2025 Watson Fellow Aidan Henrikson ’25 Takes History Off the Books

For Aidan Henrikson ’25, history doesn’t take shape in plain black letters in a textbook. With support from the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Henrikson is traveling around the world to explore how history manifests in scent, visual art, video games, virtual reality, and more.

The Watson Fellowship provides $40,000 for purposeful, independent exploration outside the U.S. for 12 months. Henrikson’s project, “History Off the Books!,” will take him to Sweden, the Netherlands, Senegal, Hungary, Italy, and New Zealand.

“Alternative forms of media are bringing history to life,” Henrikson wrote in his project description, “freeing it from static text and image-based formats. Collaborating with artists, museum curators, researchers, game developers, and the public, my year explores immersive, multi-sensory, and non-linear forms of storytelling that provide innovative windows to our collective past.”

When he was growing up, Henrikson said that dyslexia made it challenging to connect to history through reading. What made him fall in love with the subject was the “Crash Course” YouTube series by John and Hank Green. Since then, Henrikson has looked for different ways to make history more accessible and engaging as a history major at Pitzer.

Reimagining history through sight, smell, and sound

For his Watson Fellowship, Henrikson has lined up international experiences that bridge the past and present. He plans to study historical storytelling through video games in Sweden and centuries-old oral history practices in Senegal. He also hopes to tie history to smells in the Netherlands, where he will participate in a smell culture fair and learn how to use a smell tool kit. In Italy, Henrikson will use a virtual reality headset at an archeological site to envision what it looked like 2,000 years ago. In New Zealand, he intends to work with a local artist who uses media art to depict early colonization of the Pacific.

“I want to feel history during my Watson year to find various ways that people are connecting with the past,” said Henrikson.

Henrikson has studied history in diverse, tangible forms. As a fellow for The Claremont Colleges Library’s Center for Engagement with Primary Sources, Henrikson processed the Herbert Hoover Collection of Mining and Metallurgy. In summer 2023, he participated as a field archaeologist trainee at the South-West Archaeology Digs field school in Portugal.

In summer 2024, Henrikson conducted research at the University of British Columbia through the Fulbright Canada-Mitacs Globalink Research Internship. He put together a book about the history of vehicular technology for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Vehicular Technology Society. He also assisted with a podcast to practice public history and engage the society with wider audiences.

Henrikson has also been active in Pitzer’s community on campus and abroad. He has served as a member of Pitzer’s Student Senate and Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (APT) Committee. The APT Committee advises the president in matters of faculty appointment, contract renewal, promotion, granting of tenure, and periodic reviews of tenured faculty. Henrikson also studied abroad through Pitzer in Southern Africa, a multi-country comparative studies semester program in Botswana and South Africa.

Professor of History Carina Johnson, who serves as the adviser for the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, guided Henrikson through the application process.  

Since its inaugural class in 1969, more than 3,000 Watson Fellows have been selected nationwide. Watson Fellows are nominated by 41 colleges and university partners across the United States. Following their year of study, they join a diverse community of peers who provide a lifetime of support and inspiration.