David L. Boren Awards for International Study

Boren Fellows design their own programs.  Study of a foreign language appropriate to the identified country or region must be an integral part of the proposal, and, in addition, Fellows can also do overseas academic study, research (either master’s or Ph.D. level), an academic internship, or any combination of those elements.  Boren Fellows can be funded for 12 weeks to one year overseas, and may also receive additional funding for domestic language study.  While longer study overseas can be more compelling, the length of the fellowship will generally be guided by the project itself and the amount of time that will be needed to complete it.   

1. Language Study.  Regardless of the type of project developed, all fellowship proposals must include a significant language component.  Since the Boren Fellowships focus on less commonly studied languages, it is fine if you have never formally studied the language before.  However, you should do all that you can do now to at least familiarize yourself with the language. 
   1. Overseas Language Study.  While overseas, beginning to intermediate language learners should include some form of classroom-based language study.  It should not be limited to the classroom, however, and opportunities for learning the language outside of the classroom should be explored.  Consider seeking out a language partner or hiring a tutor, and explore ways to get involved in the local community.  If you are proposing to purely do language study during the fellowship period, you must clearly articulate how the knowledge of the proposed language is critical to your academic and professional pursuits. Regardless of whether you enroll in an official course, your fellowship application should include a plan for continuing to study the language once you return from your time abroad. 
   2. Domestic Language Study.  You may wish to take language coursework domestically to complement your proposed overseas program.  For most applicants, this funding is limited to summer-intensive study immediately before, or immediately following, the overseas portion of the award. If you are in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics field, you may also apply for domestic language funding during the academic year. 
2. Additional Coursework.  In addition to increasing language proficiency, you may wish to propose a course of classroom study in area or cultural studies relating to the language and/or region of interest.  You may also propose to enroll in coursework related to your discipline while abroad.
3. Research.  Fellows can conduct research to be used for a graduate-level research paper, a master’s thesis, a pre-dissertation/feasibility study, or a PhD dissertation.  The proposed research must be closely linked to your course of study.  While the research is conducted independently, you will need to work closely with your academic advisors to design a feasible research plan, and you must have a host country affiliation before arriving in country.  
4. Academic Internship.  As long as it is an integrated and meaningful component of your academic program, the Boren Fellowship can be used to do an internship with a local organization overseas.  The internship cannot be paid nor affiliated with the U.S. or a foreign government.  Previous Boren Fellows have interned at non-governmental organizations such as Centre for Civil Society, National Institute of Urban Affairs, and ActionAid India.

Fellows may be funded to focus completely on linguistic and cultural immersion, but, often, Fellows combine two or more of the options. You must clearly explain your proposal in the application, including how you will advance your language proficiency, and you should link your activities to issues of national security, broadly defined.  You may want to review the list of projects being completed by current Boren Fellows to get an idea of the types of projects that can be conducted.  You may also find it helpful to read what makes a competitive application before you begin writing your proposal.