MHC, Office of International Programs, Name Spring 2023 Study Abroad Awards

The McGillicuddy Humanities Center and UMaine Office of International Programs (OIP) are pleased to announce the winners of its Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration and Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Awards, each given to UMaine undergraduates completing a study abroad program during the semester of the award. This year’s recipient of the Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration Award is Eli Lines. The recipient of the Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Award is Teagan Russell.

The Global Perspectives for Humanities Explorations Fund was established at the University of Maine Foundation in 2018 and has been made possible by alumni and friends of the New England Universities in Salzburg Study Abroad Program in honor of the program founder, the late Dr. Josef Roggenbauer, longtime professor of German in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics. The fund was launched by Tracey Graffam-Dickson ’93 and Jessica Canatsey ’92, two friends who met at UMaine and shared a “life changing experience” when they participated in a travel abroad program in Salzburg. They believed experiencing a foreign culture was transformative in their lives, and so the women teamed up to initiate a fund providing opportunities for today’s undergraduates to live their own cultural adventure. Other donors have since joined in this initiative, and the funds invested will generate awards and life-changing memories far into the future.

In honor of Herr Roggenbauer, who passed away in September 2022,  the MHC and OIP will offer an additional award from the Global Perspectives for Humanities Explorations Fund for a student studying abroad in the Fall 2023 semester. That competition is now open, with an application deadline of March 31.

The newly established Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Fund, which is disbursing its first award in 2023, was set up by Charles Ryan ’84, to provide support to students wishing to expand their global views through international travel to Central and South American countries.

Eli Lines, recipient of the Global Perspectives for Humanities Exploration Award, is a sophomore Marine Science major with a minor in Outdoor Leadership, from Trumansburg NY. He will be studying in Puerto Natales, Chile and with a particular focus on Patagonian ecology in a changing environment.

Teagan Russell, recipient of the inaugaral Global Exploration and Language Opportunities Fund Award is a junior majoring in Ecology and Environmental Science with a concentration in Ecosystems Ecology originally from Plainville, Connecticut. Russell, a long-time enthusiast of everything outdoors, will be studying abroad in San Ramón, Costa Rica at the University of Costa Rica, taking classes that support her major, as well as classes that add to the cultural depth of her study abroad experience–including courses such as Tropical Conservation Biology, Spanish Language, Ecology and Population Biology, and Latin American Cuisine.