Stories about "Watson Fellowship"
Two seniors, inspired by personal journeys from pain to healing and justice, awarded Watson Fellowships

Friday, March 31, 2023 2:31 pm

Two Bates College seniors who seek healing and justice for others inspired by personal journeys, one from physical pain, another from the pain of dislocation from beloved land, have been awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships.

"Despite working remotely this summer, I’ve been glad to still be able to engage with the community a bit in-person like this.” —Anthropology major and Bonner Leader Hannah McKenzie of Stevenson, Md., photographed on Lewiston’s Lisbon Street and in the Heritage Restaurant and its adjacent market place, where she regularly shops and purchases tea. This summer, McKenzie has divided her time between two local organizations providing support to refugees and immigrants: the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine and Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. The tea she purchases at the Heritage Restaurant, says Mckenzie “reminds me of one of the first cultural lessons I learned in Lewiston.” When Hamza Abdi, a community leader and an academic administrative assistant at Bates and she first started teaching an IRCM English class together her first semester at Bates, “Hamza would leave in the middle of each class to retrieve us each traditional Somali tea, flavored with spices like cinnamon and cardamom and sweetened in condensed milk. I loved this tea,” she says. “Only three months into teaching did I realize Hamza had been buying the tea from this restaurant downstairs, rather than making it in the office break room as I had assumed. I contested that I didn’t want him spending his money on me — after all, if I come to the Center twice weekly for four years, that’s a lot of money. Hamza laughed, well versed in the differences between our cultures. He explained that in Djiboutian culture, money is considered best used for gestures of sharing and showing others appreciation. Someone in his culture doesn’t ‘lose’ money, as people essentially take turns paying for their friends.” These days, Mckenzie regularly picks up tea at the Heritage Restaurant. “I really appreciate the culture of collectivity that surrounds it. These kind of cultural lessons are what have made my experience of Lewiston and my studies of anthropology at Bates so eye-opening a
Q&A: Hannah McKenzie ’21 and the ‘unfathomable beauty’ of a Watson Fellowship

Thursday, April 8, 2021 10:31 am

As she concludes her Bates education, McKenzie is at a crossroads. the Watson Fellowships, she believes, will be the perfect guide.

Kelsey Schober, Erica Veazey are Bates’ 2016 Watson Fellows

Thursday, April 14, 2016 12:57 pm

Two Alaskans are Bates College's 2016 recipients of the prestigious Watson Fellowship.

2015 Watson Fellow to explore sustainable ranching in three nations

Friday, May 8, 2015 9:08 am

2015 Watson Fellow and Bates College senior Caroline Caldwell will undertake an exploration of sustainable ranching in Australia, Finland and Tristan da Cunha.

Watson Fellows to explore marine algae industry, donation of body parts

Thursday, April 3, 2014 2:04 pm

Simone Schriger and Brian Kennedy have won highly competitive Watson Fellowships, awarded to seniors of "unusual promise" for a year of international travel and research.

Thanks to Watson Fellowship, Norrmén-Smith ’13 will research perceptions of stroke in Africa, Asia

Monday, April 8, 2013 1:57 pm

A 2013 Watson Fellowship will make it possible for a Bates alumna to spend a year in Africa and Asia researching cultural perceptions of one of humankind's leading causes of death and disability.

Romina Istratii of Athens, Greece, shown here speaking during the October 2012 dedication of two academic buildings at Bates College, is a Bates senior recently awarded the prestigious Watson Fellowship. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College.
Istratii ’12 is Africa-bound, thanks to Watson Fellowship

Friday, April 6, 2012 4:44 pm

Romina Istratii '12 will use the Watson Fellowship to research the dynamics of food security and gender bias in Africa.

Senior to use Watson award to study South African, Indonesian theater

Monday, March 30, 2009 1:56 pm

With the ultimate aim of teaching contemporary drama in her native Sri Lanka, a Bates College senior has received a 2009 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study performance arts in South Africa and Indonesia. Sulochana Dissanayake of Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka, is one of 40 recipients of the 2009 fellowship, a $28,000 award supporting a year of independent research abroad.

Bates student receives prestigious Watson Fellowship

Monday, April 2, 2007 1:00 pm

Khoa Pham, a Bates College senior from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has received one of 50 prestigious research fellowships awarded by the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program.

Harrow to investigate diverse approaches to child protection

Thursday, March 30, 2006 11:03 am

Amanda Harrow has pursued her interest in child-protection policy and practice through an internship with the Massachusetts Department of Social Services and through her Bates senior thesis, which has examined interventional approaches to domestic violence through service-learning work at the Abused Women's Advocacy Project, Lewiston.

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