Through our FLAS Fellow Features, get to know some of the students who have recently received awards from UW-Madison’s FLAS-granting centers. Read about their experiences on the fellowship, their diverse areas of study, and how the fellowship helped them achieve their language 
and cultural competency goals.
Lucas Wirick received a Summer 2024 FLAS Fellowship from IRIS NRC and will be a first-year in the Anthropology PhD program at UW-Madison starting in fall 2024. Get to know this Summer 2024 FLAS fellow in their own words:
My name is Lucas Wirick, and I will be starting my first year in the Anthropology PhD program at UW-Madison in the fall. This summer, I had the pleasure and the opportunity to study the Arabic language at the intermediate level through UW-Madison’s Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Language Insititute (MEDLI). From the friendships I made with my classmates and other students from universities all around the country, to the leaps and bounds I made in my mastery of Arabic—thanks to our professors of course—MEDLI was a very enjoyable experience both inside and outside of the classroom. My favorite memories of this year’s program were from MEDLI soccer every Friday night where we would play with both the professors and students from the Arabic, Turkish, and Persian classes, as well as a few students from other WISLI programs. None of this would have been possible for me; however, without the financial support I received through a FLAS fellowship from the IRIS NRC. The FLAS covered the total cost of my summer language program as well the cost of my rent for my first few months in Madison, which allowed me to direct all of my attention toward bettering my understanding of Arabic. I was initially motivated to apply for this FLAS fellowship at the suggestion of my PhD advisor, who told me that not only would this be a great opportunity for me to move out to Madison and get accustomed to the city a few months earlier than I otherwise would have, but also, and more importantly, because this summer FLAS would help me to ‘double’ my ability to speak, read, write, and understand Arabic, all of which are skills I will need for my research down the line. Having been done with the program for close to two weeks now, I can definitively say that not only did my FLAS provide me with everything my advisor said it would, but it also gave me lifelong memories, friendships, and connections.
Interested in learning more about how the FLAS Fellowship can support your language and international study? Visit flas.wisc.edu!