New College of Florida student Zachary Natale received a rare pairing of awards sponsored by the U.S. Department of State that will allow him to study in the Middle East this spring.
Natale, from Melbourne, Fla., received a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship, which supports study abroad. He also was one of a handful of Gilman recipients to also be awarded a Critical Need Language scholarship.
Natale will travel to the School for International Training in Rabat, Morocco, this spring. There, he will study Arabic and the issue of transnationalism, with an aim of using social media to change of the longstanding two-way misperceptions that Arab and American college-age students have of each other’s’ cultures.
He also plans to conduct field research for his New College thesis project in comparative healthcare, on the use of clinical vs. traditional medical care in Arab society.
Natale’s long-term plans include applying for a Fulbright scholarship and then joining the Peace Corps and possibly going on to medical school. He is studying anthropology at New College.
The Gilman scholarships are intended to help students gain a better understanding of other cultures, countries, languages, and economies, thereby making them better prepared to assume leadership roles within government and the private sector.
The program is named for former U.S. Rep. Benjamin Gilman, who served in Congress for 30 years and was chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee. It 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 and intern abroad programs worldwide.