A Program of the 
Alumni Development Fund
The CLS Alumni Development Fund (ADF) periodically offers small grants to alumni
of the CLS Program through a competitive application process. The ADF has provided opportunities for alumni to continue their language
learning, pursue career development goals, and participate in community
outreach related to CLS languages and their corresponding world
regions. Particular emphasis is placed on projects with an impact beyond
the individual applicant, reaching students, CLS alumni, or others in
their community.
The ADF is not currently open for applications.
Examples of previous Alumni Development Fund projects can be found below.
Kurt Ebsary (Swahili 2017), 2017 ADF recipient, recorded and produced a CD “Mwamba wa Imani Langu (Rock of my Peace)” which is a musical collaboration with Swahili speaking artists in Buffalo, NY. One of the musicians he met was Gabby Kaleja, a refugee of the Congo who arrived in the U.S in 2016 via Zambia. The recording sessions brought family and friends into the studio to record backing harmon…
Kurt Ebsary
Swahili 2017
Swahili 2017
Eric Young (Arabic 2015), Joshua Von Trapp (Arabic 2016), Henry Thompson (Arabic 2017) and Aaron Davis (Arabic 2015), 2017 ADF recipients, launched a series of 20 lectures delivered by thirteen different speakers in Arabic at Brigham Young University. Each lecture was preceded by a consultation with the speaker that served to help the speaker select a culturally interesting topic and tailor their…
Eric Young
Arabic 2015
Arabic 2015
Joshua Von Trapp
Arabic 2016
Arabic 2016
Henry Thompson
Arabic 2017
Arabic 2017
Aaron Davis
Arabic 2015
Arabic 2015
Niki Murphy (Korean 2015), a 2016 ADF recipient, collaborated with the Maryland Institute College of Art to organize a Korean film screening as part of Discovering Cultural Diversity in Film, a two-day film festival showcasing full-length and short films from Korea, Turkey, France, and others. With the support of ADF, Niki was able to invite filmmakers Jennifer Cho Suhr and Shirley Kim-ryu to pre…
Niki Murphy
Korean 2015
Korean 2015
Benjamin Ditter (Chinese 2016), a 2016 ADF recipient, used his award to support a series of academic colloquia at the University of Washington – Seattle that covered various topics in the humanities, all related to China and conducted in Mandarin. These events provided a platform for Mandarin-speaking graduate students to present their work and receive feedback, as well as providing practice for …
Benjamin Ditter
Chinese 2016
Chinese 2016
Sara Davidson (Korean 2011), a 2016 ADF recipient, used her grant to host a series outreach meetings for Korean college students interested in study abroad and international engagement. She held events in Cheonju, Daejeon, and Seoul at local cafes near major universities in each city. “Engagement like this (particularly in a friendly, positive, and intellectually stimulating environment), even ju…
Sara Davidson
Korean 2011
Korean 2011
Nicole Conseugra (Chinese 2016) and Franklin Hernandez (Chinese 2016), 2016 ADF recipients, used their grant to plan and host a Chinese New Year Gala Program at Florida International University on February 4th. The event was meant to promote education and awareness of China’s most important social and economic holiday, as well as to broaden interest in Mandarin courses and Chinese culture at FIU.…
Nicole Conseugra
Chinese 2016
Chinese 2016
Franklin Hernandez
Chinese 2016
Chinese 2016
Katia Chaterji (Indonesian 2016), a 2016 ADF recipient, invited esteemed Javanese musician Ki Midiyanto to the University of Washington’s Seattle Campus to tune and repair their gamelan instruments and shadow puppets. The project also supported several events, including several lectures, performances, and dinners through which the campus and greater Seattle community had the opportunity to meet M…
Katia Chaterji
Indonesian 2016
Indonesian 2016
Sarah Calderone (Russian 2012), a 2016 ADF recipient, used funds allocated to her through ADF to participate in a research presentation at a roundtable at an academic conference and a student panel at her university. She presented her research at a roundtable titled “New Research and Approaches to the Study of Migration in Russia” at the annual convention of the Association for Slavic, East Europ…
Sarah Calderone
Russian 2012
Russian 2012
Elizabeth Buckner (Arabic 2008), a 2016 ADF recipient, coordinated and hosted a public event that highlighted student and faculty research that is related to refugee education, focused on the Middle East and North Africa, and, more specifically, on responses to the Syrian refugee crisis. Six speakers addressed various aspects of these issues and shared their academic works with the audience (appr…
Elizabeth Buckner
Arabic 2008
Arabic 2008
Patrick Bohnenkamp (Arabic 2015), a 2016 ADF recipient, used his funding to hold two community forums titled “Arabic: A Language of Beauty and History” at the Fort Madison Public Library in Fort Madison, Iowa. He wanted to provide an environment in which he could share his experiences with learning Arabic with his community as well as encourage dialogue. He provided Arab snacks and sweets along w…
Patrick Bohnenkamp
Arabic 2015
Arabic 2015