This summer, 19 students from across campus delved into language through the University of Washington’s federally-funded Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships, which are housed at the Jackson School.
We recently sat down with three FLAS recipients and discussed how the award will support their learning interests, favorite moments from their fellowship, and more.
Robert Chase
Meet Robert Chase, B.A. Accounting, 2026
FLAS in Japanese from the East Asia Center
“I felt the challenge and independence of the FLAS fellowship experience to be very rewarding. I used my FLAS to attend a language school where I studied Japanese intensively over the summer. The ability to focus solely on studying like a full-time job was what allowed me to push past a plateau and progress in Japanese.”
Hometown: DeSoto, Kansas
Kalisha Dent
Meet Kalisha Dent, B.A. International Studies, 2026
FLAS in Korean from the East Asia Center
“FLAS allowed me to immerse myself with the language. I felt like I had stalled in my learning, and I really wanted to get past this block. One of my goals is to become fully conversational, able to communicate about complex, but not necessarily everyday topics. Receiving the FLAS scholarship definitely helped me work towards that goal.”
Hometown: Tennessee
Jimmy Pollard
Meet Jimmy Pollard, B.A. South Asian Languages and Cultures, 2026
FLAS in Urdu from the South Asia Center
“Thanks to the FLAS fellowship, I was able to dedicate my summer to intensive language study, which significantly accelerated my learning. The additional coursework allowed me to advance to higher-level Urdu classes sooner and ultimately positioned me to graduate an entire year earlier. More importantly, it strengthened my foundation for future academic research focused on South Asian literature and Islamic thought.”
Hometown: Coeur d’alene, Idaho
