scholars

Aurora B. Dopp ’13
Language: Arabic
Area of study: International relations (BA)

Zachary Palomo ’13
Language: Russian
Areas of study: International relations (BA) and Russian (BA)

2011 Scholar-Elect

Matthew D. Lavigueur ’12 (declined)
Language: Indian
Areas of study: Political science (BA) and international relations (BA)

2010 Scholars

Leah G. Miller ’12
Language: Arabic
Area of study: Linguistics (BA)
Minor: Arabic

Judith A. Tulkoff ’10
Language: Indonesian
Area of study: Political science (BA)

2009 Scholar

Jenna L. Miller ’11
Language: Russian
Area of study: Russian (BA)
Minor: Anthropology

2009 Alternate

Lillian M. Miller ’10
Language: Russian
Area of study: Russian (BA)
Minor: Art history

2008 Scholars

Sukhmit S. Kalsi ’07
Language: Punjabi
Area of study: English (BA)
Minor: Studio arts

Andrew Lee ’08
Language: Chinese
Areas of study: Economics (BA) and math (BA)

2006 Scholar

Nathaniel K. Powell ’06
Language: Arabic
Areas of study: Political science (BA) and French (BA)