Two UMKC students have received $4,000 federal grants to study abroad this year through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program.
The congressionally funded Gilman Scholarship provides financial support to outstanding undergraduate Pell Grant recipients who, due to financial constraints, might not otherwise study abroad. For more information, visit the office of Study Abroad and Global Engagement.
Yasmeen Hanon will spend this summer at CIEE in Amman, Jordan. CIEE, formerly the Council on Student Travel, is a consortium of 32 U.S. nonprofits and cultural agencies promoting study- abroad programs. She will study international issues such as Arab-Israeli relations, regional conflicts, politics, international relations, environment and more.
Lilly Kamler is spending the current semester in Rome, studying business, communications, international relations and liberal arts at the American University of Rome.
“I am thrilled to be able to study abroad this summer in Amman, Jordan. I plan to do research and data collection for my undergraduate research projects,” Hanon said. “It will be a wonderful experience to study my area of interest, Middle Eastern politics, while also partaking in day trips and external research.”
Hanon, of Kansas City, is pursuing a double major in political science and environmental science, with an international studies minor and an anticipated 2025 graduation. She is currently working on two research projects.
“My primary project revolves around the analysis of factors that shape the perception of conflict in neutral western media sources,” Hanon said. “I constructed a dataset to analyze some factors and their presence in media. This summer, I plan to collect more data consisting of Jordanian newspaper sources so that I can conduct a similar analysis through the Jordanian perception of conflict. My second project revolves around analyzing the correlation between resource wealth and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa. I use case studies to research this topic.”
“This trip has provided me with the space to learn a new way of life. Without the support from the Gilman program, coming to Italy and exploring the world would still be a dream for me, not a reality.” —
Kamler is a senior from Cuba, Missouri, majoring in chemistry with minors in psychology and business with plans to become an anesthesiologist assistant. She said her experiences in Rome will strongly impact her future health-care career.
“Since arriving in this beautiful city, I have had the opportunity to emerge myself into a culture other than my own,” Kamler said. “I have tried new cuisine, attempted to learn a new language, met people from all over the world and much more.”
While Rome has been her base, she has traveled to Venice, Florence and Riomaggiore in Italy, plus trips to London and Spain.
“Before my time in Italy is over, I will be visiting Pompei, Capri and Sorrento,” Kamler said. “This trip has provided me with the space to learn a new way of life. Without the support from the Gilman program, coming to Italy and exploring the world would still be a dream for me, not a reality. I will forever be grateful and thankful that I have had this opportunity.”