Alissa Aron, Haverford College
Reading Between the Vines: The Interface of Science and Art in Winemaking
Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay
Though science and art are often seen as oppositional, the borders between them are poorly delineated because neither category is precisely defined. During the Watson year I will explore the world of winemaking, where science and art are particularly interwoven, as a case study to gain a more nuanced understanding of the interface between them. I will work with winemakers in both the Old and New Worlds, in varied climactic zones, and in commercial as well as academic contexts to highlight the intricacies of the relationship between science, art, and wine.

Nell Bang-Jensen, Swarthmore College
Names Across Nations: How the Naming Process Reflects Cultural Identity
Zambia, Germany, Morocco, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland
Names are defined by the individuals who bear them while also representing cultural and historical contexts. The process of naming a child varies around the world and is shaped by a variety of considerations including religious traditions, governmental restrictions, family history, and cultural icons. I will explore a range of naming practices to better understand how names shape identity and how people, in turn, shape names. By working with NGOs and schools in seven countries, I will meet families who recently underwent the naming process and learn what makes a name.

Sara Bates, Davidson College
Delivering Hope: A Comparative Study of Midwifery Programs and Practices
New Zealand, Indonesia, Chile, Ethiopia
While childbirth is often a positive and fulfilling experience, for too many women it is associated with fear, suffering, ill-health, and even death. Today, midwives remain the primary providers of health care for childbearing women around the world. Midwifery encompasses the care of women during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period, as well as care of the newborn. My project aims to explore the cross-cultural factors of midwifery in order to further my knowledge of the techniques midwives use and struggles they face on a daily basis.

Michele Bornstein, Wellesley College
Twisted Strands: Unraveling the History of Cane Work in Glass Art
Turkey, Egypt*, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands
My Watson year will allow me to study the history and practice of a 16th century glassblowing technique called cane by traveling to Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and The Netherlands. I will focus on the possible role that Jewish traders may have played in the development and dissemination of cane. By delving into the historical tradition and the hands-on practice of this technique, I will explore my own identity as a glassblower, a historian, and a Jew.

Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Bard College
The Star of Swords: Sword Dancing and Culture
England, France, Italy, Georgia, Germany
Across the European continent there is a form of dance that appears nowhere else. Known as Hilt-to-Point sword dances, these radically varying traditions are linked by symbols such as woven stars, mock execution and resurrection, and of course swords. I seek to understand why these dances, which at first seem unrelated, have developed in parallel and share common symbols. I hope to understand how cultural ideas such as nationalism, gender roles and class are expressed through dance. I will be learning from many dance groups as well as learning how to make swords myself.

Debbie Chen, Wellesley College
Cultural Exchange through the Martial Arts
Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Canary Islands, Brazil
As a Watson fellow, I intend to travel to Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Canary Islands, and Brazil to learn a martial art unique to each country's people and culture.

Austin Davis, Middlebury College
"Dawa" But Not Out: Investigating Arab Perceptions of Disability
Morocco, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, United Kingdom
I will travel to Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Arab communities in London to observe and interact with a variety of Arab people with disabilities as well as the people who help them manage their disability. I aim to gain a better individual understanding of the lived experience of disability in different Arab contexts. As someone who underwent an emergency bilateral above-knee amputation in Egypt as well as a long-time Arabic student, this project will be rewarding on a number of levels.

Blake Davis, College of the Atlantic
The Culture and Evolution of Fly Fishing Techniques
Australia, India, Costa Rica
Cities around the world are encroaching on rivers and coasts, polluting and crowding the locations once ideal for trout and salmon fly fishing. In response fly fishing as a whole is evolving -- adapting century-old traditions to species and techniques better-suited to present conditions. I will travel to three countries, fishing primarily in urban environments to document the innovations of individual fly fishers. Ultimately I hope to recognize the approaches of fly fishers which are not acknowledged in the traditional portrayal of fly fishing today.

