Conn Partners with Watson Foundation
Recognizing Conn’s excellence in global education and the strength of our personalized curriculum, the Watson Foundation has reestablished an important partnership with Connecticut College, making Conn students now eligible to apply for The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
The Watson Fellowship is a one-year, $30,000 grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 40 partner colleges.
“We are thrilled to be re-establishing this partnership,” said President Katherine Bergeron.
“The mission of Connecticut College—to educate students to put the liberal arts into action as citizens of a global society—is strongly aligned with the activist and global mission of the Watson Fellowship program. Our new curriculum, Connections, with its emphasis on world language and its unique integrative pathways organized around meaningful personal questions of global and local concern, is a perfect vehicle for developing candidates with the qualities the Watson Foundation seeks.”
Dean of the College Jefferson Singer and Associate Dean for Global Initiatives and Director of the Walter Commons Amy Dooling will administer the Watson program on campus with the assistance of Associate Director of the Walter Commons and Fellowships Melissa Ryan.
“The Watson Fellowship is one of the great jewels of post-graduate fellowships. It offers students a unique opportunity to pursue a passionate project in an international context, integrating both personal mission and cultural awareness,” said Singer, himself a former Watson fellow.
Conn plans to recommend a slate of candidates for Watson’s consideration in the fall of 2020.
Last year the Watson Foundation celebrated 50 years. Today there are over 2,900 Watson Fellows in the world community; they comprise leaders in every field. They have argued America’s most influential education legislation before the U.S. Supreme Court, reinvented affordable housing policy and established important new theories about the Earth’s formation.
