Two of the five recipients of the 2015 Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship are CU-Boulder alumni. Ari Beser (PolSci’11) and Ryan T. Bell (Hist’01) will study and document international stories over the next year.
Beser will travel throughout Japan to study the impact of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He will use photo essays, videos and articles in a blogumentary titled, “Hibakusha: The Nuclear Family.” Beser’s goal is to give voice to people directly affected by nuclear technology today.
“My project is about reconciliation, and it's inspiring to me that the U.S. Government is sending me to work towards that,” said Beser. “What was it like to survive the bombs or to live in temporary housing with no end in sight? How do they commemorate? What do they want Americans to know? These are the questions I hope to answer this year.”
Bell will travel through rural Russia and Kazakhstan, studying the areas where pastoralists are working to rebuild cattle industries in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. His project, “Comrade Cowboys,” will chronicle his experience through photography, writing and possibly a travel podcast.
“The Ukrainian crisis has made for a tough political climate in Russia,” said Bell. “But something I learned while studying history at CU was that there's a lot more to Russian-American relations than what makes newspaper headlines. I hope that my fellowship project, ‘Comrade Cowboys,’ will enable me to meet everyday people in Russia and Kazakhstan.”
Beser and Bell are in the second cohort of the Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship.
Follow @AriBeser and @ryanbellwriter for the latest updates from their respective projects. They will also post updates on the project Facebook pages: Hibakusha: The Nuclear Family and Comrade Cowboys.
