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Northern Illinois University

Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Student Funding

CSEAS sponsors two awards for graduate students.

Clark and Arlene Neher Graduate Fellowship For the Study of Southeast Asia

Through an endowment established by Clark and Arlene Neher, this fellowship will pay $5,200 toward educational expenses in addition to a tuition waiver from the graduate school. This award competition is open to any person regardless of their national origin. This award shall also be granted without regard to citizenship, race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, or sexual orientation.

Applicants must be in good standing at NIU, at an advanced stage in their program, either master's and/or doctoral, and be planning field and/or archival research in Southeast Asian studies. The fellowship may be used to support research related expenses with funds obtained through the mechanism of refund on Bursar accounts with zero balance.

The NIU Foundation no longer processes any check requests to be paid directly to students. Therefore, this award will be routed through the Office of Student Financial Aid and applied directly to the student's Bursar account.

Application deadline is February 1 (or first business day thereafter).

Application for Clark and Arlene Neher Graduate Fellowship

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS)Fellowship

Each year the Center selects a number of qualified students for Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships (FLAS) funded by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Program. NIU offers the following Southeast Asian languages:

  • Burmese
  • Indonesian
  • Khmer (Cambodia)
  • Tagalog (Philippines)
  • Thai

To learn more about the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and its Southeast Asian language program visit Courses in Southeast Asian Languages and www.seasite.niu.edu.

In reviewing applications, the Fellowships Committee will currently give consideration to the following criteria (not inclusive and not in order):

  • the degree to which the applicant has taken Southeast Asian area courses in his/her major field as well as courses in other departments
  • the clarity of the applicant’s need for language training and how this language will be used
  • the level of language to be studied (Priority will be given to advanced students)
  • the degree being sought

We encourage applications from students at all levels, but some priority will be given to M.A./M.S. students with a commitment to a career in government service, e.g., translation, diplomatic, foreign service, international trade, security, cultural attaché, Peace Corps, or other positions within the federal government.

See Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for more details.

Application deadline is February 1 (or first business day thereafter).

Application for Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship