Vienna, Va. resident awarded prestigious Watson Fellowship

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Shilpa Darivemula (right) along with fellow Union College honoree Joshua Anderson.

SCHENECTADY, NY (03/26/2013)(readMedia)-- Shilpa Darivemula of Vienna, Va. loves medicine and dance. A Union College pre-med student majoring in biology and Spanish, Darivemula has performed Kuchipudi, a classical Indian dance, since she was eight years old. She has also taught dance to inner-city youth and interned in dance therapy.

Darivemula is one of two Union College students and 40 nationwide who have been awarded a prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to spend the next year pursuing their passion.

The fellowship offers a one-year grant to seniors "of unusual promise" to study independently outside the United States. The stipend for individual award winners is $25,000.

The newest fellows, chosen from among 148 finalists, come from eight countries and 14 states. They'll traverse 75 countries exploring topics from coastal disasters to synthetic biology; from music therapy to the ethics of extinction; from digital landscapes to the global shark trade; from youth criminalization to independent film making.

For her independent study abroad last winter, Darivemula lived with indigenous Mapuche communities in Chile. There, she witnessed the power of communal healing through traditional dance.

Her Watson project, "Of Medicine and Mudras: Exploring Healing through Traditional Dance Cultures," continues that theme. Darivemula plans to visit Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia and Cambodia. She will fuse her background in medicine with the mudras, or hand gestures, used to narrate stories in four traditional dances.

"Traditional dance has something powerful to offer," said Darivemula, who is from Vienna, Va. "Once you have had the opportunity of living in a place that relies on communal healing, it makes you rethink the approach to medicine."

"Applying to a prestigious fellowship like the Watson is a lot of hard work," said Maggie Tongue, Union's Watson liaison. "We are very proud of all four of our nominees. These students spent countless hours creating their projects and articulating their personal statements."