Summer Study Abroad Award Recipients

NATIONALITY ROOMS SUMMER STUDY ABROAD SCHOLARSHIPS

We have awarded scholarships for summer study abroad annually since 1948.  The first recipients were Miss Helen Pool Rush, Dean of Women, and Miss Margaret Kostelnik, a student Quo Vadis guide for the Nationality Rooms. 

The University’s difficult and necessary decision to cancel all Summer Semester travel abroad for Pitt students means that the Nationality Rooms Programs is following the protocol set forth. The Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Program is, however, honoring all the scholarships awarded to our scholarship winners to be used at a future date.
Our staff is working with each of our amazing recipients to find ways that they can use their award to travel at a future time that works with their schedule and curriculum, once it is deemed safe to do so by the U.S. Government and the University of Pittsburgh.

We are proud to say that we awarded 64 students with scholarships totaling $242,500.

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS

African Heritage Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Ms. Florence L. Williams

Swathi Tata – Dakar, Senegal

To study healthcare systems in developing countries and their response to epidemics.

Austrian Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Joseph Pandl

Olivia Miller – Graz, Austria

To study the field of healthcare from an international perspective and learn how other countries prioritize their healthcare systems.

Austrian Room Committee Grant in Memory of Joseph Pandl

Abigail Fortunato – Graz, Austria

To gain an understanding of healthcare systems on a global scale through comparative study.

Chinese Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Karen Yee

Rebecca Chen – Shanghai, China

To learn about international marketing in China and develop business-specific Mandarin speaking skills.

Chinese Room Committee Grant in Memory of Karen Yee

Rachel Wonder – Kunming, China

To study the Chinese language in a culturally immersive environment while learning about my birth country.

English Room Committee Scholarship in Honor of Dr. Anna E. Lomando

Alexandra Reinecker – London, England

To study at the Global Business Institute and learn first-hand, how the UK's exit from the EU will affect its economic policies.

French Room Committee Scholarship

Kelsie Vander Voort – Paris, France

To learn how to use French language skills in a culturally appropriate way in a professional work setting.

Hungarian Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Arlene Csoman

Lauren Weigand – Debrecen, Hungary

To study the unique aspects of Hungarian healthcare compared to other post-Soviet satellite states.

Hungarian Room Committee Grant in Memory of Arlene Csoman

Sebestyn Sandor – Budapest, Hungary

To produce a documentary film on nicotine addiction among Hungarian youth.

Indian Room Committee Scholarship

Emely Carmona – Mussoorie, India

To learn about the challenges of emergency medicine in the Himalyas and become certified as a Wilderness First Responder.

John F. Kennedy/Irish room Committee Scholarship

Erin Casey – Ireland

To participate in and learn how the Irish medical rehabilitation system works, compared to the U.S.

Italian Room Committee Scholarship

Rosina Roccamo – Rome, Italy

To improve my Italian language skills through a culturally immersive experience in Rome.

David L. Lawrence Memorial Scholarship

Alexander Skylar – Grenoble, France

To enhance my conversational French skills and volunteer at a café for financially unstable and isolated people.

David L. Lawrence Memorial Grant

Joanna OwusuDaaku – Valencia, Spain

To study the Spanish language and culture in an immersive environment.

Herbert Lieberkind Scholarship

Mark Attenborough – Copenhagen, Denmark

To look at the role of culture in understanding relationships, personality and psychological well-being

Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Scholarship

Uyaiabasi Akpakpan – London, England

To learn about the UK Health System with a focus on immigrants and marginalized communities.

Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt Grant

Nourhan Abubaker – Graz, Austria

To learn about the role that the government plays in nationalized healthcare systems around the world.

Nationality Council Scholarship for Quo Vadis Guides

Zachary Hartman – Florence & Venice, Italy

To study Renaissance engineering practices and sustainability issues, particularly in Venice.

Polish Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Gertrude Long

Annette Yauger – Giecz, Poland

To study mortuary archaeology with human remains at a medieval era site in Giecz.

Helen Pool Rush Scholarship

John Hudson – Berlin, Germany

To work at a German company as a computer programmer through Pitt's International Internship Program in Berlin.

Helen Pool Rush Grant

Kathryn Ratner - Sao Paulo,Brazil

To gain more knowledge of the Portuguese language and Brazilian culture while also conducting psychological research.

