Gilman Scholarship for Study Abroad Awarded to U of M Students Congratulations to three University of Memphis students have received the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for foreign study. Ayesha Ghani, a senior majoring in Health and Human Performance with a concentration in Dietetics was awarded funding to study nutrition in Florence, Italy this past summer. John Burrell, a senior majoring in Accounting and Foreign Languages with a concentration in Japanese will be studying business and Japanese language during the 2013–2014 Academic Year at Osaka University of Economics in Osaka, Japan. John Aaron Whitaker, a junior majoring in in International Business and Foreign Languages with a concentration in Japanese will also be studying business and Japanese language during the 2013–2014 Academic Year at Osaka University of Economics in Osaka, Japan. The Gilman program encourages students to choose non-traditional study destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe,
Faculty Spotlight
CONTINUED
teach, to give workshops or to be the plenary speaker at international conferences. So far I’ve worked in many astonishing places, including the world’s two newest countries, South Sudan and Timor Leste. I’ve consulted, taught, and worked in “hard” places such as Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria, and Iraq, where I worked with judges, lawyers, prosecutors, and the police. However, I’ve also been to many “easy” places such as France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. In each place I’ve met astonishing people and learned more than I’ve taught. Do you feel a study abroad experience is important for students at the U of M? We learn by challenging ourselves, taking reasonable chances, and being ready to make mistakes. Taking part in a study abroad program gives you opportunities for new experiences daily, for doing things you The University of Memphis, a Tennessee Board of Regents institution, is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action University. It is committed to education of a non-racially identifiable student body. UOM120-FY1314/2C50. Peerless Printing.
Australia and New Zealand. The program supports students who may be unlikely to study abroad, including those with financial need, community college students, those in underrepresented fields such as the sciences and engineering, students with diverse ethnic backgrounds, and those with disabilities. Recipients are chosen by a competitive selection process and must use the award to pay for eligible study abroad costs. Those costs include program tuition, room and board, books, local transportation, insurance and international airfare. The Study Abroad Office will be holding strategic workshops for the Gilman Scholarship for Study Abroad on the following locations & times: UC Senate Room – September 6th from 1pm to 2:30pm UC Senate Room – September 20th from 1pm to 2:30pm For more information regarding this scholarship please go to www.iie.org/Programs/Gilman-Scholarship-Program or contact the study abroad office at tigersabroad@memphis.edu.
never considered doing before, and for placing yourself in situations where you must rely on your character and your inner strength. We learn to appreciate who we are and what we believe by exposing our own ideas to those of others that are different or even in direct opposition to our own. Indeed we learn to love but also to question our own culture by interacting with others. And don’t forget that when you have a good study abroad experience on your resume, you show that you are flexible, ready to grow, and inquisitive. Yes, there is a blunt financial benefit as well. But that is secondary! Of course, you have to make YOUR study abroad experience worthwhile. If you just go abroad to hang only with Americans you knew from high school, you might as well stay home. You have to push yourself and make yourself “uncomfortable” a bit! That’s how you grow. Now that we have some really affordable programs and study abroad scholarships, everyone should be able to take that first step into “the unknown”. So, find a program that makes you a little bit nervous, but just a bit. Don’t go on a four-month trek through the Amazon if you’ve never been out of Shelby County before. Talk to me, talk to the study abroad advisers. Take that chance and I’ll see you “over there” this year. STUDY ABROAD PROGRAM 102 Brister Hall Memphis, TN 38152 901.678.2814 tigersabroad@memphis.edu www.memphis.edu/abroad /studyabroadmemphis @memphisabroad