Hamilton seniors Jesse Browner-Hamlin and Jessica Mariglio have each been awarded the college's prestigious Bristol Fellowship. The Bristol Fellowship was begun in 1996 as part of a gift to Hamilton College by William M. Bristol, Jr., (Class of 1917). The purpose of the fellowship is to perpetuate Mr. Bristol's spirit and share it with students of the college that was such an important part of his life. Created by his family, the fellowship is designed to encourage Hamilton students to experience the richness of the world by living outside the United States for one year and studying an area of great personal interest.
Browner-Hamlin's project is titled "The Art of The Drum: Spirituality in Drum Crafting and the Spiritual Relationship Between the Drummer and Drum." He will travel to Japan, Fiji, Morocco, Trinidad & Tobago, and The Dominican Republic.
In her project, Mariglio will study the art of competitive spoken word as it is used for social and political community building in Canada, South Africa, Australia, England and the Netherlands.
Browner-Hamlin describes his project: "As a passionate drummer, I would like to explore the art of the drum, with a global perspective: to establish the spiritual process that a craftsman undergoes while building a drum, and to define the intricate spiritual relationship that the drummer has with his drum." The countries he will visit represent the major world religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity.
In his proposal, Browner-Hamlin wrote: "After the drum is built, it is passed on to the musician. I would like to investigate the spiritual relationship between the drummer and his instrument. What, exactly, does this relationship, between the drummer and the drum, consist of? To the musician, is the drum a direct manifestation of the Divine, or simply a tool to reach a stage of musical, and thus spiritual, transcendence? How does the religious drummer show reverence for his drum? To what extent does spiritual training compliment or enhance purely 'musical' training? In what ways does the drummer directly participate in religious ceremonies?
While a student at Hamilton, Browner-Hamlin studied abroad in Seville, Spain, in spring 2006, in Northern India through the New York State Independent College Consortium for Study in India in Fall 2005, and at City University London in 2003. He has been a volunteer helping elementary school students with homework through Compassion Kids in Utica and volunteered for projects in Chile and Costa Rica through Builders Beyond Borders. He is a religious studies and Hispanic studies major.
In her proposal to study spoken poetry Mariglio wrote, "To understand a generation, read our poetry. Or rather, listen to it. Listen to our histories, our politics, our anger, our confusion, our joy, our frustration, and our stories. Spoken word poetry is born out of social injustice, political conflict and cultural assimilation; it uses personal experiences to comment on the current social and political climate. Unlike traditional poetry, spoken word is an uninhibited form of expression that literally speaks to the individual in raw, simple, colloquial language."
Mariglio plans to approach her project interactively from multiple perspectives: artists, audience, festival coordinators, venue owners, academic supporters and critics. She will attend spoken word competitions and festivals and compile performances and interviews by means of video recording.
A psychology and Hispanic studies major, she studied abroad at the University of Granada in spring 2006. She served as president of multi-cultural performance group Rhymelab; is co-founder and /president of Students Against Violence; director of alumni relations for The Emerson Literary Society; co-founder of No Sweat, an organization which spreads awareness about sweatshop usage and other humanitarian violations; and is co-founder/president of Rock the Vote Hamilton College.