Helen Pool Rush Grant

Catherine Gannon – Paris, France

To grow as a student, professional and individual through personal experiences with French people and culture.

Helen Pool Rush Grant

Amara Novotny – London, England

To study both American and British Sign Languages and learn about British deaf culture and art.

Radcliff-Umstead Memorial Scholarship

Peter Bosco – Palermo, Italy

To represent the United States as an Intern with the Economic Section of the US Embassy in Rome.

Ivan Santa-Cruz Memorial Scholarship

Katelyn Morrison, Valparaiso, Chile

To conduct self-directed research related to innovation and maker spaces in Chile.

Ivan Santa-Cruz memorial Grant

Mikala Aleksandruk – Santiago, Chile

To observe and participate in the Chilean healthcare system and learn about the complexities of caring for a socially diverse population.

Robert & Helen A. Sette Memorial Scholarship

Destiny Harrison-Griffin – Buenos Aires, Argentina

To gain first hand knowledge of the ways that social justice and human rights movements have emerged as a result of the former military dictatorship in Argentina.

Savina S. Skewis Memorial Scholarship

Sequoia Marriot – London, England

To work as an marketing intern doing outreach to individuals at a mental health organization to spread awareness of mental health issues that impact our society.

Savina S. Skewis Memorial Grant

Chibundum Ezenwukwa – Alcala de Henares, Spain

To study Spanish language skills for health care professionals, so I am better able to serve Spanish speaking patients in my future medical career.

Savina S. Skewis Memorial Grant

Natasha Mayer – Napo, Ecuador

To explore how the progressive healthcare system of Ecuador accommodates the medical practices of its indigenous people. 

Women’s International Club Scholarship in Memory of Karen Yee

Amari Long – Havana, Cuba

To see how the US Embargo on Cuba has affected the healthcare system of the country and how physicians and patients have dealt with the lack of resources and access to advanced technology.

Women’s International Club Grant in Memory of Karen Yee

Abbygale Andrasko – Buenos Aires, Argentina

To gain more cultural awareness and the global mindset essential to effectively working with clients around the world to solve critical problems, through an internship in Argentina

Women’s International Club Grant in Memory of Karen Yee

Kelly Prangley – Chang Mai, Thailand

To learn more about the Buddhist-based Thai approach to health and illness, which focuses on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual elements.

Wendell Wray Memorial Scholarship

Julia Raytselis – Cape Town, South Africa

To study healthcare service delivery for vulnerable populations affected by HIV/AIDs

GRADUATE AWARDS

African Heritage Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of Ms. Florence L. Williams

Hope Finch – Durban, South Africa

To intern at the US Department of State in Durban with career professionals and diplomats to learn the skills necessary to be an effective foreign service agent.

African Heritage Room Committee Grant in Memory of Ms. Florence L. Williams

Gerald Quatro – Uganda

To intern with Amnesty International to evaluate the role of the U.S., the U.N. and NGOs in influencing policy issues in Uganda.

African Heritage Room Committee Grant in Memory of Ms. Florence L. Williams

Maya Williams – Kampala, Uganda

To focus on the protection of child rights and safe integration of refugees, through Bright Kids Uganda and the Access of Justice for Forced Migrants program.

Dorothy Bradley Brown Physical Therapy Scholarship

Luke Cancilla – London, England

To intern with a renowned vestibular physiotherapist at St. George's Hospital in London

 
 Fred C. Bruhns Memorial Scholarship

Christine Gameos – Tripoli, Zahle, Beirut, Lebanon

To research the migration crisis and its effect on human rights in Lebanon and the Middle East in particular, the right to education.

Ruth Crawford Mitchell Memorial Scholarship

David McCoy – Brazil

To study several unique municipal councils in Brazil to discern when participatory democracy institutions succeed or fail.

 
 Ruth Crawford Mitchell Memorial Grant

Melissa Griffore – Spain

To reconstruct environmental history using the metal composition of lake sediments taken from core samples in the Pyrenees Region of Spain.

Greek Room Committee Scholarship

Charles Athanasopoulos – Greece

To explore the cultural experience of Romani, (Gypsy) and Black people in Greece.

