Grant Recipient: Class of 2012
Major: Philosophy
Organization: Independent Project: Pilgrimage through Camino De Santiago
Location: Pamplona, Spain-Santiago De Compostela
I have been spending this summer walking and documenting the Camino de Santiago, a seven hundred kilometer medieval pilgrimage route that dates back over a thousand years. While years ago the Camino was a strictly Christian pilgrimage, today individuals of different religious sects from all over the world come to spend over a month of their lives walking across Northern Spain. The Wesleyan Summer Experience Grant has allowed me to spend time walking and talking with these international pilgrims. As I intend to write my senior thesis about the religious and philosophical motivations behind pilgrimages, the Camino has afforded me an invaluable opportunity to discuss with dozens of pilgrims their personal catalyst for embarking on their religious journey. In addition, I have been able to spend time developing my interest in photography by taking individual portraits of pilgrims, and hopefully, with the help of my project advisor, turn the photographs into an exhibition. Thanks to the Wesleyan Experience Grant, this has been the most educational and exciting summer of my life.
