General
Fellowships and Application Information
African Language and Area Studies Fellowships
at Michigan State University
Under the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship
Program
of the U.S. Department of Education
PURPOSE
The Foreign Language
and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship Program is designed to meet critical
needs for specialists in American education, government and "other
service of a public nature" who will utilize their skills in training
others, and in developing throughout the United Stated a wider knowledge
and understanding of other countries and cultures. Fellowships are awarded
to graduate students for advanced training in a modern foreign language
and an international studies program. See the attached flyer for the
specific proposed languages and eligible departments at Michigan State
University.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
To be considered
for fellowship support in this program, you must:
- Be a citizen
or a permanent resident of the United States.
- Provide reasonable
assurance that upon the completion of your training, you will:
a. Teach in an institution of higher education, or in an elementary
or secondary school in the United States, or
b. Be available for service of a public nature as an employee of a governmental
agency, of an international organization in which the United Stated
participates, or of a private (for profit or non-profit and non-sectarian)
organization which contributes significantly to international understanding.
- Have earned a
baccalaureate or a comparable degree before the fellowship period begins
and be admitted to or currently enrolled in a graduate degree program
at Michigan State University.
- Intend to complete
an advanced graduate program at Michigan State University, normally
to the Ph.D. level, with a concentration on Africa.
In addition,
applicants are expected:
- a. To use the
language of award in a substantial way for dissertation research.
b. Submit
a description of dissertation topic and research as outlined in the
application instructions.
- Agree to pursue
full time graduate study and propose a course of study that includes
both language training and related area course work. (Students at dissertation
stage may engage in full time research, if the previous criteria and
other related requirements are met and if they have been given permission
to do so by the Program Coordinator.) The course of study for the academic
year must include a minimum of two semesters of the study of an African
language and two courses of African area studies courses. The area
courses should be selected from a list of courses from the African
Studies Core Curriculum. On occasion, other courses may be substituted
for those on the core curriculum in consultation with the Program Coordinator
if the substituted course is taught by an Africanist faculty member
and at least one-half of the course concerns Africa.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The U. S. Department
of Education (U.S./E.D.) lists the following criteria for the selection of Nominees
and Alternates:
- A high level of
academic ability as evidenced by such indices as grade point average
or other measures. (At MSU, applicants are expected to meet the normal
criteria for fellowships on this campus-preferably to have an undergraduate
GPA and/or graduate grades of 3.5 or better, good GRE scores, and strong
letters of recommendation.)
- Preference will
be given to persons likely to complete a Ph.D. and use the African
language studied in their research or field work.
- Students who
do not owe a referral on any federal or state grants or who are not
in default on any Federal (national) or state educational loans.
LANGUAGE STUDY
Fellows must be
enrolled in their language of concentration for each term they hold
the fellowship until they have achieved advanced competency relevant
to field research in the language and have completed all requirements
for the Ph.D. degree except the dissertation.
The purpose of the
language training program is to provide the student of Africa with advanced
competency for use in archival and field research work using the language;
therefore, the student should demonstrate that the language for which
he/she applies is likely to be utilized in advanced research. Normally
the student should not begin a new language until advanced competency
is achieved in languages already initiated.
TERMS OF THE
AWARD
- Award benefits
include:
a. Payment of most tuition and fees (both applicable to normal core
college rates) up to the amount allowed by the U.S./E.D.
b. A stipend of $15,000 for the academic year. If it becomes necessary
to resign or withdraw during the year, the award will be prorated on
a monthly basis.
- Fellows are expected
to engage in full time graduate study and to register for 9-12 credits,
including one language course each term and two area studies courses
each academic year.
- Fellows must enroll
in two African area courses from the Center Core Curriculum for each
year of the award. One of the courses must be outside the college of
the student's major field. The other must be one of the Center's interdisciplinary
courses or seminars. Permission from the Program Coordinator is needed
if the area studies courses are less than 2 credit hours each.
- By the end of
the second year of holding one of the Center's fellowships, a student
must have taken one of the following seminars: (a) Archival and Library
Research Methods for Africa or (b) Field Research Methods in Africa.
