Providence Resident Amy Harff Awarded Prestigious Watson Fellowship
Hamilton College Senior is Environmental Studies and Studio Art Double Major
Clinton, NY (03/24/2021) — Providence resident and Hamilton College senior Amy Harff has been named a Watson Fellow, receiving a $36,000 stipend to pursue a "year of independent, purposeful exploration" abroad. The prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 partner institutions.
Harff, recently elected to Phi Beta Kappa, will pursue a project titled Mother Earth's Artists: Inspiring Environmental Action on Islands. The environmental studies and studio art major will visit the North Island of New Zealand, the Seychelles, Taiwan, Marshall Islands, and Svalbard - islands that she says have thriving art communities focused on creating work and raising awareness about climate change and environmental issues.
"I will learn from artists, art collective members, community leaders, government officials and environmental organizations to study the role of art as a means for local change," Harff said. "As a female artist, and due to the underrepresentation of female and indigenous artists, I am particularly interested in [hearing] their voices, actions, and concerns as climate change and pollution threaten their homeland. My project is about engaging with artists who exist on the fringes of the art world, due to their physical location, gender, race, and ethnicity, yet are driven by the common goal of fighting for climate justice."
A Dean's List student, Harff has served the Hamilton community as an Outing Club and Orientation Trip leader. She has received a Smallen Grant for Creativity, a Levitt Research Grant, and a Kirkland Grant. Harff has studied off campus in Florence, Italy, and in Hamilton's program in the Adirondacks. She graduated from The Wheeler School.
Originally founded in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, Hamilton College offers an open curriculum that gives students the freedom to shape their own liberal arts education within a research- and writing-intensive framework. Hamilton enrolls 1,850 students from 49 states and 49 countries. Additional information about the college can be found at www.hamilton.edu.
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Hamilton College senior and Thomas J. Watson Fellowship recipient Amy Harff Photo by Nancy L. Ford