Indian Room Committee Scholarship

Ayesha Godiwala – Hyderabad, India

To work with SHARE India to assess the pre-pregnancy maternal environment on birth outcomes & child development in rural Telangana.

 Israel Heritage Room Committee Scholarship in Memory of our Martyrs lost on October 27, 2018

Arielle Herzberg – Tel Aviv, Israel

To intern at Sport Clinic in Tel Aviv and explore the clinical aspect of physical therapy in Israel.

Japanese Room Committee Scholarship

Corrine Sugino – Kyoto, Japan

To study Japanese Buddhism in a non-Western context to uncover different possibilities for rhetorical communication.

 
 James W. Knox Memorial Scholarship

Matthew Pribis – Entebbe, Uganda

To help Ugandan women and refugees start income-generating businesses and become self-sufficient by providing business skills training and micro-loans.

Josephine and John McCloskey Memorial Scholarship

Nedah Nemati – Germany

To explore archived correspondence between members of the Berlin, Leipzig and Wurzburg Schools...to analyze their characterizations of methodological crisis and compare them with contemporary disputes.

Josephine and John McCloskey Memorial Grant

Maya Brown – Legon, Ghana

To intern at the J.H. Kwabena Nketia Archives in Ghana, which embodies the art, history and heritage of a multitude of African cultures. (The archive is named after a former Professor Emeritus at Pitt).

Josephine and John McCloskey Memorial Grant

Ricardo Vazquez-Diaz – Paris, France

To study the Cuban writer Severo Sarduy exiled in Europe during the decolonization of the French and British Caribbean, who wrote radio-plays for French Public Radio.

 
 George F. & Mary Ann McGunagle Scholarship

Daisia Williams – Uganda

To intern with Bright Kids Uganda and establish a transitional program for youths aging out of an orphanage.

Frances & Sully Nesta Memorial Scholarship

Mark D’Alesio – Palermo, Italy

To conduct research at ISMETT, Palermo in the Division of Thoracic Surgery and Lung Transplant, with the goal of improving the outcomes for patients undergoing lung transplants.

Stanley Prostrednik Scholarship

Edgar Colon-Mendez – Buenos Aires, Argentina

To look at the influences exerted by 3 Polish refugees on Argentinian intellectuals in the aftermath of WWII and how they affected the relationship between chess and literature.

Stanley Prostrednik Grant

David Smith – Seville, Spain

To learn how music helps connect migrant communities with both their heritage and the local culture simultaneously and to develop models for teaching intercultural competence through music.

Stanley Prostrednik Grant

Dijana Mujkanovic – Bosnia & Herzegovina

To get an intergenerational perspective on how the increased post-war segregation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is affecting their perception of the future of interethnic relations.

 
 Stanley Prostrednik Health Sciences Scholarship

Claire McCreavy – Entebbe, Uganda

To work with the East Africa Field Based Research & Internship Program in Entebbe, Uganda to conduct a health program evaluation for a local health organization.

Stanley Prostrednik Health Sciences Grant

Emily Mulkey – Madrid, Spain

To learn European approaches to Sports Medicine and work towards improved international collaboration and standards in the field of Sports Medicine.

Stanley Prostrednik Health Sciences Grant

Steven Liebowitz – Sicily, Italy

To study the role of the mitral valve in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy surgery at the world renowned ISMETT transplant hospital in Sicily.

 Ivan Santa-Cruz Memorial Scholarship

Julia Heller – Santiago, Chile

To intern with the US Embassy in Santiago to study policies regarding water access and sanitation in rural areas of Chile.

Dr. & Mrs. Ryonosuke Shiono Scholarship

Hannah Standiford – Leiden, Netherlands

To examine the contributions and media representations of women in kroncong music through archival research at Leiden University Library.

 Dr. & Mrs. Ryonosuke Shiono Grant

Marianne Seah – Singapore

To better understand how systemic and cultural differences in the practice of physical therapy affect patient-provider relationships and public welfare.

 Swiss Room Committee Scholarship

Alexa Schwartz – Switzerland

To research the impact of cultural factors and mental health interventions on mass shootings.

 
 Syria-Lebanon Room Committee Scholarship

Falon Weidman – Beirut, Lebanon

To intern with the Rene Moawad Foundation, a refugee services organization which promotes social, economic and rural development in Lebanon and the MENA region.