Mercer University Senior from Peachtree Corners Awarded Critical Language Scholarship 

Mercer University senior Alexander John Paul Lutz of Peachtree Corners was recently awarded a Critical Language Scholarship by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to study Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan this summer.

The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program is an intensive overseas language and cultural immersion program for American undergraduate and graduate students. Lutz — an international affairs, political science and history triple-major and religion and public diplomacy minor — will study at the Azerbaijan University of Languages in Baku from June 12 to August 9.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to cultivate hard and soft skills — namely foreign language proficiency and communication across lines of difference — that will prove invaluable to me as I seek to engage in peacebuilding work in the South Caucasus (a region along the border of eastern Europe and western Asia) with a nongovernmental organization or the Department of State in the future,” Lutz said.

“I am honored to have been selected for the Critical Language Scholarship and hope to make the most of it,” he added.

Lutz’s interest in the Azerbaijani language began during a 2021 Mercer On Mission trip to Georgia, where he helped young Azerbaijani-Georgians in the south of the country practice speaking English. These conversations gave him insight into the complexities of identity in the South Caucasus.

“Motivated by a conviction to build bridges, break barriers and oppose injustice in all its forms, I hope to draw on my background in peacebuilding to advocate on behalf of the Azerbaijani-Georgian community, to work toward bridging the ethnic and religious divides that afflict the South Caucasus, and to prove to people like the Azerbaijani-Georgians that their identities are valid and worthy of celebration,” he said.

Working toward peace

As a future peacebuilder, he said he wants to better understand religious conflicts and challenge the misuse of religion by people who seek to provoke violence and hatred for political gain.

Lutz is a graduate of Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs. At Mercer, he is president of Bears Engaged Across Religions and the Mercer International Affairs Organization, head delegate of Mercer’s Model Arab League team, and an associate justice of the Undergraduate Honor Council.

He is a recipient of the Cox Scholarship for Excellence in Political Science; T. Raleigh Mann Scholarship for Academic Excellence, Campus Leadership and School Spirit; and Rick Love Young Innovators in Peacebuilding Award.

Lutz also has been named the recipient of the Walter C. Dowling Award for Excellence in International Studies, Carlos T. Flick Award for Outstanding Historical Research and Writing, and Phi Alpha Theta Outstanding Senior in History Award.

After graduation, he plans to attend Harvard Divinity School to obtain a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in religion, ethics and politics. He has been offered a Harvard Divinity School Dean’s Fellowship, which includes a full-tuition scholarship and annual stipend.