Fellowship offers opportunity

After graduating from college in 1983, Oberlin Affiliate Scholar Laurie McMillin spent a year trekking through South Asia, researching "The Renaissance of Buddhism in India." Her experience as a Watson Fellow has guided her professional career since that day.

"I feel like I'm still on my Watson," said McMillin. "So much of my research sprung out of it."

McMillin continued her involvement with the Watson Foundation while at Kenyon College and this year is head of Oberlin's Watson Fellowship selection committee. She and other members of the committee will soon select four Oberlin seniors to compete on the national level for the prestigious award.

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship program enables college graduates to engage in a year of independent study abroad in the year after graduation. The projects, referred to as 'wanderjahrs' by the Foundation, are designed and proposed by the individual students. "It's the old-fashioned 18th century notion of the Grand Tour," said McMillin. "It came out of that whole ideology."

Past proposals show great creativity and initiative, varying from world music to agricultural science to oral histories. Past winning proposals from Oberlin students have included "Aquaculture in Developing Nations", "The Free Press in Newly Democratic Countries" and "Art of the Old and New Russia."

Each Watson Fellow receives a block grant of $22,000, with the only stipulations being that they fulfill 12 months of research and send updates to the Watson Foundation of their progress.

The deadline for Oberlin seniors is fast approaching; internal applications are due Thursday. Eight to 10 students will then be interviewed by the Oberlin selection committee, and four applications will be submitted to the national selection committee for review.

National winners will be announced by March 15, 1999.

About 30 Oberlin seniors apply for the fellowship each year, according to McMillin. College senior Joseph F. Bradley is submitting a proposal to record the oral history of Hungary's past 50 years, tracing personal lives through World War II, the Communist occupation and the capitalist revolution.

"What's lost in the shuffle is what happens to the individual," said Bradley. "I want to see the entire context of their lives within the context of these changes."

College senior Ana Maria Alvarez, a politics and dance major, is applying to research the connection between dance and politics in Cuba. "I want to study the way dance is in a society where art is not a commodity," said Alvarez.

She hopes to interview dancers, dance with companies and do other research during her 12 months in Cuba. "I'm really thankful for the opportunity. It has forced me to organize completely what I plan to do," said Alvarez.

According to the Watson Foundation, fellows are chosen for demonstrating "integrity, strong ethical character, intelligence, the capacity for vision and leadership and potential for humane and effective participation in the world community."

Projects are chosen based on their creativity, personal significance and feasibility. Fellows, once chosen, have no obligation to document their research, only to stay outside the United States for the duration of the year. "Watson fellowships provide that space, time and leisure to really explore something in depth," said McMillin.

Oberlin is one of 50 participating liberal arts colleges from which the 60 fellows are chosen each year. At least one Oberlin graduate has been chosen in recent years, and in 1992 three graduates were selected as Fellows. Last year two Oberlin seniors were chosen: Opuruiche Miller is researching "Hip-Hop Culture Through Radio" in South Africa and Claudia VonVocano is researching "Muralist Art in the Political Context" in Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Africa.

The Oberlin Watson Fellowship selection committee includes McMillin, Professor of History Rod DiCenzo, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Sarah Stoll and Professor of Performance Practice and Fortepiano David Breitman.