Senior Stephanie Madden is the 2008 recipient of the Michael B. Keegan Traveling Fellowship, a press release said.

Madden, a communication studies major and European studies minor, won with a project titled "International Conceptions of Freedom."

"It's a big, broad concept," Madden said, "and I'm going to be taking a big, broad approach to it."

Madden said she will be doing some service work "to integrate into the community and culture" and working with various groups, including non-profits, international development, free speech and women's rights organizations in her year of "independent travel and observation."

"The idea of freedom has already been something that has interested me," Madden said. "Coming to college, I've been thinking more about the ways freedom is construed in our own country. We have a singular conception of freedom. ... The idea of American freedom is important internationally, and I want to see what other countries think about it."

Madden, who is a residential adviser in McTyiere International House, will begin her journey in Southeast Asia, then travel to China and India, where she said she wants to study "spirituality and freedom through yoga and meditation." After that, she will study Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Africa and South Africa, there primarily focusing on apartheid, before finishing in South America.

In her application, Madden said she wants "to understand what freedom means on an international, regional, country, community and individual level." She said she does not want to "expand American ideals" but instead hear what other countries and cultures have to say about freedom.

When Madden heard about the program her freshman year, she said it was something that immediately caught her interest.

"Traveling has always been a big part of my life," she said, "so (this fellowship) has always been in the back of my mind."

Madden will tell her stories online throughout the year.

"With the fellowship, I'll blog about my experiences and post photographs," she said. "I'm hoping it sparks conversation and people thinking about (different conceptions of freedom). ... I want it to be an interactive experience with people following it."

She said she does not "anticipate having a clear definition of what freedom is" at the end of her trip, but she said she does want to widen the mindsets of those whom she knows and meets along the way.

"I want to broaden my own definition of freedom and that of others," Madden said, "and what it means in our own society as well as abroad, and how it applies in our life."

—Sara Gast can be reached at sara.m.gast@vanderbilt.edu