Congratulations Dane!!!
On behalf of the Vassar College Committee on Fellowships, I am pleased to announce that Dane Roth, a triple major in Political Science, Asian Studies, and Chinese has been awarded the Watson Fellowship for independent study and travel outside the United States for 2008-2009. Mr. Roth will travel to People's Republic of China and Taiwan (Republic of China) to investigate his topic “The Characters on the Wall: Graffiti as a Political Voice in China”.
Mr. Roth plans to “examine the use and development of graffiti in China as a means for politically disenfranchised groups to spread their political and social messages. The political and cultural history of China provides the basis for a unique interaction with graffiti, both as a means of political protest and as an art form. For my project I will travel to various locations in China meeting with graffiti communities and artists to discover their motivations and attitudes about graffiti.”
Fifty selective private liberal arts colleges are members of the Watson program and each may nominate either 2 or 4 seniors. Out 175 finalists, 50 new Fellows were selected. Each will receive $25,000 for their year of travel and informal study. As the 40th class of Watson Fellows, they’ll span 102 countries, exploring topics ranging from child soldiers to ant colony behavior to heirloom seed preservation. A RISD designer will study emergency and post-emergency shelter designs. A writer from Middlebury will gather stories of the subterranean. A Scripps College linguist will investigate language extinction.
THE THOMAS J. WATSON FELLOWSHIP: “The Foundation provides Fellows an opportunity for a focused and disciplined Wanderjahr of their own devising a period in which they can have some surcease from the lockstep of prescribed educational and career patterns in order to explore with thoroughness a particular interest. During their year abroad, Fellows have an unusual, sustained, and demanding opportunity to take stock of themselves, to test their aspiration and abilities, to view their lives and American society in greater perspective, and, concomitantly, to develop a more informed sense of international concern.” (2004-2005 Brochure) www.watsonfellowship.org