Five UC Davis students have been recognized by the U.S. Department of State as 2022 Critical Language Scholars (CLS). Gurshan Rai ’23, Moriah Shih ’23, Charles Sills ‘25, Carlie Whiteman ’23, and a fifth student (anonymous) will spend 8-10 weeks this summer mastering critical languages and improving their cultural competency as part of the program.

CLS aims to increase the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. Scholars gain skills that enable them to contribute to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. Participants serve as citizen ambassadors, representing American values and the diversity of the United States.

The program is developed in partnership with local institutions in countries where the following languages are commonly spoken:  Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.  Participants receive intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid languages gains. CLS Scholars are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future careers. 

Meet the participants, and read the full article from UC Davis Financial Aid and Scholarships