Pitt Master of Public and International Affairs (MPIA) student Elaina Claire Hopkins has been selected for the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), a competitive program that provides immersive language and cultural study abroad experiences to students from around the country. She will be spending the summer studying Turkish at Ankara University while living with a local family – an experience she’s eager to begin.
“I’ve always been interested in other cultures and languages,” she explained, “but CLS stood out because of its full cultural immersion, especially the host family component. I’m looking forward to sharing meals, hearing stories, and experiencing the culture in a way you just can’t get from a textbook.”
The CLS program focuses on languages of strategic importance to the United States’ national security, economic prosperity, and engagement with the world. Hopkins, who is pursuing a concentration in human security and has a strong interest in displacement, conflict, and diplomacy, chose Turkish because of its relevance to her academic and career goals. Turkey hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world, and her studies have focused on the intersection of migration, gender, and policy in the region.
“Proficiency in Turkish will make me a more effective advocate when working with displaced populations,” she said. “The program is fast-paced and immersive, and it will help me build the skills I need to contribute to humanitarian response and migration policy in the region.”
Studying at the School of Public and International Affairs has allowed Hopkins to connect her language interests with real-world policy questions, both deepening her commitment to these subjects and making her a strong candidate for the CLS program. She particularly enjoyed courses like Asylum Politics and Policy and research she completed on Kurdish women and displacement, crediting both for developing a strong foundation in the types of regional issues she will be witnessing first-hand this summer. Hopkins has also enjoyed taking advantage of other opportunities within the University, like studying Turkish through the Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center within Pitt's Department of Linguistics.
After graduation, Hopkins hopes to work with an NGO or international organization supporting refugees, with a long-term goal of joining the U.S. Foreign Service. She encourages other students to see the value in their full range of experiences, even if they don't initially seem directly connected to their career path.
“I used to think my background in teaching was unrelated to policy work,” she said, “but the skills I gained – adaptability, cross-cultural communication – it’s all incredibly important to the work I hope to do.”
Students interested our 36-credit MPIA program and the concentration in human security can explore our website to learn more.