Rice seniors receive Watson Fellowships to study abroad for one year

Rice seniors receive Watson Fellowships to study abroad for one year

BY ARIE WILSON
Rice News staff

The Thomas J. Watson Foundation has named two Rice University seniors Watson fellows for 2006.

The foundation, which awards up to 60 fellowships each year to students from 50 outstanding private colleges and universities, provides recipients with a $25,000 grant to study abroad independently for one year.

Ellen Connors

Wiess College senior Ellen Connors will devote her time to learning “How Melody Derives from Life Experience in the Circumpolar North.” Connors will travel to Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, Iceland and Canada to pursue her interest in folk-song traditions.

“The song styles were originally sung by nomadic herders out on the plains,” Connors said. “I am attracted to them because the melodies are so profound and heartfelt.”
Connors will examine the similarities in folk songs among the various herding groups that call the circumpolar North home.

“Man-made instruments are made to imitate the expressivity of the human voice, so studying song is vital for all instrumentalists,” the Shepherd School student said. “The human voice is the most basic means of expression, and it is difficult to achieve a voice’s expressivity with a man-made instrument. Hopefully, studying these songs will help me become a better instrumentalist.”

As a lifelong musician and accomplished bassoonist, Connors hopes to absorb the practices of musicians she meets in her travels and transcribe some of the melodies for bassoon.

When she returns from her yearlong independent study, Connors plans to attend graduate school to study music. Eventually, she would like to secure a spot with an orchestra and play bassoon professionally. However, the Michigan native isn’t making concrete decisions on her future, at least not until she returns from abroad.

“I’m going to concentrate on this trip for now because you never know what can happen,” Connors said. “I may fall in love with something else along the way.”

Kim Swanson

Sid Richardson College senior Kim Swanson will travel to Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique to research her project titled “Women, Microfinance and the Division of Labor Within the Household.”

Swanson’s project grew from the desire to empower women in underdeveloped countries. By using microfinance, the provision of financial services to people who are excluded from the formal financial sector, Swanson hopes to provide women in developing countries with access to financial services so that they can start their own small businesses and earn their way out of poverty.

While working with the United Nations (U.N.) Populations Fund, Swanson learned about gender discrimination issues related to HIV/AIDS. Through her U.N. internship, she read about empowering women through microfinance and was intrigued by the possibility of helping females through the medium.

After a second internship working for an African nongovernmental organization, Swanson decided she would like to pursue a career in development policy. “To do that efficiently I thought I should go work on the field level,” she said. “It is hard to see what will work when you are sitting in an office in New York City or Washington.”

By working with various programs in the different countries, Swanson hopes to evaluate microfinance programs based on financial data such as loan repayment rates, as well as issues related to women’s empowerment.

“Microfinance is one tangible way to help empower women,” Swanson said. “I decided to apply for the scholarship because it would give me an opportunity to research something that I believe in.”

The fellowships, which provide college graduates with one year of independent study and travel outside of the United States, are designed to help the students’ capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness and leadership.

Watson fellows are selected for their independence, integrity, responsibility and maturity. Candidates’ academic records are also considered.