Four Watson Fellowship nominees announced

Anita Varma News Editor

Plans for post-graduate study from Vassar range from medical school to study abroad through fellowships. On Tuesday, Oct. 26, four seniors were nominated for the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
Nominees include Jim Dodington, Emily Loomis, Kate Clemente, and Tiffany Watson. These students will be considered by the Watson Fellowship Selection Committee.

The Watson Fellowship is a grant for independent study and travel abroad. It is for graduating college seniors who are nominated by their college. The application process for the fellowship is lengthy, with required ssays and letters of reccomendation from professors. Nominees must propose a project for their independent study. The fellowship offers a $22,000 stipend.

According to the Watson Foundation website, the criteria for independent study are unusual: “When we say independent study, we mean something a little different from independent study as undertaken at a college or university. The Watson Fellowship is intended to be a time when fellows are their own advisors.”

“I looked at the various fellowships, grants, etc., offered that could fund my project, and the Watson Fellowship fit perfectly with what I want to do,” said Tiffany Watson.

Students can propose any independent study project that interests them, and are not confined to what previous Watson fellows have done.

“My proposal is to study industrial buildings in the Western European landscape,” said Loomis. “Specifically, I propose to look at the ways in which historical industrial buildings have been included in or excluded from the development of place and the ways in which landscapes and communities incorporate and identify with their past, as expressed through the state of these buildings.”

Dodington’s proposed project is titled “Social and Environmental Aspects of HIV/AIDS and their Impact on Pediatric Populations.”

This project relates to Dodington’s major at Vassar. “I'm a Science, Technology, and Society major,” he said. “My project is directly related to my major in its connection to healthcare sociology and bioethics. Both of these topics have been the foci of my STS work.”

Watson, who is majoring in the philosophy of dance, has proposed a project that will take her to several countries. “I will go to India to observe and study traditional Indian dance, Spain to study flamenco, and Russia to study with Tatiana Baganova,” said Watson. “My project is to combine the internal awareness inherent in the Indian dance tradition and yoga, the external consciousness explicit in flamenco, and Ms. Baganova's integrative technique into a coherent dance theory that I could demonstrably express in actual dance performances and later pass on to other dancers as a teacher.”

The interviews that decided who would be the Vassar nominees were geared toward seeing how strong the applicant’s proposed project was for independent study. A Vassar committee for the fellowship was comprised of seven faculty members, chaired by Dean of Studies Alexander Thompson.

“Though the principal focus of this Fellowship is on the personal characteristics and ambitions of the proposer, how well all of that works fits with the proposed project,” said Thompson. “The most noble project imaginable will not be successful under the aegis of the Watson Fellowship unless it complements the capabilities of the individual. As the Director of the Watson Fellowship remarked, ‘We are not looking for a vaccine; we're looking for Jonas Salk.’”

“Part of the process is also to prepare our nominated students for their subsequent interviews with the Watson Selection Committee,” Thompson added.

Thirty seniors applied to be nominated for the Watson Fellowship, and the Vassar committee decided on four students. “Considerable selection was also required here at Vassar,” said Thompson.

Vassar students do not automatically receive the fellowship after being nominated. “The winners are announced in March,” explained Dodington. “The four of us will interview with the [Watson] director at the end of November.”

Forty-eight other colleges participate in the fellowship, including Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Amherst. There are more than 50 fellowships available.

Nominees for the fellowship are passionate about their proposed projects. “When I came to Vassar, I sought to create a major that incorporated my interests in academic fields such as Philosophy, with my long-term interest in dance. I want to leave a permanent mark,” explained Watson. “My experience at Vassar has taught me that it is possible to integrate different fields of thought and study.”

“[My] project represents a unique learning experience that would be impossible to attain in any other setting,” added Dodington. “Without doubt, this experience would influence the course of my life and work.”

For more information, see http://www.watsonfellowship.org.