Doctoral Student Awarded Boren Fellowship
Doctoral Student Awarded Boren Fellowship
Calista Boyd, a PhD student in the department, won a Boren Fellowship to study Arabic in Amman, Jordan, for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Boren Fellowships are awarded to US graduate students who demonstrate academic excellence and a strong commitment to public service, and who complete federal service upon finishing their degree program.
Boyd is also completing a Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) II fellowship through the Qasid Arabic Institute. She is partnering with an associate professor of political science from the University of Jordan, Mohamed Al-Khraisha, and the vice dean of student affairs and an assistant professor of politics and economics at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Ramzy Radaideh, to make progress in her dissertation research on organizational behavior of Jordanian political parties under democratic reform and their participation in popular social movements.
Throughout her Boren and CASA II fellowships, she also remains in language enhancement courses, focusing on both colloquial Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic advancements. The CASA II fellowship requires students to make three presentations/guest lectures about their research progression throughout the spring at various Jordanian universities, as well as to participate in a weekly research forum with the director of the Qasid Arabic Institute and the other fellows.