USC graduate students are invited to apply for this award with the consent of their home departments or schools. The award is primarily intended to assist students as they strengthen their Chinese, Japanese, or Korean language skills. These awards are funded by the U.S. Department of Education through its Title VI grant to the East Asian Studies Center.
Eligibility:
You are eligible for the fellowship if you:
* are a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
* are accepted for graduate training in East Asian area studies at USC
* agree to pursue full-time study for the duration of the award
Selection Criteria:
* Your academic performance and potential as evidenced by your GRE scores, GPA, class and department ranking, three letters of recommendation (including a language reference), and statement of purpose.
* The extent to which your overall course of study focuses on East Asian studies. The extent to which your immediate study plan includes appropriate language training through formal study. East Asian languages approved for these awards are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Preference is given for language study where letter grades are earned.
* The level of your planned language study. FLAS awards may not be used for first year language study and are not intended for native speakers of the target language. Summer language study must be undertaken at a U.S. Department of Education approved institution.
Additional information:
Academic year fellowships are awarded for nine months. Past awardees may reapply but in no case will students be granted more than four academic years of FLAS support.
Each awardee must enroll in regularly offered language or reading courses for the duration of the award. Awardees are required to complete an on-line performance report at the end of the award period.
Each awardee will also be required to participate in the Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPI) at the beginning and end of the award period. All costs associated with the OPI interviews will be covered by the USC East Asian Studies Center.
The academic year award consists of a $15,000 stipend, plus tuition remission at USC or up to $12,000 for tuition at another institution.
These grants may be combined with supplementary funding from other funding agencies, however in cases of parallel large grants (NSF's, Japan Foundation, Monbusho, multiple quarter TA-ships, etc.), recipients will have to decide which grant to accept and pairing will not be allowed. You are required to inform the Center of any awards (apart from graduate student fee waivers) which you may receive during the award period.
Summer stipends are $2,500. Tuition grants are up to $4,000. Summer language study at particularly expensive institutions may require recipients to locate supplementary funding.
FLAS applications are due: February 6, 2009.
Please find the application form attached below. It can also be accessed from the EASC website at:
http://college.usc.edu/east_asian_studies/private/fall_2008/20092010_FLAS_Application_Form.pdf
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the East Asian Studies Center at 213.740.2991 or easc@usc.edu.