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Jonas
Friddle, a December 2004 Berea College graduate from Black Mountain,
N.C., has been awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship for a year of post-graduate
independent study and travel outside the United States.
The $22,000 fellowship is one of 50 fellowships awarded nation-wide
to students at 50 of America's top private liberal arts colleges and
universities. Winners are selected on the basis of character, leadership
potential, willingness to immerse him or her self in new cultures and
personal significance of the project proposed.
The fellowship enables the recipient to explore a topic of their choosing.
During his year-long project, Friddle will explore music, dance and
theatre in communities in Ireland, Scotland, Australia and Canada,
where he also will be taking part in dance music and accompanying dances.
He hopes to learn how communities express themselves and their stories
through both ballads and theatrical productions, and most importantly,
to gain a better understanding of how to use the performance arts to
create a strong and healthy sense of community.
At Berea, where he majored in English and Theatre, Friddle was active
in theatre on many levels including acting, directing, designing and
playwriting. He was a founding member, along with two other Berea College
students, of the John Goodfriddle Theatre Company in Berea, and
also worked with local middle school drama productions. His music activities
included serving as bassist and vocalist with the Berea College Bluegrass
Ensemble, which included a two-week concert tour to Ireland during
the summer of 2003.
Following his year of independent study, Friddle’s plans include
pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing or directing,
with the long range goal of teaching at the college level, and continuing
his efforts to develop a theatre company that is a vital and functional
part of its community.
The Watson Foundation is a charitable trust founded in 1961 by the
widow of Thomas J. Watson Sr., to honor her husband, the founder of
IBM. In 1968, their children established the fellowship program in
recognition of their parents' longstanding interest in education and
world affairs.
Friddle is the 23nd Berea College student to be awarded a Watson Fellowship
since 1988, when the College first became involved in the program.
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