Photos courtesy of Connecticut College.
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is a prestigious year-long grant awarded to graduating seniors from 41 institutions, including Connecticut College. The purpose of the Watson Fellowship is for recent graduates to pursue an independent project on a global scale. Watson Fellows choose what they want to study and where they want to go, though they must remain outside of the United States for the whole year of their Fellowship. The Watson Foundation prides itself on investing in leaders, allowing them to “synthesize ideas, organic to your own interests, on a world scale.” Conn’s Shay Borden ‘21 and Jack Rider-McGovern ‘21 are both recipients of the Watson and have very exciting plans for the next year.
I reached out to Borden, an Africana Studies and Psychology double major, and Rider-McGovern, a Slavic Studies major and CISLA scholar, about their Watson Fellowships.
Shay Borden
When did you first learn about the Watson Fellowship, and what was appealing to you about it?
It was after a class I had with Professor Derek Turner [of the Philosophy department], I think. We were on the top floor of Blaustein and we were chatting, then Professor Hubert Cook [of the English department] comes out. The three of us are talking and it was Professor Cook who brought up the Watson. I took it as a joke at first honestly, as one of those things the professors say that you don’t think applies to you. After, I actually ended up following up and I spoke with Professor Turner about project ideas, graduate programs, and the Watson for two hours in his office. It was a time.
What is your project about?
My project is looking at how Black women use art as a form of self-preservation, an act of social resistance in their respective countries. I’m looking within the diaspora and on the continent. I am working with cabarets, art galleries, media organization, and more. All of which have a focus on Black women across sexuality, religion, location, and artistic mediums.
Which countries do you plan to visit as a part of your research?
I am visiting Canada, Jamaica, UK, South Africa, and Burkina Faso.
What was the application process like?
I did way too much and actually started planning a year before. I didn’t actually make something tangible until after COVID-19 was first formally taking over as a pandemic the week of March 10. I had to juggle 2 internships and LSAT studies, but I took time to email organizations in the middle of the summer. I told both Professor Cook and Professor Turner that I sent over 50 emails in a month. I also worked on personal statement and project statement drafts around the first few months of school. It was kind of hard because the project statement was basically dependent on which organizations emailed me for what availability and it was constantly changing for months.
How did you come up with your project idea? (any inspirations, experiences, classes, people, etc.)?
The first thing I wanted to do was just have a project about food so I can travel and eat. I was told that I should follow some of my passions such as my Black feminist, panAfrican activist work. I was hesitant because I didn’t want to be held in a box that others viewed me in and I wanted to push myself past what I was used to doing. I finally looked at my experiences and more radical ideas when I finally realized focusing on art, beauty, and Black women would be a project I was passionate about, and a project I could learn more about outside of my comfort zone.
What are you most excited about with regards to the Watson?
I’m really nervous and excited to build global connections. The idea of making communities in spaces that I would thrive in get me doe-eyed all over again.
Jack Rider-McGovern
When did you first learn about the Watson Fellowship, and what was appealing to you about it?
I first learned about the Watson last year in a Walter Commons Newsletter. I had never heard about the Fellowship before, but when I saw the description of the program, I thought it sounded too good to be true. I love traveling and learning about new cultures, so the opportunity to do that as part of a year-long fellowship was kind of a dream. The flexibility of the Fellowship is what initially fascinated me because it was so different from other fellowships with a rigid program.
What is your project about?
My project is focused on community efforts to preserve and promote the use of marginalized languages.
Which countries do you plan to visit as a part of your research?
Because it’s such a flexible fellowship, I can change my itinerary as needed. My current plan is to travel to Peru, Bolivia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Tatarstan, Russia; Gujarat, India, and Okinawa, Japan
What was the application process like?
The application process can be pretty challenging. Since I’m so passionate about my project, I found it hard to keep myself to the word limit and still write a paper that expressed the full scope of my project and what lead to me this specific project
How did you come up with your project idea? (any inspirations, experiences, classes, people, etc.)?
I’ve been interested in languages since high school, but I had only taken the colonial languages that are commonly taught in schools in America — French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. But in my junior year of high school I traveled to Ireland and I tried to learn the Irish language beforehand for fun. The language is spoken daily by just a very small portion of the population, having been largely replaced by English. My experience speaking a marginalized language and learning about efforts to revitalize the language got me interested in similar movements to preserve and promote other marginalized languages across the world. This passion led me to starting the Structured Independent Language Study (SILS) Program with Professor Laura Little [of] Slavic Studies. In the SILS program, we provide opportunities for students to study languages outside of the formal curriculum in an effort to decolonize language study.
What are you most excited about with regards to the Watson?
I am most excited to use my current languages to learn new ones and have the incredible opportunity to talk with people whose voices are not often heard on a global platform. There’s something really special about being able to talk to someone in their native language.
Anything else you would like to share?
I think anyone who has a strong or unique passion should apply for this fellowship. Even if I hadn’t won the fellowship, I think the application process still would have been worth it for me because it forced me to organize my interests and ideas into a concrete plan and now I feel like I have much more direction in terms of what I might want to pursue after the fellowship year is done.
I look forward to seeing what Shay and Jack will accomplish over the next year!
