3 UNL students receive Gilman Scholarships for international study

Three University of Nebraska-Lincoln students are preparing to study abroad on Gilman Scholarships. These scholarships fund undergraduate students from groups typically underrepresented in study abroad to study in diverse locations. Recipients are required to complete a follow-up project once they return from their study-abroad program. Gilman Scholarships provide up to $5,000 for American students to pursue overseas study for college credit.

Below are brief bios of the three winners.

Jacob Colling of Tecumseh, a senior political science major and Russian/Slavic languages and literature minor, will study at St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University in St. Petersburg, Russia. Colling will be able to combine his interest in political science and language by taking Russian politics and Russian language classes. He will participate in excursions to two important satellite countries, Estonia and Finland. This experience will inform his views on globalization, help him complete his senior thesis on Russia and its civil society, and help him with his future career goal of working in international relations. His follow-up project will be presentations about study abroad and the Gilman Scholarship to the E.N. Thompson mentors and scholars at UNL. He will study abroad in the fall.

Paul Francis of Wilber, a junior international business major and Spanish languages and literature minor, will study at the Technologico de Monterrey in Queretaro, Mexico. Francis will receive credits for both Spanish and business since all of his business classes will be in Spanish. He will live with a family, which he hopes will help him gain knowledge of how to successfully acclimate and become part of a foreign culture. This program is an opportunity to positively shape his perspective in the world, while preparing him for a career in the global economy. His follow-up project will be presenting his study abroad experience at the Multicultural Fair in the Wilber-Clatonia Public Schools. He will spend the entire 2009-10 academic year in Mexico.

Brooke Glaser of Lincoln, a senior film and new media major, will study at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand. She will study Thai culture and language, which will help her understand the Thai people and the way they communicate. Glaser will live off campus, which she hopes will help her become acquainted with the city and the university. She hopes to bring new knowledge of Americans to the Thai people and to bring back new knowledge of Thailand to the United States. Her follow-up project is to put on an art show exhibiting photographs of her experience in Thailand in the Rotunda Gallery in UNL's Nebraska Union, and in other local coffee shops and schools. She will study abroad this fall.

The Gilman Scholarship Program offers a competition for awards for undergraduate study abroad and was established by the International Academic Opportunity Act of 2000. This scholarship provides awards for U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, this congressionally funded program is administered by the Institute of International Education through its Southern Regional Center in Houston.