Cyrus Green, a graduate student in Ball State University’s College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM), has been awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship to fund seven months of language and cultural study in Tajikistan during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Green, an Oxford, Ohio, native, is the first student in Ball State’s history to receive the prestigious fellowship.
“We are incredibly proud of Cyrus, and thrilled he was selected as our University’s first-ever Boren Fellow,” said Dr. Paaige Turner, CCIM dean. “At Ball State, we strive to engage our students in educational, research, and creative endeavors that empower them to have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives enriched by lifelong learning and service. Cyrus’ hard work reflects very positively on our University’s mission.”
Green, who was selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and has Spanish, French, and Farsi language proficiency, is pursuing his Master of Science in the nationally-ranked Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) at Ball State. He said his Boren Fellowship will allow him to carry out an internship and study Persian through the American Councils Eurasian Regional Language Program in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
“It’s an honor to become Ball State University’s first Boren Fellowship recipient,” Green said. “The concentrated classroom instruction, daily contact with my host family, and an internship with Persian-speaking colleagues will create an immersive environment and culminate in my advanced Persian proficiency.”
Cyrus came to Ball State from Miami University in Ohio, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in international studies in 2019. As a senior, he was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Award, which took him to Argentina as an English Teaching Assistant, but his time there was quickly cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. At Ball State, Cyrus has served as a graduate assistant at the CICS.
The federally-funded Boren Fellowship Program awards up to $25,000 to U.S. graduate students pursuing academic studies in non-western countries, with a focus on language proficiency and cultural immersion. All fellowship recipients are required to work for the U.S. government for at least one year after completing their academic degrees.
The fellowship is part of the larger Boren Awards Program, which includes a Boren Scholarship for undergraduates. To date, Ball State has had two scholarship recipients. For more information about the program, visit www.borenawards.org.