Two Conn students awarded prestigious Gilman International Scholarship

For Darriana Greer ’21, Cuba is the perfect place for her to enhance her studies in dance, Africana Studies and sociology. 

And now, thanks to the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program, Greer will be able to study abroad in Havana next year, building on her foundation of Afro-Caribbean dance. 

“My plan is to study dance and Afro-Cuban religion in Cuba during the spring semester, using dance as a way to create community and bring awareness to the beautiful Afro-Cuban culture of Havana,” Greer said. 

Established in 2000 and named in honor of the late New York congressman Benjamin A. Gilman, the program is congressionally funded and administered through the U.S. State Department’s bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The scholarships help provide opportunities for students to study abroad in diverse counties and regions, studying languages and cultures that are critical to America’s economic and national security interests. 

Greer’s fellow Gilman recipient, Bella Sorrenti ’22, a CISLA scholar majoring in art history and classical studies, will use the award to study in Italy next year. 

Sorrenti, who studies both Latin and Italian, plans to research the old Roman story of Lucretia by exploring how the original story and its visual artistic depictions evolved from Ancient Rome to the Renaissance.

“I want to examine Livy's version of the story and compare it to visual depictions of the story throughout time, looking at how portrayals of gender and the sexualization of women changed,” Sorrenti explained. “It’s always been my dream to conduct research abroad and immerse myself in the history and culture of another country.”