Bedford resident a candidate for Watson Fellowship

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Headshot of Brianne Fennessey

SCHENECTADY, NY (02/08/2012)(readMedia)-- Brianne Fennessy of Bedford, N.Y. was recently named as one of Union College's candidates for the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. 

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program offers a one-year grant to graduating college students "of unusual promise" to study independently outside the United States. The stipend for individual award winners is $25,000.

Fennessy's project is titled "Reproductive Rights, Maternal Healthcare and Women's Empowerment." She is interested in exploring reproductive choices, access and realities faced by women across different cultures to show how these choices relate to the empowerment and progression of women in their respective societies.

"Reproductive health is a key element of a women's autonomy," Fennessy says. To learn about cross-cultural perceptions of femininity, maternity and reproduction, she would work with women and various health care providers in Ecuador, India, South Africa and Uganda.

Fennessy, a senior, is majoring in sociology and minoring in German and women's and gender studies. 

"The Watson Fellowship is an extraordinary opportunity for our students and a great privilege for us," said visual arts professor David Ogawa, chair of Union's Watson Fellowship Committee. "It makes it possible for students to explore the passions they have developed here at Union."

At Union, Fennessy also participates in Big Brothers Big Sisters, Delta Delta Delta, UCope and is Sociology Club co-president.