Eleven Brown students have been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study critical languages abroad over the summer. The students will spend seven to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes in 14 countries where these languages are spoken. The CLS Program provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. CLS Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers. The State Department launched the program in 2006 to increase opportunities for American students to study critical-need languages overseas. The Brown students who will participate in the program are Matthew Aks (Chinese in China), Jonathan Bateman (Arabic in Jordan), Maggie Chung (Japanese in Japan), Ellen Duong (Chinese in China), David Fossum (Turkish in Turkey), Lindsay Gross (Persian in Tajikistan), Spencer Jaffe (Arabic in Jordan), Chantal Raff Berman (Arabic in Morocco), Jason Reeder (Arabic in Tunisia), Julia Sheehy-Chan (Arabic in Jordan), Katherine Sola (Arabic in Jordan) and Spencer Parsons (Arabic in Morocco).