Gwen Thompkins is a New Orleans native, NPR veteran and host of WWNO s
Music Inside Out, where she brings to bear the knowledge and experience she amassed as senior editor of Weekend Edition, an East Africa correspondent, the holder of Nieman and Watson Fellowships, and as a longtime student of music from around the world.
One of the many things on President Joe Biden’s to-do list is nominating up to 190 U.S. ambassadors to embassy postings around the world, from Albania to Zimbabwe. Many of those ambassadors will head to nations that the U.S. considers allies, such as France, Germany, and Canada. But some will serve in countries with which the United States disagrees on key issues, such as Russia.
Alan D. Solomont, A70, A08P, the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, was the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra under President Barack Obama. His 50-year political career began as an undergraduate at Tufts in the 1960s, when he “got swept up in the antiwar movement and civil rights work.” It continued after graduation when he became a community organizer in Lowell, Massachusetts, and over three decades of raising money for Democratic candidates for elected office. He was involved in six presidential campaigns before Obama nominated him to be the U.S. Ambass
Phyllis Graber Jensen Published on May 18, 2021
The month of May represents the end of the academic year. As the beauty of spring emerges, we experience bittersweet acknowledgments: of the work that remains to be done, the sudden anticipation of goodbyes, and contemplation of life after graduation.
Congratulations and thanks to all for the strength and determination you modeled during the challenging year of 2020–21.
Footwork
Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College
Adelaide Armah ’23 of Accra, Ghana, gains control of the ball during the Bates women’s soccer team’s scrimmage against Bowdoin, held on Garcelon Field in early May..
Sunset Over Hathorn
May 14, 2021
As a one-year pilot program, the Fries Center for Global Studies has created the Wesleyan Global Fellowship with the intention of awarding graduating seniors nominated but not chosen for the Watson Fellowship, a grant for a year of independent exploration outside the United States post-graduation.
The four students who won this new fellowship for the 2021 academic year are William Briskin ‘21, Grace Lopez ‘21, and Indigo Pellegrini de Paur ‘21.
“The Watson is a unique program because it gives the fellow complete freedom in designing their project,” according to the Wesleyan & the World blog. “Since the fellowship involves travel, usually to distant locations, nominees who didn’t win the Watson might not otherwise have the opportunity to pursue any part of their project without institutional support. The Wesleyan Global Fellowship supports their personal growth and affords them invaluable intercultural experience, allowing them to spend up to one month in
Posted March 25th, 2021 at 10:38 am
Zijia Zhuang ’21 will soon be traveling to Russia, Japan, Taiwan, Ghana, and Germany as a Watson Fellow.
The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the U.S., awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 partner institutions.
Zijia is a comparative literature major at Bryn Mawr and her project is titled “Who is Reading to Children.”
Throughout her travels, which will likely begin sometime after Aug. 1 as long as international travel can be done safely, Zijia plans to work with organizations that read to children or provide support for families to facilitate parent-child reading.