Seven Seniors Receive Traveling Fellowships

The names of seven seniors receiving Shaw, Sheldon and Trustman fellowships to fund a year of travel abroad after graduation were announced yesterday by the Office of Career Services.

The recipients of the Henry Russell Shaw Fellowship are Daniel J. Epstein '99 of Quincy house, Maxwell N. Krohn '99 of Kirkland House and James E. Lenhart '99 of Quincy House. The scholarship is awarded to men for travel to Europe.

The Frederick Sheldon Prize Fellowship--open to both sexes--will be given to Eleanor M. Pries '99 and Elena A. Schneider '99 of Mather House and Gad Soffer '99, affiliated with Lowell House.

Dena B. Bennet '99 of Leverett House is the sole recipient of the Benjamin a. Trustman Fellowship, which also supports overseas travel.

Each of the fellowships is worth $11,000.

Recipients went through an extensive application process for the award. Seniors applying for the fellowships first applied for nominations within their individual Houses. The Houses nominated a total of 69 candidates, from which fourteen finalists were selected for interviews before the final recipients were chosen.

Schneider plans to investigate the significance of pilgrimages in Spain and Central America.

"It's an incredibly special opportunity," she said. "This is an incredible luxury that people are giving me money to do something that I thought up."

Epstein, a Russian studies concentrator, will spend next year in Russia working with media and civil society organizations on the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

After studying Russia for four years, Epstein said he is eager to get a chance to go to the country.

Epstein plans to work with organizations including the Youth Antifascist League of Russia and a student television network run out of the Journalism Department at Moscow State University.

Lenhart, a social studies concentrator, will spend the year in England researching medieval English towns.

He said he will spend this summer traveling throughout England before focusing on Chester, which he called "the most well-preserved medieval village in England."

Lenhart said he will explore the possibility of modeling modern towns after aspects of medieval villages.

Bennett, a government concentrator, will be working to increase awareness of human right treaties in Africa.

She will be involved with the Institute for Human Rights and Development, which promotes human right in French-speaking countries.

"I am ecstatic about [the award]", Bennett said. "To have it all work out is amazing."

Other recipients will pursue a range of interests: Pries plans to study urban design in Rome and other Italian cities, Krohn will explore the literary and musical culture of Ireland and Soffer will embark on a world-wide expedition to explore key moments in geological history.

Schneider said students should put more effort into finding fellowship opportunities.

"I feel so lucky that I knew about this," she said. "I encourage people to do their homework and find out about [fellowships]."