The Feminist and Gender Studies Department is delighted to share that Atquetzali Quiroz ’24, FGS Major and Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies and Education Minor, has been awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to pursue a full year of self-directed exploration and experiential research on Indigenous cultural education as a tool against the impacts of colonization.
The Watson Fellowship is a one-year grant for purposeful, independent exploration outside the United States, awarded to graduating seniors nominated by one of 41 partner institutions. The Watson Foundation seeks to find and support students of “unusual promise” to give them the opportunity to enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership, and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world. Since 1968, The Watson Foundation has awarded over 2,500 fellowships, providing support to future global leaders in every field of experience.
As a Watson Fellow, Atquetzali will spend a year after graduation exploring diverse cultural education approaches, shaped by distinct colonial histories, and connecting with Indigenous communities in New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, and Peru.
"I am looking forward to fostering meaningful relationships (rooted in solidarity) with the Indigenous communities I will engage and collaborate with," says Atquetzali. "My hope is for our collaboration to extend far beyond my Watson year. This project holds deep significance for me because it aligns with my core belief in the transformative power of cultural education, which serves as a tool for resistance, resilience, and cultivating connections.”