(Posted June 28, 2010)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Brittany Gregory, a senior from Baltimore, Md. studying sociology at Juniata College, received the Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship to study abroad at the University of Gloucestershire, in Cheltenham, England in fall semester 2010.

Gregory, the daughter of Angela Smith, of Baltimore, and James Gregory, of Richmond, Va., is a 2006 graduate of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. She plans on taking courses in social theory and sociology of education while overseas.

She has pursued an extended research project for her senior thesis on "Using Community Art to Assess Neighborhood Quality."

The Gilman Scholarships, named for Benjamin Gilman, a Republican U.S. Representative from New York, offer grants for undergraduate students of limited financial means to study abroad. More than 1,200 scholarships of up to $5,000 are awarded every academic year. The program also encourages students to choose non-traditional destinations for their study-abroad experience.

The program is funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the U.S. Department of State.

Gregory is currently a teaching assistant in the Department of Sociology, working primarily with students taking the college's Introduction to Sociology course. She also has pursued an extended research project for her senior thesis on "Using Community Art to Assess Neighborhood Quality." She presented her findings, which were based on examinations of various neighborhoods in Baltimore, at the 2010 Juniata Liberal Arts Symposium in April.

While in England, Gregory plans to continue a followup project for the Gilman Scholarship on how community art predicts neighborhood quality in a number of London neighborhoods. After returning to Juniata, she plans on making a documentary film project designed to be shown to middle and high school students in Baltimore and Huntingdon, Pa.

Gregory has worked as a community tutor for elementary school students in the Huntingdon area. She also has been a member of Kvasir, Juniata's literary magazine, the African-American Student Alliance, and the Plexus Club.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.