UNI philosophy and sociology graduate Cade Olmstead did not initially plan on applying for a Fulbright Award, a worldwide cultural exchange program that offers opportunities for students to study all over the world.

However, Olmstead’s mind changed after making contacts at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia that left him encouraged to apply.

After crafting a personal statement, a statement of purpose and gaining institutional contacts, Olmstead sent off his application for review. In spring 2020, he was awarded a research grant to study in Slovenia for seven months. 

Olmstead’s research is titled “The Performance of Politics in the Modern Era” and will be conducted under the supervision of Dr. Mladen Dolar at the University of Ljubljana and Dr. Alenka Zupančič at the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts.

“The purpose of my grant is to explore how contemporary social thought functions and how politics is enacted within today’s historical situation,” Olmstead wrote. “More specifically, I want to explore social behavior through the vocabulary of theater and performance and understand the way in which we make sense of present and historical realities.”

While in Slovenia, Olmstead’s studies will take high priority.

“The actual matter of my time will be spent mostly reading, writing, conducting close readings of texts with advisors, and attending a variety of academic reading groups/lectures,” he wrote.

After the program, Olmstead will return to Burlington, Vermont to participate in a teaching apprenticeship and a master’s English program. He has plans to pursue a doctoral program in the future in hopes of becoming a college professor.

With everything he has accomplished thus far, Olmstead extends a thank-you to the UNI staff that have helped him along the way.

“My main advisor has been Prof. Yasemin Sari in the Philosophy and World Religions Department,” he wrote. “This is in addition to the help from UNI’s Fulbright Program Advisor Prof. Elizabeth Lefler. It is a slight disservice, though, to not name the many professors who cultivated and encouraged me throughout the whole of my time at UNI.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Olmstead’s work can visit his website at  http://emptysubject.com/