Jessica Emory, Wheaton College
A Dy(e)ing Breed? Traditional Fiber Artists in the 21st Century
Romania, Cambodia, Iceland, Falkland Islands, Mongolia
My Watson year will investigate different fiber communities to see if traditional crafts are being forgotten by the culture as a whole. By talking with people who are brought together by fiber, whether it be a farm that raises sheep, a network of weavers, a cooperative of silk artists, or social spinners, I will be able to look at this issue from the perspectives of communities in Cambodia, Romania, Iceland, the Falkland Islands, and Mongolia. I will learn how artists stay relevant to themselves and their communities, and if fiber artists are a dying breed.

Ross Eustis, Whitman College
Speaking Transnational Dialects of Jazz
Japan, Sweden, India, South Africa, Cuba*, Brazil
Improvisation, whether articulated as bebopear, cubop, or hundreds of more (dis)similar descriptors, is the essence of jazz, the language spoken by its practitioners. However, countries have created their own dialects of jazz by assimilating into it the indigenous music forms, rhythms, scales and melodies of their own cultures. I will explore this cross-pollination of jazz and the indigenous music of various countries firsthand by integrating into their jazz communities and learning to listen, think and speak in the local jazz vernacular.

Matthew Fink, Carleton College
Disability, Technology, and Pro-gaming in Europe and Asia
Sweden, Germany, South Korea
I will travel to Sweden, Germany, and South Korea to experience pro-gaming culture first hand by living and training with StarCraft 2 teams. I will work to qualify for the Global StarCraft 2 league while connecting with disabled gamers to learn about how technology is changing what it means to be competitive as a person with a disability. I will also attend DREAMHACK in Sweden and IEM World Championships in Germany.

Samuel Gold, Pomona College
Performing "Model" Humans -- What Puppets Can Teach Us About Empathy
Czech Republic, Poland, Japan, Singapore
Theatre audiences think they project their identities onto puppet performers, yet think they connect with human actors by sharing in their feelings and experiences. I want to explore this difference, distinguishing the actual, perceptual, and culturally-influenced elements of this phenomenon in countries with rich puppet histories- the Czech Republic, Poland, Japan, and Singapore. I intend to examine the intricacies of puppet performance and philosophies of human actors influenced by puppets, interviewing puppeteers, actors, and audiences alike to ask: what is empathy?

Isobel Grad, Haverford College
The Social Value of Local Food Systems
Iceland, Greece, Madagascar, India
My project involves traveling to Madagascar, Greece, India and Iceland to study how local food systems support a sense of geographical and ecological stability, create community ties and place a country in a global context. The project focuses on countries with vastly different food systems, different social, religious and economic contexts, and varying degrees (or methods) of global integration, in an attempt to understand how the tension between traditional (local) and industrial (global) is negotiated through food.

Sophia Herscu, Colorado College
Social Circus: Trust Building and Empowerment Though Circus Technique
Canada, Australia, Brazil
Contemporary circus, an offshoot of Circus delivers a message to its audience and instills values of trust in its performers. This circus pedagogy can be used in a new movement called Social Circus, which uses circus technique as a way to build self-confidence and trust in group settings. I will study the ability of these performance techniques to empower women and youth. Traveling to Montreal, Nunavik, Australia, and Brazil I will study both old and new programs. I hope to gain a better understanding of where Social Circus has come from, and its possible trajectory.

Joanna Johnson, Oberlin College
Running Against the Odds: Female Distance Running in Different Cultures
Ethiopia, Japan, Norway
As a competitive female long distance runner and aspiring journalist, I will train alongside elite female distance runners in Ethiopia, Japan, and Norway. I seek to document the stories of the different paths these women have taken to go from casual running to professionalism, influenced by their culture's understanding of athleticism and female gender roles. Training with these women will allow me delve into each community, explore the challenges these women face, and investigate what motivates them as they push both their physical and cultural limits.

Adam Karas, Carleton College
Camels and Caravans: Traveling with Nomads in Jordan, Syria, and Tibet
Jordan, Syria, Tibet
During my Watson Fellowship year, I will travel with nomadic communities in Jordan, Syria, and Tibet. I will trek across the Wadi Rum on camel, train falcons in Al-Reesha, and herd sheep in the Tibetan plains. I will live with these communities and see first-hand how the forces which are shaping the 21st century are influencing the lives and identities of these peoples.

