Tyler Harvey, a senior urban studies major from Greer, SC, has been named a Watson Fellow, a prestigious designation that includes a stipend to be used for travel and study abroad for 2017-2018. Harvey is one of only 40 graduating college seniors nationwide awarded the fellowship. He plans to visit Guatemala, Bolivia, Morocco, Jordan, and Nepal while completing his project titled “Embodied Poverty: Experiences and Voices of the Poor, Sick, and Surviving.”
A graduate of South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Math, Harvey has worked in the Summer Plus program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, an extremely competitive internship that has given him scientific and technical training in public health. During spring 2016, he participated in a comparative public health study abroad examining the relationships between globalization and health in different settings. Harvey’s focus within the urban studies major at Rhodes is community health, and since his sophomore year, he has worked at Church Health as a Service Scholar through Rhodes’ Bonner Program. Currently at Church Health, he observes doctor-patient interactions as an intern, and he helps to determine best practices for quality enhancement, such as finding ways to lower patient wait times.
After completing the Watson Fellowship, he hopes to earn a medical degree and graduate degree in public health, with goals of working to eliminate health inequities and disparities around the globe.
Established in 1968, the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship provides for one year of independent study and travel outside the United States. Harvey is Rhodes 11th Watson Fellow since 2002.