Alumna Wins
Javits Fellowship

Amy Berg '08 is the recipient of one of just 43 Javits Fellowships awarded this year by the U.S Department of Education in a national competition famed for its competitiveness.
Given annually, The Javits Fellowships provide four years of support (at a maximum stipend of $30,000 per year) to students demonstrating superior academic ability.
The Fellowships enable students selected on the basis of achievement, financial need, and exceptional promise to pursue a Ph.D. or Master of Fine Arts in the fields of arts, humanities, and the social sciences.
"In an introductory philosophy class at CMC, taught by professor Alex Rajczi, we studied problems of global justice," Berg recalls. "I was fascinated by the question of what we owe to other people, especially people we might never have met. Then I studied abroad at a women's college in India, and those questions became more real to me.
"When I wrote my senior thesis, I chose to focus on some of those questions," she continues. "So it's been a natural progression through my CMC education. I can't guarantee I'll focus on the same thing during grad school, but it's still just as interesting to me as it was five years ago."
Berg says she first heard about the Javits Fellowship at a postgraduate scholarship meeting organized by CMC's Career Services Office. It was a case of fortune favoring the bold.
"I knew by the end of my sophomore year that I wanted to get a Ph.D. in philosophy," she says. "Once I started the application process, I tried to find ways to help finance it without having to eat ramen for the next seven or so years! I really didn't know how likely it was that I would get a Javits," Berg adds. "I figured the odds weren't great, but it couldn't hurt to apply."
She says CMC was instrumental in helping her to clarify her goals and pursue her dream of a career studying, then teaching, philosophy.
"I didn't think about philosophy as a career until I was encouraged by a CMC professor," she says. "The education I got at CMC helped me to think for myself. And I can't imagine what college would have been like without the small-school environment, the discussion groups outside of class, and the excellent professors and classmates.
"If the rest of my experiences in academia are anything like my experiences at CMC, I will be extremely lucky," Berg says.