By Rachelle Trujillo
rmt5153@gmail.com

Brandon Gellis, Elizabeth Lynch, and Thomas Seitz are three University of Wyoming faculty who recently received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards for the 2023-24 academic year. The award will allow each educator to pursue an international research project.

Gellis, an associate professor in the Department of Visual Arts, is focusing on street art as it pertains to conflict in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Israel, and Bethlehem, Palestine.

“I believe such visual artifacts serve as highly personal references to conflict, unrest, national agitation, belonging, and forced feelings of Otherness. I am focused on the materiality of art made on the street and the translation of religious, social, and political conflict expressed through visual artifacts,” Gellis said. 

 (Street art in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem taken as a part of Gellis’ research (photos courtesy Brandon Gellis)

Gellis will travel to Israel in September of 2023 for a six month trip to study art as it pertains to the regional conflict. He intends to study activism of everyday citizens, and serve as an intermediary through the use of photography. 

“I am so grateful to the Fulbright Program for its support. It has opened many doors to design, art, and engineering colleagues in Israel,” he said.  “I hope that this research investigation will be an educational, logical-next step as I build a stronger relationship with colleagues in Israel and Palestine. I intend to travel to Israel regularly to document newly added visual artifacts.” 

Seitz, an associate professor and Director of International Studies, is focusing on what individuals think of as “normal” in their given political environment. 

“For many years, I have been studying societies transitioning from authoritarianism to democracy — primarily in Indonesia — and the processes by which a ‘democratic ethos’ takes shape. A central question is, what do people in different societies expect from democracy? How does the meaning of democracy vary from one society to the next?” he said. 

Seitz shared that this award will allow him to expand his area of research further into Indonesia and parts of Thailand, which will be a new experience altogether. 

“Thailand has a very different history, being one of the few countries in the developing world that was never colonized. I will be working with colleagues at Indonesian and Thai universities. They are doing some truly fascinating work and I look forward to our collaborations and hopefully publishing together.”

Seitz described winning the award as an honor that provides great opportunity in addition to demonstrating a continued interest in his area. He would encourage more individuals to look into the award for themselves. 

“I would like to say is to encourage more people to apply for a Fulbright! I have been fortunate to have received a student award as a grad student (many years ago) as well as Fulbright Scholar award, and I cannot recommend the experience highly enough.”

Lynch’s project focuses on social and plant sciences working alongside the University of The Bahamas, Grand Bahama. While she was contacted for a comment, none were received before the publishing of this story.