- In the first
year of holding a fellowship, all new fellows are required to attend
a one-evening seminar concerning library materials about Africa at
MSU under the direction of one of our two library specialists in the
Africana Collection.
- The student must
include at least one member of the African Studies Core Faculty on
the doctoral studies and dissertation committee(s) as a channel for
insight and resources in planning the student's graduate program.
- For students
at dissertation stage (who have completed prelims and Ph.D. residence
requirements): you may register for 2 credits of research. Since we
must submit anticipated tuition costs at the time of nomination, please
do the following if you are applying for an award during the year you
are writing your dissertation. If you do not plan to take prelims until
next fall, list 9 credits of research of courses for the first semester
on your application. If you take and pass prelims by the end of the
third week of classes and have completed Ph.D. residence requirements,
you will then be permitted to drop to 2 credits of research. Or, if
you must take courses in addition to 2 credits of research, list these
in the proposed course of study with a notation of the reasons, e.g.,
minor field requirement, additional course required by the major department,
or essential for dissertation research.
- Fellowships are
only for the academic year (September-May). Renewals are not automatic;
you must reapply each year.
- Employment, no
more than half-time teaching/research assistantship, limited to a quarter-time
research position, is permitted if it
is related to your program of study. It is preferred that FLAS fellows
work no more than 10 hours a week unlesss the employment they get is
only half-time assistantship.
- Final reports from Fellows are required at the end of the award
year. Detailed contents of these reports may be obtained from Program
Coordinator.
HOW TO APPLY
- All material should
be sent directly to the African Studies Center and should include:
a. Two copies of the attached application form if it is not submitted
online, which is the preferred way. (Keep a third copy for reference.)
b. Copies of transcripts of all undergraduate work and any graduate
work up to the time of the application.
c. At least two letters of recommendation to be completed on the forms
provided by the African Studies Center, plus an additional third one from the instructor if the applicant has taken a formal African language course during the last two years. At least one recommendation
must be from a professor in the student's major department.
d. Graduate Record Examination scores if applicable in the student's
department.
e. Those students who plan to apply later to use their spring semester
FLAS fellowship for dissertation research abroad (e.g. on-site preparatory
language training) should be aware that the U.S. Department of Education
requires the following information be provided before an application
can be considered:
(1) The definition
title of the project and signature of your graduate advisor;
(2) Project statement of purpose;
(3) Definition and delimitation of the precise topic to be investigated;
(4) A description of methods of research;
(5) A statement indicating the foreign language to be used and its
relevance as a major research tool;
(6) A description of any proposed travel within the United States
considered to be research-related;
(7) A statement of progress to date and of work remaining to be done, which should also be confirmed by your academic advisor.
- If you are not
currently a Michigan State University graduate student, you also must
apply for admission to a graduate department. You should refer to the
Graduate School Bulletin in working out your proposed program of study.
(Note: you may obtain applications for Graduate School and a Bulletin
by writing to the department you are interested in.)
TIME CONSTRAINTS: IMPORTANT
!
In order to facilitate
a student's future plans, the Center may conditionally announce fellowship
winners subject to approval of funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
After the federal government announces the number of fellowships to
be awarded to each university, nominees are contacted to accept or reject,
and alternates are notified. This is time-consuming; therefore, it is
extremely important for you to keep the African Studies Center informed
of address changes, of dates and addresses during spring, summer, and
other vacation periods, and of pertinent telephone numbers. For those
who are or will be overseas this summer, the timing is especially critical.
Provide your direct overseas mailing address rather than a forwarding
address. If you apply late or if your packet is not returned in time
to meet the U.S. Department of Education's deadline, you will not be
considered for the award or for approved alternate status.
African Studies
Center
100 International Center
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1035
Tel.: (517) 353-1700
Fax: 517-432-1209
E-mail: fisseha@msu.edu
URL: http://africa.msu.edu/
MSU is on Affirmative
Action, Equal Opportunity Institution.
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