Clarkston resident and Hamilton College junior Lucille Kline has been awarded a Critical Language Scholarship to study Russian through a virtual program hosted by Lobachevsky University in Nizhny Novgorod.
The Critical Language Scholarship is a program run by the U.S. Department of State for intensive language study in 15 critical languages.
Kline is a Russian Studies and Literature double major at the Clinton, N.Y.-based college.
Kline’s interest in Russian began when she was a student at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic School.
“My favorite teacher lent me his copy of Dostoevsky’s White Nights and it changed my life,” Kline said. “Since coming to Hamilton, I read more Russian literature and just fell in love – the language component came naturally.”
The program originally was to be in-person in Russia but was adapted for virtual learning due to COVID-19. It will take place in June and July and includes a commitment of 20-25 hours a week. Kline said every weekday, she will engage in synchronous intensive grammar/language classes, cultural activities, and individual conversation with a Russian language partner.
Kline credits Student Fellowships Coordinator Ginny Dosch for her help and support throughout the application process and said Russian Professors John Bartle and Jason Cieply “nurtured my love for the language and assisted me with all of my language learning troubles. Professor Cieply, who is an alumnus of the program, encouraged me to apply and helped with the application.”
Kline studied at the University of Michigan summer Russian Language Institute in 2020. At Hamilton, she is Russian archives assistant in Hamilton’s Special Collections, a Levitt Center research fellow, operations team leader for the Career Center, and a barista for Cafe Opus.
“I’ve been trying to study abroad since the fall of 2019, and although I am still not going to Russia, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to study the language and learn about Russian culture with such a great program,” Kline said.