The Watson Foundation, based in Providence, R.I., sifted through more than 1,800 student proposals before selecting its 60 recipients for the 1997-98 academic year.
Whitman College is the only school to have three students selected this year. Several colleges, ranging from Pomona and Claremont McKenna in the West to Amherst and Williams in the East, received two fellowships each.
Watson fellowships are awarded each spring as part of a national competition among graduating seniors at 50 of America's top liberal arts colleges. Recipients receive an $18,000 grant to travel outside the United States while engaging in a year-long independent study project of their own devising.
Whitman also led the nation in Watson fellowships in 1996 when four of its students were selected (click here for a look back at Whitman's 1996 Watson winners or here for a complete listing of Whitman's past recipients).
With seven Watson fellowships to its credit over the past two years, Whitman has enjoyed the most success of any school participating in the program. Next in line are Pomona and Middlebury College, each of which has collected five fellowships during the same time period.
Whitman students honored with 1997 Watson fellowships are Kinoka Onnah Ogsbury of Boulder, Colo., Amanda Walker of Walla Walla, Wash., and David Sprunger of Portland, Oregon.
Ogsbury will study weaving as a form of cross-cultural communication as she travels
from Guatamala to Indonesia, Laos, Thailand and Bhutan -- countries with a rich tradition of
weaving. Ogsbury, who is majoring in English literature with a minor in Spanish literature, is
considering a career in textile design. Click here for more details
about Ogsbury's plans to weave her way from one country to the next.
Sprunger, who is majoring in studio art and Asian studies, will travel through Japan,
Korea, China, Vietnam and Italy to study societies that elevate preparation and consumption
of noodles to acts of cultural significance. Sprunger, who is considering a career in film
making, hopes to use what he learns about "noodle cultures" to further develop his sense of
socially inspired art. Click here for more
details about Sprunger
and his nose for noodles.
Walker, who is majoring in theatre and English at Whitman, will spend most of her
year studying theatrical combat with professional fight directors in London, England. She also
plans to study the weapons and armor used in Medieval and Renaissance combat at various
museums and castles in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria. Click
here for more details about Walker and her plans to battle her
way to a better understanding of theatrical combat.
As a group, recipients of the 1997 Watson fellowships will travel to more than 70 countries on six continents. Recipients were chosen on the basis of character, leadership potential, willingness to immerse themselves in new cultures, and the creativity and personal significance of their proposed projects.
"This diverse class of Watson Fellows represents some of the very best and brightest in American higher education today," said William Moses, executive of the Watson Foundation.
"We have awarded grants to students from a variety of disciplines, including budding astrophysicists, artists, business executives, physicians, woodworkers, politicians, singers, lawyers, comedy writers and professors."
The Watson fellowship program is designed to give recipients the opportunity to explore with thoroughness a particular interest or concern, test their aspirations and abilities, view their lives and American society in greater perspective, and develop a more informed sense of international concerns. The program seeks projects that are personally significant and creative, yet focused and disciplined.
The program was established in 1968 by the children of Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, and his wife, Jeannette K. Watson, in honor of their parents' long-standing interest in education and world affairs.
"Watson Fellows are known for their creative, imaginative projects," said Moses, "but many people do not realize that the genesis of these projects comes from deep personal interests."
"Not everyone will find what they are looking for on their wanderjahr," he added. "But our hope is that a unique life-changing year spent pursuing dreams and passions overseas will result in Watson Fellows enriching business, science, academia and the arts when they return to America."
Dave Holden, Whitman College News Service, (509) 527-5902
Email Address: holden@whitman.edu