UA Student Receives Boren Scholarship to Study in Brazil

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — University of Alabama student Sean Atchison has received a Boren Scholarship for the study of languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad.

Atchison, of Chatom, will study Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with an emphasis on Brazilian culture, history and politics.

Atchison is a junior majoring in interdisciplinary studies with a depth study in Latin American studies and a minor in Spanish. He’s part of the UA Honors College, Blackburn Institute and Alabama International Relations Club.

After graduation, Atchison hopes to work for the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer on the political officer track. His long-term goal is to work in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in U.S. foreign policy concerning Brazil and nations in the Southern Cone.

Boren Scholarships, an initiative of the National Security Education Program, provide funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate students to study less commonly taught languages in such regions as Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Boren Scholarship recipients represent a vital pool of highly motivated individuals who wish to work in the federal national security arena. In exchange for funding, Boren Scholarship recipients commit to working in the federal government for at least one year after graduation. Amounts range from $8,000 for a summer program to $25,000 for six-to-12 months of study.

The UA Office of External Scholarships and Fellowships assists students in the pursuit of national and international awards. The Capstone International Center provides advising and workshops for a variety of external international awards, including Fulbright, Boren, Critical Languages and Gilman. Dr. Tayler Kent is the UA Boren campus representative.