Hamilton '12 Awarded Fulbright Grant to Pursue Master's in 18th Century Studies

Julia Hamilton '12, of South Windsor, Conn., has been awarded a Fulbright grant to pursue a Master of Arts degree in 18th century studies at the University of Southampton in Britain during the 2013-14 academic year. The interdisciplinary program, which draws from the departments of music, English, history and philosophy, includes seminars from the different disciplines and culminates with a dissertation.

Hamilton, who was a double major in music and English at Holy Cross, spent last summer in New York City taking acting courses at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting Summer Conservatory. She made the decision to pursue musicology in September, and since then has been visiting Holy Cross frequently to meet with professors and conduct research in the music library. In addition, she took an Introduction to Musicology tutorial at Holy Cross with Jessica Waldoff, associate professor of music.

During her year at Southampton, she will apply for Ph.D. programs in musicology, with plans to become a music history professor.

At Holy Cross, Hamilton was the Brooks Music Scholar, a four-year, full tuition scholarship, in which she spent a lot of time playing cello. She was in the Holy Cross Chamber Orchestra and played in many string quartets, trios, quintets, and duos. She took cello lessons with Jan Müller-Szeraws and voice lessons with Beth Keusch, both of whom are lecturers in the music department.

Hamilton's involvement in the arts wasn't limited to music. She was involved in the theatre department, taking acting and directing classes and acting in three Alternate College Theatre plays ("Urinetown," "Cabaret," and "Baby With the Bathwater), and one theatre department show ("Phoolan Devi: The Bandit Queen").

In addition, she participated in Student Programs for Urban Development, the College's umbrella service organization, and the Spring Break Immersion Program. She studied abroad at the University of Oxford, where she sang in the a cappella group, The Oxford Belles.

Each year approximately 1,700 U.S. college students are awarded grants through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The Fulbright Program, the U.S. government’s flagship program in international educational exchange, awards grants to U.S. citizens and nationals of other countries for a variety of educational activities, primarily university lecturing, advanced research, graduate study and teaching in elementary and secondary schools. Since the program’s inception in 1946, more than 300,000 participants — selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential — have had the opportunity to observe each other’s political, economic and cultural institutions. The program operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

Related Information:

• Points of Distinction