Afshin Khan, Pomona College
In Search of Heroes in Girls' Education
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Syria, Morocco, South Africa
Women account for two-thirds of the global illiterate population. Almost three in four illiterate women are found in only eleven countries. As a Watson Fellow, I want to travel to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Syria, Morocco, and South Africa in search of those heroes, men or women, who have or are trying to overcome different obstacles to gain education or provide it to others. I would like to capture the inspirational stories of these individuals on film and share my documentary and experiences with other people.

Davis Knittle, Wesleyan University
Cities in Transition: Identity, Narrative and the Changing Urban Landscape
Canada, Ecuador, Australia
Toronto, Quito, and Sydney are all in the process of undergoing long-range strategic plans that will change not only how the cities operate, but how they are designed and how residents tell the story of what it is like to live there. During my Watson year, I will explore the link between the plans and their impact on the stories that a city in transition tells itself about where it is and where it is going.

Kai Knutson, Carleton College
Things Not Seen: Hunting Microbes in Dairy Cultures Around the World
Turkey, Egypt*, India, Mongolia
My Watson year will be a cultural adventure as well as a scientific journey. I will travel to regions where fermented milks have been cultured for millennia and seek the oldest, wildest strains of the bacteria that produce their characteristic flavors and textures. I will learn the history of these microbial cultures from families who have made dairy foods for generations. Through a microscope, I will survey the bacteria that create fermented milks, compare those in industrial cultures to those sustained within traditional varieties, and share this perspective with the people I meet.

Drake LeBrun, Rice University
Surgical Disparities in the Developing World: The Human Experience
Uganda, Bangladesh, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago
Disparities in surgical care and disease are among the most pressing issues afflicting the world today, but statistics of the dying and suffering only illustrate a small part of a much broader and more complex picture. As a Watson Fellow, I will traverse the health care landscapes of resource-poor nations on a quest to understand the human side of surgery. Through cross-cultural dialogue with patients and providers, I hope to acquire a holistic understanding of the causalities and consequences that shape the human experiences of global surgical inequities.

Joshua Magno, Bowdoin College
5, 6, 7, 8, Instep, Outreach: An Exploration of Dance as Community Service
Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Egypt*, Uganda, India
As a passionate volunteer and performer, I propose an examination of dance performed as community service. I will visit dance companies that aim to mend a separation in their community induced by various issues including sexuality, environmental issues, disabilities, and AIDs awareness. I hope to learn how teaching and choreographing techniques are influenced by culture, dance style, and the issues they confront. I will achieve this by volunteering at these non-profit organizations, learning choreography and possibly performing with these innovative artists.

Sarah Midzik, Middlebury College
Darwin in the Desert: Explorations of Evolution Across the Middle East
Jordan, Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco
I propose to spend a year traveling across the Middle East and North Africa in an attempt to better understand how individuals of different religious traditions grapple with Darwinian evolution. I will explore whether the shared conceptual challenge that evolution poses to people of faith can be a point of overlapping discussion, and the possibility for conversations about evolution to be integrated into interfaith dialogue and initiatives. I also will examine my own identity as both a rational scientist and a spiritual believer, and the tension between the two.

Mary Phillips, Hamilton College
Safe Spaces: All-girl Environments and Their Role in Community Development
Guatemala, Egypt*, South Africa,
Safe spaces are environments designed to build girls' skills and confidence through activities and reflective discussions. I will seek out safe spaces for impoverished girls ages 10-19 in a variety of cultural contexts. By working with community organizations and interacting with girls and their families I hope to understand the diversity of challenges girls face and how safe space programs enable young women to challenge gender discrimination to better their lives and benefit the entire community.

