Grand Valley student first to earn scholarship for study abroad in Tajikistan

A Grand Valley student is making university history as the first student to study abroad in Tajikistan.

Cameron Saghaeipour, a political science major from West Bloomfield, is currently studying Farsi in the American Councils Program in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. 

Along with being the first GVSU student to study in Tajikistan, which is located in Central Asia, Saghaeipour was awarded both a nationally competitive Gilman Scholarship and a Critical Need Language Award to help fund his studies. 

Saghaeipour is also the first GVSU student to receive a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Grant, which is intended to also continue his study of Farsi. 

His American Councils Program is specifically designed to offer U.S. students the opportunity to study Persian in an immersion environment. Students experience intensive classroom instruction while living with Tajik families and engaging in a wide range of carefully structured programs designed to maximize their exposure to the host country culture and language. 

The program is based at the American Councils Language Center in downtown Dushanbe, where participants have the opportunity to study with faculty from Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. 

For more information on applying for nationally and internationally competitive scholarships and fellowships, visit gvsu.edu/fellowships.