Students win Watson, Truman, Fulbright awards

Four Wheaton students have won major scholarships for continued study next year, including a Watson Fellowship, a Truman Scholarship and two Fulbright awards. Two other students are awaiting word on their Fulbright applications.

%%Adar Cohen '04%%
Wheaton senior Adar Cohen was one of 50 college students nationwide selected to receive a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship this year. The $22,000 award will support a year of travel and research in Peru, Tibet, China and India, where Cohen will examine expressions of national, ethnic and religious identity within the cultural history of rug making.

"Oriental rugs communicate aesthetic values, cultural histories and even personal life stories," Cohen wrote in his application, "but do they offer another layer of meaning that may exist between the warp and weft of these functional household items and priceless masterpieces? Rug-makers may be weaving much more than knots. Do they convey nationalistic aspirations, political dissent or perhaps implicit revolt?"

Cohen, a native of Peterborough, New Hampshire, designed an independent major at Wheaton in conflict resolution, an approach to learning grounded in anthropology, political science, religion and history. His undergraduate work considers the complex dimensions of world peace and security; nonproliferation and disarmament; faith-based peace building; contemporary social justice campaigns; and international mediation. He is also the recipient of a 2003 Truman Scholarship in public service.

%%Jared Duval '05%%
Jared Duval, past recipient of a Morris K. Udall Scholarship for environmental leadership, won the prestigious 2004 Truman Scholarship. The award supports the senior year at $2,000 and graduate study at $24,000 for future ''agents of change'' in public service.

The Fairlee, Vt., student has a long history of community service at Wheaton and nationally. He holds a number of leadership positions in campus organizations, such as Student Government Association, Students for Economic Justice, College Democrats and Wheaton for [Howard] Dean, and has exercised his political interests with the Sierra Club, Amnesty International, the Howard Dean presidential campaign and others.

''I want my graduate studies program to give me the policy and administrative understanding necessary to put my passion for social and environmental change into practice for regular people,'' Duval wrote in his application, adding that he'd like to run for state or federal office.

%%Anna Kratky '04%%
Anna Kratky, a senior history major and women's studies minor, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to South Korea. She will teach English and research Korean women's educational opportunities and academic choices.

''I am thrilled to have the opportunity to teach English to middle school students,'' said the St. Louis native. ''I have been fortunate enough to work at the Robert College English Language Summer Camp in Istanbul, Turkey, with the HERO (Higher Educational Readiness Opportunity) Program in Brockton, Mass., and to volunteer for Orphanage Outreach in the Dominican Republic. I have found that I love interacting with children and reaching them in and outside of the classroom. I see this Fulbright Scholarship as a continuation of these experiences.''

A scholar-athlete recognized by NEWMAC with its All-Academic Scholar Athlete Award, Kratky is a four-year member of the college's volleyball team.

%%Stefanie Olsen '04%%
Stefanie Olsen, an English major from San Francisco, also won a Fulbright award, which she will use to study of Icelandic literature at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.
Olsen has been studying and translating Icelandic sagas with English Professor Michael Drout for three semesters. She's excited about continuing her study of them in their place of origin, partly because her family is of Icelandic descent.

''Studying at the University of Iceland will bring me into contact with the world's leading saga specialists,'' said Olsen, who is an editorial assistant for the Tolkien Studies Journal, based at Wheaton. ''I'm also hoping to get a glimpse of some of the original manuscripts!''