Alexander Reich, Grinnell College
We Are What We Eat: The Far North And Its People In a Changing World
Canada, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland
When people herd, harvest and hunt near their homes, they gain closeness to their land. When they import food from afar, they become tied to a broader network, sharing calories and cultures with distant places. These food systems find expression as both diets and the relationships people have with their food. Through this lens, I will focus on the impacts of global warming and globalization on indigenous and non-indigenous Arctic communities in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

Deivid Rojas, Swarthmore College
Voices of Ejection: Exploring the stories of the internally displaced
Peru, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Turkey
I will engage with internally displaced people from Peru, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, and Turkey, to explore and learn about their respective stories and experiences. From these narratives I want to get an understanding of their situation, their evaluation of initiatives designed to address their condition, and their outlook of their past and future. Moreover, I hope to create an "oral history project" that will allow me to share the experiences of these people with each other, but also with the world.

Nathan Schneck, Hamilton College
Voluntary Poverty: A Means for Individual and Community Transformation
Thailand, India, Argentina
Religious communities that embrace voluntary poverty provide an intriguing model that responds to the material and spiritual needs of the poor. My project explores the practice of voluntary poverty across religions and seeks to examine how this practice functions as a means and model for individual and community transformation. I will live among, work alongside and spend time in dialogue within and outside religious communities to experience and understand the transformation produced by the practice of voluntary poverty and acts of service and solidarity with the poor.

Jesse Schupack, University of the South
Across the Board: Exploring International Board Game Culture
South Korea, Germany, Ghana, India, Hungary, Greece
Board games are more than mere amusements. They are a means of finding community, and for some they are a way of life. I will explore the ways in which board games shape and sustain communities and the roles they have in the lives of those who play them - from the hobbyists who gather to play in courtyards and cafes to the professionals who travel the international tournament circuits. I hope to gain a greater understanding of the power games have to bridge social divides and their ability to unite those who play them.

Courtney Sheehan, Grinnell College
The Politics of Film Festivals
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Netherlands, India, Russia
This project seeks to explore the broad question of why movies matter, taking a specifically political approach by studying how film festivals work. This will entail volunteering at festivals, shadowing festival organizers, and familiarizing myself with national cinemas through research at film archives, interaction with local filmmaking communities, and participation at media institutes. I will investigate film festivals as cultural and commercial events that both reflect and shape local, national, and international politics.

Margaret Shelton, University of Puget Sound
More than a Halo, Wings, and Strings: The Diversity of Harps and Harpists
Japan, China, Spain, France, Ireland, United Kingdom, Mexico
Although many imagine angels when they envision the harp, this unique instrument is much more than heavenly music and graceful movements. In a journey of musical and personal discovery, I will follow the harp around the world to explore how various cultures influence repertoire, playing techniques, historic roles, and harp-making craftsmanship. Working and playing with amateurs and professionals on both concert and folk harps will allow me to uncover the richness of traditions different from my own and see how the story of the harp and my story are intertwined.

Morgan Sleeper, Macalester College
Ceol agus Comhra: Music & Language Revitalization in the Celtic Fringe
United Kingdom, Argentina, Isle of Man, Canada, France, Ireland
Music has amazing potential as a tool for language revival. Taking the Celtic languages as my case study, I'll travel to each of the Celtic nations and two diaspora regions to discover how people are using music to revitalize these endangered languages. By attending music festivals and language classes, speaking with musicians, language activists, and radio stations, and writing my own Irish-language songs, I'll explore how music fits into the Celtic language revival, and how this model can best be used to help other endangered languages around the globe.

Hannah Sohl, Colorado College
Against the Current: Exploring Migratory Fish Runs and Cultures
Canada, Bolivia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Laos
Riverine communities throughout the world depend on migratory fish runs not only for their economic and nutritional livelihoods, but also for cultural identity and a sense of place. During my Watson year, I will explore the traditional and contemporary relationships between humans and migratory fish runs, the threats facing rivers and fish, and the various conservation efforts emerging to protect them. I will document this project through a series of podcasts to give voice to the narratives of fish migrations.

