Christopher Beardsley, an M.P.A./M.A. (IR) student in the Maxwell School, has been named a 2022 Boren Fellow. Boren Awards fund students to study critical languages through immersive experiences abroad. Applicants must articulate a commitment to public service and national security.

Beardsley will study through the Boren African Languages Flagship Initiative (AFLI). He will study Kiswahili at the University of Gainesville in Florida from June to July and will live in Arusha, Tanzania, from August to November to continue his language studies.

“Much like my opportunities with the Peace Corps in Rwanda and the Fulbright in South Africa, the Boren Fellowship furthers new opportunities for cross-cultural exchange and connection,” Beardsley says.

By studying Kiswahili in Tanzania, Beardsley will gain insights into Tanzania’s historical role in the Non-Aligned Movement and as a Front Line State in its struggle against colonialism, both of which are significant to the future liberation of the Global South.

All applicants for the Boren Awards must participate in a campus review process to apply, through which they work closely with advisors in the Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising (CFSA) and the University’s faculty Boren representatives—Christopher Green, associate professor of languages, literatures and linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and John McPeak, professor of public administration and international affairs in the Maxwell School—to revise their application essays.

“We are so excited for Christopher to add to his knowledge of African languages and cultures through Boren’s AFLI program,” says Melissa Welshans, CFSA’s assistant director. “We have no doubt that this experience will further prepare him for a successful career with the federal government.”