Jilia Meli of Allenwood, N.J. awarded federal grant to study Arabic

HAMDEN, CT (04/24/2012)(readMedia)-- Julia Meli of Allenwood, N.J., has received a Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) grant to continue her studies in Arabic.

Meli, a senior political science major in the College of Arts and Sciences at Quinnipiac University, says she initially pursued Arabic studies to challenge herself, but she quickly developed a passion for the language.

The FLAS Fellowship program provides fellowships to institutions of higher education to assist undergraduate and graduate students undergoing training in modern foreign languages and international studies. Eligible students apply directly to an institution that has received an allocation of fellowships from the U.S. Department of Education. Fellowships are available for an academic year or the summer. 

After studying Italian, Latin and Spanish for many years, Meli was ready to tackle another language.

"Foreign languages have always been a strong point of mine. I wanted to study Arabic originally to challenge myself, but I quickly fell in love with the Arabic language and culture," Meli said.

Meli's career goal is to obtain a law degree and a master's degree in Arabic in order to become an international human rights lawyer, focusing on women's rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Being fluent in Arabic is key to achieving all of these goals.

"Because Arabic is so vastly different from English, a program where you are able to immerse yourself is extremely beneficial in obtaining Arabic fluency," Meli said. "The grant allows me to study in a program such as this."

Currently, Meli plans to use the grant to attend the Arabic Persian Turkish Language Immersion Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this summer.

Throughout her studies at Quinnipiac, Meli has taken as many classes pertaining to the study of the Middle East and the Arabic language as possible.

"Julia is very engaged with subject matter pertaining to the Middle East," said Professor Lara Dotson-Renta, supervisor of an independent study on Arab women and political activism which Meli is currently enrolled in. "Furthering her knowledge of Arabic through a competitive grant like the FLAS demonstrates how exceptionally committed she is to increasing the depth of her regional and cultural knowledge."

Quinnipiac is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution located 90 minutes north of New York City and two hours from Boston. The university enrolls more than 6,000 full-time undergraduate and more than 2,000 graduate students in 53 undergraduate and more than 20 graduate programs of study in its School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, School of Health Sciences, School of Law, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine, School of Nursing and College of Arts and Sciences. Quinnipiac consistently ranks among the top regional universities in the North in U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges issue. The 2009 issue of U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges named Quinnipiac as the top up-and-coming school with master's programs in the Northern Region. Quinnipiac also is recognized in Princeton Review's "The Best 376 Colleges." For more information, please visit http://www.quinnipiac.edu. Connect with Quinnipiac on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/quinnipiacuniversity and follow Quinnipiac on Twitter @QuinnipiacU.