Angie Nguyen ’28, a neuroscience major with a minor in Italian, and Simon Thomas ’27, an anthropology major, have each been awarded a U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
Both Nguyen and Thomas are spending the winter term in Rome, taking Italian language courses in the culture, gastronomy, literature, and history of the country.
More than 1,500 scholarships have been handed out to students from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, according to the Gilman program.
The State Department program, named for the late Republican congressman from New York who chaired the House Committee on International Relations, provides up to $5,000 for federal Pell Grant recipients to study abroad. Approximately 60% of Gilman scholars hail from small towns or rural communities across the United States.
Nguyen, who is from Portland, Ore., heard about the scholarship through an email from The Guarini Institute, Dartmouth’s study abroad office, just two weeks shy of the application deadline. She applied because the potential for a scholarship would help alleviate any financial worries about the cost of the winter term program. She is particularly interested in Italian food and art, and looks forward to some side trips to a cooking school in Sicily and the University of Gastronomic Studies in Pollenzo.
Nguyen is exploring the field of neurolinguistics, which is, she says, “an interdisciplinary study of the various neural mechanisms in the brain that control the comprehension, production, and acquisition of language.”
She hopes that examining the intersection of neuroscience with Italian language acquisition will yield insights on “how immersing myself in a foreign language will rewire how my brain works.”
Thomas, who is from Morrisville, N.Y., is an anthropology major who spent a gap year between high school and college working for AmeriCorps at the Northwoods Stewardship Center in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. While there, he helped to develop and implement outdoor recreation and environmental education programs.
“Something I have loved about Dartmouth,” Thomas says, “is the ability to harness my curiosity and engage in a myriad of disciplines. Whether it be through dialogue between friends, random class discussions, or a talk hosted by a department, each day brings something to learn.”
In that vein, Thomas applied for the Gilman because he was “amazed at the opportunities that it could provide, and has provided other people,” he says.
“The Gilman Scholarship provides fantastic support for students’ study abroad experiences. Angie and Simon are wonderful students with diverse, interdisciplinary interests, and they will take full advantage of the Gilman and their LSA+ in Rome,” says Christie Harner, associate dean of undergraduate education for fellowships and scholars programs.
Dartmouth encourages all Pell Grant-eligible students who are looking into study abroad to also apply for a Gilman scholarship, Harner says.
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For information about applying for scholarship programs, visit the Fellowships Office.
