A select group of six students are Senior Fellows this year, dedicating their final year at the College to unique, self-initiated projects ranging from a study of earth control technology in India and the United States to a semi-fictional novel about a childhood abduction.
Classics Professor James Tatum said the fellowship program "gives the imagination the chance to do things." Tatum chairs a faculty committee on Senior Fellows.
The program is a "marvelous opportunity for students who are bright but a little bit out of the ordinary," History Professor Walter Simons said.
The six fellows -- seniors Lara Burgel, Tara Callahan, Chris Kelly, Natalyn Nails, Rachel Roisman and Jennifer Wulff -- do not have to finish their majors and need to get only 29 credits to graduate, as opposed to the normal 35.
Asian Studies Professor Dennis Washburn, who is on the Senior Fellows committee, said this year's projects are more "imaginative" and less "straight-forward academic" than last year's.
Several of the projects are in "ground breaking areas of research," he said.
Roisman is studying earth control technology in India and the United States. She worked in India this past summer, gathering information from clinics and women's organizations.
Roisman said senior fellows experience an entirely different method of working than students who pursue a more conventional course of study.
Nails, a music major, said she hopes to produce a concert version of a Spanish opera. She will be one of the principal singers in the concert.
"It's a lot of work," she said. "Some days I think, 'This is too much.' "
Callahan said she is working on a partial biography on a pioneer woman architect named Theodate Pope Riddle, who worked in Connecticut around the turn of the century.
"I'm examining her life and work in light of the social and architectural history of her time," she wrote in an electronic-mail message. "Most of my research is primary research done through reading letters and diaries that exist in archives in her family home."
Burgel is conducting a case study of water in the Oregon region. She said she plans to examine Western attitudes of hydrology in relation to Native American legislation.
Burgel spent two months in Oregon this summer investigating Native American water rights with Confederate Indian tribes.
Burgel said even early in the Fall term, her project is "frustrating at times" because she said she has "has no idea how to pace" herself.
Physics Professor Elisha Huggins, a member of the Senior Fellow committee, said the projects typically entail a "huge amount of work."
Wulff is currently five chapters into her project -- a semi-fictional book entitled "The Stolen Thief," which she said is based on a childhood abduction experience.
She said working on her project is a much more emotional experience than taking courses at the College.
"Classes don't provoke you to cry and scream," she said.
Kelly, an English major, plans to write a non-fictional book analyzing film festivals.
Kelly said he will basically spend Fall term watching movies.
"So far the work has been lighter than a normal term," he said. "It has been a lot of fun."
Kelly has attended many film festivals to collect data from the films shown and from conversations with directors and audiences. He recently attended the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado and other festivals in Toronto and New York. He said he will also attend the upcoming "Sundance" and "Berlin" festivals this winter.
Tatum said senior fellowships are done in close consultation with advisers.
They do not act not a substitute for a major but as something that "bridges disciplines," Tatum said.
Successful applications for fellowships must meet stringent standards, Simons said.
He said the proposals must be substantial, well-conceived, feasible in terms of time required for completion and clearly unworkable within a normal academic schedule.
Prospective fellows must put together a description of the project, procure sponsorship from a faculty member, detail a budget, request funds and complete an interview, according to Simons.
Tatum said the committee wants to see projects that are so focused they extend beyond the reach of normal classroom work.
