As a recent alumnus and past Sustainability Intern, Vishnu Anandraj ’25 applies his varied Colgate experiences in his fellowship in his first year after graduation.
At Colgate, Vishnu majored in Economics and double-minored in Political Science and Creative Writing. He conducted an independent research project under the guidance of Professor Murshid about communities being displaced by dam construction in Jammu, India. This experience, along with his three years as a Colgate Sustainability Intern, shaped his interest in sustainable development and social justice, a topic he is now exploring through the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, a one-year grant for independent inquiry outside the United States. Vishnu answered questions about his Watson experience, the role sustainability plays in his work, and reflected on lessons learned.
Tell us about your Thomas J. Watson Fellowship project.
My project centers on communities that suffer from economic development. That may seem oxymoronic, because we tend to view growth as an unambiguously positive force; and yet it is often pursued through land-intensive projects like dams, mining, and commercial agriculture that displace people who already live on that land. People who bear the spiritual, cultural, environmental, political, and economic costs of losing their homes and are usually deprived of the rewards reaped from the projects displacing them. Across Nepal, Thailand, Ghana, and Peru, I’m trying to understand how these communities experience displacement and the ways they reassert their agency in larger development narratives and in the specific instances that reshape their lives. Some projects, like dams and critical-mineral mining for green technologies, raise further tradeoffs between reducing emissions and exacerbating landlessness and other environmental harms. My hope is through my writing, community engagement, and collaboration with local organizations, I can portray the lives of displaced people in a thoughtful way and enrich my understanding of development and climate issues.
Now that you are halfway through the fellowship, what things have you learned at Colgate that have helped you with your experience so far?
The Colgate student body, me included, is a very privileged group of people situated in a part of the country that is generally not as fortunate. I knew this before coming to Colgate, but my work with the Office of Sustainability and the Case circulation desk highlighted the extent to which campus is embedded in the broader Hamilton community. Listening to staff and community members through these jobs reminded me how limited my understanding of Colgate was. How my vantage point is always a partial one. That lesson is something I think about a lot as I travel, especially as an American. I try to remind myself of the narrowness of my own view and maintain curiosity for the perspectives and stories of those willing to talk, regardless (and often especially) if it has nothing to do with my project. I am grateful to the college experiences and many gracious people who taught me that lesson.
How is the Watson changing the way you think about development or sustainability?
The Watson has expanded my sense of how issues like development and sustainability can be engaged. Across distant places, many community leaders I meet tell a similar story: they work on the same land and development issues in their community for decades, they encounter inertia from companies and governments for years, and then there is some sudden change. A new administration comes to power. The market shifts its preferences. Some kind of leverage is won. It is precisely the years of ostensibly idealistic organizing that “went nowhere” which allowed these communities to capitalize on those moments and make progress: winning court cases, forcing dam construction delays, passing a policy recognizing their land rights. This pattern taught me that imperfect yet tangible solutions to systemic crises like development-induced displacement or climate change can emerge from community engagement that is willing to persist until it can enter chambers of power.
That insight has underscored the importance of community, how politics is something we must participate in rather than spectate, and how continuing to participate despite a lack of immediate results is imperative.
What advice would you give to your first-year self (or to a Colgate student)?
Make time for reflection during the semester. I started a weekly journal my senior year and wish I had sooner. For someone else, an audio or visual format you engage daily or monthly may work better. College presents many opportunities for reflection, but usually through application essays, elevator pitches, or interviews. All important, of course, but also designed to impose a linear, selective narrative upon your experiences to present yourself as an impressive student. When you reflect privately, you are stripped of these obligations. You may not necessarily be more honest — everyone can tell themselves lies. However, in my albeit very limited experience, you are more likely to preserve the texture of college. The messy and wonderful sensation of living those four years. For a more eloquent exploration of this advice than I could ever offer, read Joan Didion’s essay “On Keeping a Notebook.” You won’t regret it.