WASHINGTON – Howard University student Tyler Smith has been selected to receive the prestigious 2022 David L. Boren Scholarship. The scholarship provides up to $25,000 to U.S. undergraduate students from any major to study abroad in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad, including Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Boren Scholarships focus on geographic areas, languages and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants identify how their study abroad program, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security. National security is broadly defined to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting American well-being, but also areas such as sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness. Recipients of the scholarship agree to work in the federal government and serve national security interests for at least one year after completing their study abroad.

“I am more than elated to be a 2022 Boren Scholar. During my time at Howard University, I have worked with excellent professors at the Center for African Studies who have exposed me to the research topic of China-Africa relations,” Smith said.

Smith is a rising junior double majoring in political science and international affairs with a minor in computer science. Smith is interested in China-Africa relations and in becoming a foreign service officer. The funds from the Boren Scholarship will allow him to continue his study of Mandarin Chinese while studying abroad in Taiwan.

“A lot of my research asks what effects a Chinese technological model, which involves a lot of censorship, would have on human rights and democracy when implemented in African countries,” Smith said.

Smith has also been selected, among 15 other college students around the country, as a 2022 Frederick Douglass Global Fellow. As a fellow, he will travel to Ireland for a four-week leadership program focused on peace, social justice and conflict resolution through the lens of Ireland, the Middle East, and South Africa.

“Engaging in the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship Program will be my first experience living and studying abroad. I look forward to learning about conflict resolution and leadership through the lens of global activism,” said Smith.