Adam Grode '05, Watson Fellow, is Perspectives at the Nott speaker

Adam Grode '05 practices in the Nott before leaving on his Watson Fellowship. He returns to the Nott Tuesday evening.

Adam Grode '05, who used his Watson Fellowship to study long-necked lutes in Central Asia, will talk about his fascinating Silk Road journey at Perspectives at the Nott, Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m.

A native of Philadelphia who created his own Eurasian Studies major, Grode was the 44th Union student to receive the prestigious travel-study grant from the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. The $22,000 fellowship funded his study, "Long-necked Lutes from Baku to Bishkek: A Musical Journey in Central Asia."

At the Nott, Grode will discuss his travels in the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, a route not only of commerce but of musical styles and instruments developed from centuries of cultural syncretism.

Grode is near-fluent in French and Russian and also speaks Chinese and Arabic. At Union, he hosted weekly WRUC radio shows featuring one language each term in Russian, Chinese and French. A former co-president of Coffeehouse and passionate musician, he was a regular organizer and performer, often singing songs in a language other than English.

Some 200 graduating seniors apply each year to the Watson Foundation, which awards some 50 fellowships of $25,000 each for a year-long project abroad. Last week, Union's Watson committee, chaired by Davide Cervone, announced the 2007 finalists: seniors Adeyemi Adenrele, Charles Holiday, Doris Lo and Mandeep Moondi. The 2006 Union Watson Fellow was Noah Eber-Schmid, with a project on punk culture. 

Grode's talk is free and open to the public. For more information, call 388-6131.