FLAS Fellow Jennifer Ryder
Jennifer Ryder, Portuguese
What is your department and degree?
I am in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, General International Studies Major, West Europe Track.
What do you focus on in your research/studies?
Western Europe. Specifically immigration, extremism, and security.
How has the FLAS impacted your research/studies and career goals?
The FLAS has allowed me to study Portuguese every quarter I have been at the University of Washington. The FLAS funding has taken a great burden off of me as a student to find ways to pay for my education and allowed me to focus on studying what I am interested in, in and out of the classroom. I am now graduating with zero debt, which will allow me to jump right in to the work force or begin grad school without having to pay off student loan debt. I am very grateful to the FLAS for making that possible.
Do you have a favorite word or phrase in the language you study?
5. Favorite word in Portuguese: Saudades. It doesn’t translate exactly to English but basically means a longing for anything (person, place, thing, feeling, time, etc.) that you once experienced but cannot get back. Its a bit of a mixture between nostalgia and missing.
Any else?
I am drawn to the study of Western Europe because I lived there for a year when I was 17. I was a Rotary Youth Exchange Student and I lived in Southern Belgium!