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March 24, 2006 > News > Connors, Swanson, Wright win travel fellowships

Connors, Swanson, Wright win travel fellowships

By Kirti Datla | Thresher staff

In the fall, three recent graduates will begin year-long research projects in multiple countries after receiving $25,000 grants. Last week, Sid Richardson College senior Kim Swanson and Wiess College senior Ellen Connors were named 2006-‘07 Watson Fellows, and December graduate Kelly Wright (Brown ‘05) was named a Zeff Fellow.

The Watson Fellowship rewards 50 applicants who develop creative and independent projects. Each of the 48 participating schools, most of which are small universities and liberal arts colleges, can nominate up to four graduating seniors. The Zeff Fellowship was endowed by Accounting Professor Stephen Zeff and is an award equivalent to the Watson Fellowship, given by Rice to its highest-ranked applicant who does not win the Watson.

Swanson will travel to Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda for her project, “Women, micro-finance and the division of labor within the household.” Swanson said her project is unique in that her study will be qualitative, unlike most past research in micro-finance, which provides financial services to low-income people who are excluded from other financial services based on their income. Swanson said she developed her idea through coursework in her major, mathematical economic analysis, and through past internships.

“My sophomore year, I interned with the United Nations Population Fund and did a project on female condom distribution in West Africa,” Swanson said. “I came up with an idea to link condom distribution with micro-finance programs, which are directed towards women. That’s where my interest in micro-finance and women started.”

Connors, a music major and bassoonist, will travel to Canada, China, Iceland, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Norway to gain exposure to and training in the folk song traditions of the circumpolar North.

“I’ve always been attracted to folk song,” Connors said. “My bassoon teacher has been incorporating song into the curriculum. We study it because it is expressive and human — things that we strive for as instrumentalists. I’m interested in using song to become a better bassoon player.”

Wright will research “Contemporary art in the Chinese diaspora.” Her project will focus on the changing cultures of transplanted Chinese people as reflected in their art.

With a degree in political science and Asian studies, Wright will visit Australia, England, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Singapore and Taiwan following biennales, which are biannual contemporary art festivals.

“I planned my route around the festivals and what times they will be occurring,” Wright said. “I’m going to visit galleries in the meantime and talk to curators and hopefully artists as well.”

Wright said two of her courses — HIST 342: Modern China and ASIA 470: Visual Culture in Revolutionary and Post-revolutionary China — piqued her interest in the Chinese diaspora and that she thought the fellowship would be an ideal way to explore that interest.

“It sounded like something that was so amazing — giving you free license to go around the world to fulfill personal dreams with someone else’s money,” Wright said.

Scholarships and Fellowships Director Mauro De Lorenzo said he was not surprised when Swanson and Connors won.

“I think Rice students are very creative, and after four years they are looking to do something more creative,” he said.

De Lorenzo said he will hold a workshop for current juniors interested in the Watson and Zeff fellowships later this semester.

“Anyone with a 3.0 should consider themselves competitive,” he said. “Especially with the Watson, a student’s GPA is less important than how innovative and appropriate the application is.”

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