UNC’s Phillips Ambassadors to study in Asia
June 02, 2011 | |
Burcu Bozkurt, a public health and global studies major in UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, is among 19 students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill selected as Phillips Ambassadors for 2011 study-abroad programs in Asia. Bozkurt will study in Vietnam through a UNC Burch Field Research Seminar. Other recipients will study in China, Japan and Singapore.
The Phillips Ambassadors program includes a three-credit academic course that puts the experience in global context and challenges students to share their experiences of Asia upon their return.
Phillips Ambassadors receive up to $7,500 each for a semester or year-long program and up to $5,000 each for a summer program. Dates for their trips vary. Recipients are selected for academic achievement and commitment to activities, service and leadership roles in the classroom and community.
Since the Phillips Ambassadors program began in 2007, it has sent 133 undergraduates to Asia, including this cohort. Recipients, who are selected twice each year, choose from more than 50 UNC-approved academic programs in Asia that are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences and Kenan-Flagler Business School.The program emphasizes what is called “Give Back,” having the ambassadors sharing their study abroad experiences with the Carolina community and their hometowns. In accepting the scholarship, a student agrees to submit an article about his or her studies in Asia to a campus or hometown publication. Students also give outreach presentations about their experiences at a school in their hometown and North Carolina schools.
Earl N. “Phil” Phillips Jr., who graduated from UNC with a business administration degree in 1962, established an endowment to support the program to generate greater interest in Asia among UNC undergraduates. Phillips has worked and traveled in Asia for more than 20 years and is a former U.S. ambassador to the eastern Caribbean.”Our goal with this gift has been to encourage more students to spend their study abroad experiences focused on Asia – an increasingly vital region of the future,” said Phillips, an entrepreneur who splits his time between High Point and Chapel Hill.
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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