Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS)
Three Stanford Global Studies centers provide Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students, either during the academic year or over the summer, through the U.S. Department of Education.
Academic year fellowships provide $10,000 in tuition and $5,000 stipend for students in any discipline for intensive language study at Stanford—at the intermediate (2nd year) or advanced (3rd year+) level—in conjunction with international or area studies courses. Summer FLAS Fellowships provide summer tuition plus $2,500 stipends to students enrolled in intensive summer language programs in the U.S. or abroad.
To apply for these opportunities visit the following program funding pages:
Testimonials from past grant recipients:
Caroline Bailey, Kichwa
Caroline Bailey, a Ph.D. candidate in English, received a FLAS fellowship from the Center for Latin American Studies to study Kichwa, a Quechuan language spoken by Ecuadorians living in the Amazon.
Rose Adams, Korean
East Asian studies master's student Rose Adams received two FLAS fellowships from the Center for East Asian Studies for her thesis on depictions of women in North Korean post-famine cinema and to study the Korean language.
Yuki Hoshino, Korean
History Ph.D. student Yuki Hoshino received a FLAS fellowship from the Center for East Asian Studies to study Korean at Middlebury's Summer Language School.
Meilinda Sun, Japanese
Computer science major Meilinda Sun, '22 received a FLAS fellowship from the Center for East Asian Studies to study Japanese at Middlebury's Summer Language School.
Nancy J. Hamilton, Japanese
East Asian studies master's student Nancy J. Hamilton received a FLAS fellowship from the Center for East Asian Studies to study Japanese.
Marleny De Leon, Portuguese
Latin American studies master's student Marleny De Leon received a FLAS fellowship to study Portuguese in Brazil over the summer.
Margaret Hong, Korean
Margaret Hong received a FLAS fellowship from the Center for East Asian Studies to study Korean.
The FLAS fellowship offered a unique opportunity to learn Quechua, an indigenous language from the Andes. I took Quechua language courses both at Stanford and in Cusco, Peru. This was vital, not just for my personal growth, but also for facilitating my understanding of indigenous human rights in the Andes, which was my academic area of study. This experience supplemented my M.A. program’s interdisciplinary curriculum with Quechua language courses that have been vital to my present and future endeavors. Particularly, the language courses allowed me to further my knowledge of indigenous peoples in Latin America and equipped me with the tools to become an effective indigenous rights advocate. My studies gave me a theoretical understanding of Latin American history and politics, as well as basic Quechua language skills. However, taking intermediate courses in Quechua enhanced my learning process by helping me understand the role that indigenous communities play within Latin America, specifically the Andes region.
