Maggie Callahan, a senior at the Mercer University Eugene W. Stetson School of Business & Economics, was recently awarded the a Boren Scholarship to travel to Tblisi in the Republic of Georgia to study the region’s political culture for the 2017-18 school year.
Callahan first traveled to Georgia as part of the Mercer On Mission program, which helped her develop a passion for the Caucasus Region. The Boren Scholarship will allow her to continue to pursue that passion and further develop fluency in Georgian. As part of the scholarship, Callahan will work in national security for the federal government one year after her study in Tblisi.
“Receiving this opportunity is testament to Mercer University’s outstanding liberal arts education and the immense support of its faculty and staff. Both have worked to prepare and inspire me for a career in international service,” Callahan said. Through Mercer, Callahan has not only had the chance to study in the Republic of Georgia, but has also studied and worked in Morocco.
Callahan has also been the recipient of a number of research grants from Mercer’s BB&T Center for Undergraduate Research in Public Policy and Capitalism for her work in civil society development in Georgia, as well as an economic analysis of Georgian wine and its integration into European markets. She has also served as an intern in the U.S. House of Representatives and supplemental instructor at Stetson.
The Boren Award, which is funding Callahan’s studies abroad, is available to both undergraduate and graduate students who have the resources and desire for complete immersion in those countries that are “critical to the future security and stability of the nation.”
The scholarships are funded by the National Security Education Program, which aims to provide more opportunities for U.S. students to earn foreign language and international skills.