Knox College

Soko Cheng has been awarded a competitive Gilman Scholarship, which she is using to study Southeast Asian culture and society in Thailand and reconnect with her family's roots. Cheng's parents are Cambodian refugees. "I realized that I didn't know much about their personal experiences," said Cheng. "I knew that no amount of learning about different cultures could compare to actually experiencing it." Cheng's spring semester in Thailand is supported by a $5,000 Gilman Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, the highest award amount that the program grants. She is one of many Knox students to have received the prestigious scholarship over the years, which gives students with financial need the means to study or intern abroad. In Thailand, Cheng will take classes on Thai culture, human rights, and social issues at Chiang Mai University. For a short period of time, she will stay with a family in a rural village and work with the community on a service project.

Sarah Henderson '20 received an award from the German Academic Exchange Service, known by its German acronym DAAD, to spend the 2018-19 academic year in Berlin. During her time abroad she will continue her education in political science, complete an internship, and sharpen her language skills.

Debora Lustgarten '20, an economics major at Knox College, is among a select group of undergraduates from top U.S. colleges and universities enrolled in the study abroad program SEA Semester: Sustainability in Polynesian Island Cultures and Ecosystems. The program is designed to explore the complex environmental challenges faced by people living in the Pacific islands and to explore sustainable solutions for island cultures and ocean ecosystems.

A group of Knox College students took part in Knox's London Arts Alive program, which offers a fall term class studying London's culture and arts and, during winter break, a trip to London for three weeks. The students who participated had one common reaction: "It was incredible."