Allison Swaim, Oberlin College
Gathering Stories Along the Trade Routes
Singapore, Philippines, China, Panama
I want to investigate the ways trade routes shape narratives of people and places. I plan to circumnavigate the globe via maritime commercial shipping routes and canals, traveling by cargo ship and spending time in port cities and canal towns en route. Key destinations: Singapore, the Philippines, Shanghai, China's Grand Canal, and the Panama Canal. I approach this project as a radio journalist/sound artist. I will collect sounds and record interviews with the people who live and work along these routes and produce radio documentaries for broadcast and web publication.

Anne Temmink, Davidson College
Women, Sewing, and the Globalization of Fashion
Ghana, India, Indonesia
Clothing communicates many things about the history of a culture as well as an individual's origins and affiliations. Historically, women throughout the world have occupied roles in many facets of clothing making. My proposal will take me to study in three countries each with an identity strongly tied to its particular style of dress or textile traditions. By working alongside seamstresses and dyers, I will explore the histories and trades that surround clothing production to see the effects of Western clothing on the livelihood of female artisans.

Natalie Truong, Grinnell College
Creative Discontent: Speechwriting in Open and Closed Societies
India, South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia
Speeches have challenged, inspired, and shaped significant moments in human history. My project is an attempt to hear various voices discuss the issues affecting the countries of India, South Africa, Singapore, Vietnam, and Australia. I plan to learn how cultural context and different government styles have influenced the symbols and appeals that speechwriters use to engage the public. By interacting with political speechwriters, I will gain insight into how speeches shape perennial debates and attest the principles and beliefs of a country.

Toni Tsvetanova, Colby College
Redefining Homelessness: A Promise for Change through Social Enterprise
France, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh
A promise made long time ago to change homeless people's lives assures me that I will one day use social entrepreneurship (SE) to help people on the streets. A Watson Fellowship is the means through which I will learn how to do so. The answers I seek relate to distinguishing the successful SE strategies and methods that can help me connect with homeless people and provide them with the means and motivation to make a difference in their lives.

Jacqueline Ward, University of Puget Sound
Stretching Humanity: Contortion in a Cross-Cultural Context
Mongolia, China, India, Canada, France
Contortion is a powerful expressive form as its one instrument, the human body, is a tool all of humanity shares. I plan to examine the role that contortion plays in conversations of identity, community and the construction of what it means to be human as I explore local dynamics in traditional Mongolian contortion, ancient Chinese acrobatics, Indian yoga and the contemporary circus movement in Montreal. Through participation, observation and intercultural exploration, I will delve into the spiritual, artistic and humanistic potential of this expressive human form.

Julia Wilber, Hamilton College
A Single Thread: Producers and Consumers of Fair Trade Clothing
United Kingdom, Australia, Bolivia, India, Japan
How could a piece of clothing bring social and economic empowerment to marginalized communities around the world? I intend to examine the Fair Trade clothing market to determine what compels consumers and producers to "buy into" this non-conventional trade system. I want to learn about the cultural, political, social, and economic tendencies around the world that inform this unique type of consumerism. I also plan to live and work with artisans, learning the process of making a piece, from the woven cotton fabric to the colorful dyes to the carefully designed garment.

Emanuel Yekutiel, Williams College
On the Cusp: Gay Rights Activism Across the Globe, a Worldwide Struggle
United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, India
On my Watson year I will interview gay rights activists, attend rallies and marches, study each country's political history related to social activism, and work alongside grassroots activist organizations. I will do this to gain a greater and more international understanding of how activists around the globe are mobilizing and organizing to affect legislative change within their systems of government. I want to know what these activists are fighting for, how they are fighting, and why.

Keren Yohannes, Macalester College
To Build a Ramp: Disability Rights in Post-Crisis Contexts
Sierra Leone, Uganda, New Zealand, Thailand, Jordan
Disabled persons are disproportionately affected by conflict, as their needs and priorities are often neglected in post-crisis processes of resettlement and reconstruction. My project will explore the factors contributing to this exclusion. By traveling to five post-crisis and refugee-receiving countries, I will learn about the experiences of persons with disabilities during and after periods of conflict. Ultimately, my goal is to identify how disabled persons, their communities, and social service organizations can better work together to ensure disability rights.

*Travel to this country is permitted only if the U. S. State Department lifts its travel warning.