This year the Thomas J. Watson Foundation awarded 50 fellowships in the amount of $30,000, along with college loan assistance and an insurance allowance to each recipient. The awardees come from a small group of private liberal arts colleges and universities across the United States. Berea College is the sole school in Kentucky that can nominate students.
We are proud to announce that this year Tuvshinzaya Amarzaya, out of 700 candidates, is a winner of the prestigious Watson fellowship.
Her project—“Evolution of Cultural and Individual Identity Through Martial Arts”—will take her to China, Japan, Brazil, and France to explore how changes in Shaolin Kung Fu, Ninjutsu, Capoeira, and Parkour practices affect martial artists’ sense of self.
She begins her journey this summer.
“As a firm believer in the transformative power of martial arts, I want to see how the martial artist’s sense of identity is affected by his or her practice. Everything that I tried and experienced left a mark on me and helped shape who I am today, but the martial arts carry a particular weight, as the practitioners take up philosophies and principles in addition to the physical training.”
In her own words, Tuvshinzaya reminds us that the Watson Fellowship’s uniqueness is “a chance to pursue your quirky passions and childhood dreams over a year of independent and meaningful travel.”
She encourages everyone at Berea to apply because, “Even the planning and daydreaming are full of surprises and self-discovery!” Please visit the Center for International Education’s page for additional information: legacy.berea.edu/cie/thomas-j-watson-fellowship/.
Applications are due on September 15th, 2015 if you are graduating in December 2015 or May 2016.
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, named after the founder of International Business Machines (IBM), offers graduating college seniors of “unusual promise” the opportunity to engage in one year of independent exploration and travel outside the United States. Its goals are to enhance the capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership, and to foster humane and effective participation in the world community—in short, to develop future leaders who are self-reflective, well-informed, mindful citizens of the world.