As a recently named 2017 Watson Fellow, Aziz Anderson ’17 will spend a year traveling the world for his research project, “Lost (or Transformed) in Translation: Evolution of Hip-Hop Culture.”

Anderson, a psychology major from Snellville, Ga., and a Philip Evans Scholar, will receive a one-year grant to travel to France, Japan, and the United Kingdom in order to focus on hip hop, which he has always considered a uniquely American cultural movement.

“Which begged the question: why did and why do people internationally find hip-hop, its music and styles, a compelling medium of expression? Using photography, I plan to record and explore qualities that create the universal nature of hip hop and discover ways in which hip hop cultures have evolved as interdependent entities," Anderson says. 

The Watson Foundation fans fellows across the world to “enhance their capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership, and to foster their humane and effective participation in the world community.”

Anderson joins students from 21 states and five other countries representing the 49th class of Watson fellows. They will travel to 67 countries, exploring topics ranging from pediatric cancer treatment to civilian journalism; from animation to autonomous vehicles; from immigration to island communities; and from megacities to wildfire management.

“As we approach a half century of making big bets on remarkable students, we are thrilled to announce this year’s class,” says Chris Kasabach, executive director of the Watson Foundation. "The fellows show the enormous depth, width, and creativity of our next generation of leaders.”