Fourth-year College student Benjamin Smith is the first University student in years to win the Center for Arabic Study Abroad fellowship, giving him the opportunity to study Arabic in Cairo, Egypt.
The fellowship, awarded to Smith in March, will pay for his tuition and a monthly $400 stipend for room and board when he begins studying at the American Language Institute at the American University of Cairo for an entire year, starting this June. It also will provide airfare to Cairo.
This is the first time in nearly a decade someone from the University has won the highly selective fellowship, usually given to graduate students from universities with well-established Arabic departments, such as the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley. The fellowship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education in conjunction with the Emory University Center for Advanced Studies in Arabic, is given annually to about 15 students nationwide.
To apply for the scholarship, Smith, a history and Middle Eastern Studies major, took a four- to five-hour written exam and was interviewed in Arabic.
Smith has studied Arabic for the last three years in the University's Arabic studies department. Last summer, he participated in the University's program at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan, an eight-week high-intensity language program.
"I was shocked when I found out I got it," Smith said. "I almost passed out."
Arabic Prof. Muhammed Sawaie said it is a "great accomplishment for someone who has studied four years at U.Va. to compete nationally."
Smith's achievement also is significant to the Arabic studies department.
According to Sawaie, the 22-year-old department is relatively new compared to programs at other universities, but has had between six and eight students win the fellowship.
Arabic Prof. Waddah Al-Khatib said Smith was afraid about studying Arabic because he is not of Arabic descent. Winning the fellowship proves that anyone can succeed in the University's Arabic classes without any Arabic background at all, Al-Khatib said.
"I think it says a lot about the U.Va. undergraduate program, that it's possible to get into" the CASA program, Smith said. "I can't imagine a better experience for language study."
Though Smith is not sure if he wants to pursue graduate study in Arabic, Sawaie said participating in the CASA program "will solidify his language base if he goes into graduate school" or anything else he decides to do.
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