Saint Michael's Student Elizabeth Masison of Plainville Receives Fellowship to Study and Work in Madrid

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Saint Michael's Student Elizabeth Masison of Plainville gets fellowship

COLCHESTER, VT (11/03/2010)(readMedia)-- Inspired by a love of Spanish literature and language and by a passion to experience cosmopolitan Madrid, Saint Michael's College junior Elizabeth Masison, applied for and received a grant to support studying and an internship in Spain for a semester. Ms. Masison will be studying in the Madrid Internship Program run by Boston University that allows full immersion in the Spanish work culture.

Ms. Masison, the daughter of Ann and James Masison of Plainville, Mass., is the recipient of The Lacey International Fellowship in the Humanities, designed to support and recognize students of excellent academic achievement and dedication to exploring the humanities. Ms. Masison is a Dean's List student double majoring in history and Spanish, who is also vice president of her Class of 2012, a Resident Assistant (RA), and a member of the Core Team for the college's MOVE, volunteer service program. She will receive a $4,000 stipend to help support her study abroad/internship in Madrid in 2011.

During the summer of 2010, Ms. Masison did independent funded research with SMC Professor Susan Ouellette on 19th century women's rights activist Emma Willard. She produced an article with surprising conclusions that is being submitted for publication in scholarly journals.

Drawn to Spanish culture and the city of Madrid

In the coming semester, Ms. Masison expects to become thoroughly fluent in Spanish, while also living in the home of Madrid residents and experiencing "what culture is in Madrid." She said further, in her fellowship application, "Spain's rich history of the search for beauty and truth that I have learned from my past Spanish, history and literature classes at Saint Michael's definitely draws me to Madrid . . . no other country or even city in Spain draws me the way that Madrid has."

Ms. Masison's program includes study at the Instituto Internacional or the Universidad Autonoma e Madrid, and an internship placement in one of many areas: advertising marketing and public relations, arts and arts administration, business, film, health, or another area.

Most important for Ms. Masison, she wrote, "is learning what work and life in Spain is really all about." This she says will enhance her own personal development as a worker.

Learn What Matters at Saint Michael's College, The Edmundite Catholic liberal arts college, www.smcvt.edu . Saint Michael's provides education with a social conscience, producing graduates with the intellectual tools to lead successful, purposeful lives that will contribute to peace and justice in our world. Founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, Saint Michael's College is located three miles from Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns. It is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nations Best 371 Colleges, and is included in the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Saint Michael's is one of only 280 colleges and universities nationwide, one of only 20 Catholic colleges, with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Saint Michael's has 1,900 undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 100 international students. Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Pickering, Guggenheim, Fulbright, and other grants. The college is one of the nation's top-100, Best Liberal Arts Colleges as listed in the 2011 U.S. News & World Report rankings.

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