FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE STUDENT RECEIVES $10,000 SCHOLARSHIP TO STUDY IN JORDAN

Good things are happening for Drake University junior Brittany Buchholz this summer.

She recently won a $10,000 scholarship this month from the National Security Education Program; she's working on public health issues in her hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa; and she's preparing to spend the next academic year in Jordan, South Africa and Washington, D.C.

"I'm working this summer at the Blackhawk County Department of Health in Cedar Falls-Waterloo," Buchholz said. "But I'm also getting ready for Jordan. I'm leaving Aug. 28 and I'll be back Dec. 15. Then I'll spend Christmas at home, and then I'll leave to spend the spring semester at American University in Washington, D.C."

Buchholz will use her National Security Education Program's David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarship to study Middle Eastern culture and the Arabic language in Amman, Jordan, during the fall 2004 semester. Then she'll spend the spring 2005 semester at American University in Washington, D.C. She also will travel to South Africa for three weeks during her semester at American.

"Over the past few years, I have become increasingly fascinated with Arab culture - specifically Islamic traditions and Middle Eastern political processes," she said. "For that reason, I chose to study Modern Standard Arabic through DULAP [Drake University Language Acquisition Program], and I entered the School for International Training program, which is how I ended up being able to go to Jordan." SIT is Drake University's study-abroad affiliate.

Buchholz' studies in Jordan will focus on "Modernization and Social Change."

"I am concerned about whether or not public health issues are affected by cultural, gender and religious issues," Buchholz said. "Islamic culture will be very important to the research I am doing."
Buchholz credits much of her recent success to DULAP, an independent study program in which she is studying Modern Standard Arabic.

DULAP, which begins its third year this fall, offers courses in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, German, Japanese, Spanish and Italian.

Drake Associate Professor and DULAP Director Jan Marston said Buchholz' participation in the program became a critical component of her NSEP award. "Brittany started with the program when it began two years ago," Marston added. "Participants must be very aggressive because there are no teachers - we have outside examiners who come in at mid-semester and the end of the semester. The students have to find and work with native speakers, and they have to work very, very hard to develop an electronic portfolio.

"DULAP is not just about language, however. It's about strategic communication, because you don't study language in the abstract. Our premise is we have very small groups, and Brittany has been the only one in her group of students at her level. She knows what she wants and is very motivated to utilize the assets we have. We're thrilled about her scholarship, and for her."

The NSEP was established by the National Security Education Act of 1991, which created the National Security Education Board, the National Security Education Program, and a trust fund in the U.S. Treasury to provide resources for scholarships, fellowships and grants. Its mission is to educate U.S. citizens about foreign cultures, and to strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and enhance international cooperation and security.

Buchholz plans to graduate in 2006 and spend a couple of years in the Peace Corps before finding a job dealing with international relations and public health issues. "The scholarship has a work requirement, so I hope I'll be working somewhere for the federal government in national security," she said. "I guess it can be seen as a requirement, but I'm looking at it as a boost when I get out of school."