Student Fellows

Thanks to a 2003-04 Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Kathryn Barush ’03 will visit Greece, Russia, northern India and Tibet over the next year to study Christian and Buddhist illuminated manuscripts—including their similarities and differences, artists’ techniques, and efforts to preserve these delicate and painstaking art forms. Barush was one of 48 students selected to receive a Watson Fellowship from among 1,000 who applied. An art history and visual arts student at Sarah Lawrence who hopes to write and illustrate children’s books, Barush developed her interest in illuminated manuscripts during her junior year on the Sarah Lawrence College in Paris program. She credits her don, Joseph Forte, and art history faculty member David Castriota with supporting her work. Barush, a Vermont native, is also a hiker and looks forward to exploring parts of the Himalayas.

Kristen Kuriga ’04 was named a Harry S. Truman Scholar, in recognition of her work for social justice causes. The Truman scholarship, awarded annually to some 75 college juniors from across the U.S., supports graduate study leading to careers in public service. Kuriga, of Long Island, hopes to pursue a doctorate in labor history, then teach it as well as organize, especially low-income and immigrant workers.“Radical America,” a course taught by Priscilla Murolo ’80, director of the Graduate Program in Women’s History and member of the history faculty, sparked her interest in labor and social issues, she says. A group Kuriga co-founded in 2002, Student Organizers for Social Justice, discussed international issues on campus and supported unionizing workers at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville. Last May Kuriga participated in a Truman leadership conference in Independence, Mo., helping draft policy proposals regarding Congressional legislation and presenting them to members of Congress.

Erin Condit-Bergren ’04 received a Morris K. Udall Scholarship for the 2003-04 academic year. The scholarship fund was created in 1992 to honor U.S. Representative Morris K. Udall of Arizona, known for his principled stands in defense of the environment and Native American and Native Alaskan rights. Condit-Bergren, who studied in 2002-03 on the Sarah Lawrence College in Oxford program, was one of 80 college juniors and seniors selected to receive the award, which is open to students interested in public policy, environmental and Native American issues. In 2001 she co-founded Sustain U.S. (United States Youth for Sustainable Development), which has grown to more than 500 members nationwide. In the summer of 2002 the California native led a delegation to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Earth Summit”) in Johannesburg, South Africa.