After a lengthy, rigorous application process, Aria Mia Loberti ‘20 has been selected for the Fulbright U.S. Student Award for graduate study at Royal Holloway, University of London! Aria is a graduating triple major in Philosophy, Communication Studies, and Political Science, with minors in Rhetoric and Ancient Greek, as well. 

Through her Fulbright Award, Aria will pursue a one-year MRes in Rhetoric at Royal Holloway, University of London. The program, based in the Department of Classics, is complemented by a one-of-a-kind Centre for Oratory & Rhetoric. It is a perfect fit for Aria. As she describes it, her research will focus on “the intersections of rhetoric and philosophy: ontology of language, phenomenology, historiography, and how Ancient Greek philosophical and political thought can help us solve current issues.” More specifically, Aria hopes to study female identity and the role of female voices in Ancient Greek texts while at Royal Holloway, and to identify how these depictions contribute to contemporary conceptions of gender.

Besides the Fulbright, Aria has quite the track record already: she is a proud member of the URI Honors Program, has multiple academic publications, received the Zeyl Award for Excellence in Ancient Philosophy, the URI Excellence Award for Research and Scholarship, the UN Outstanding Youth Advocate Award, is a Thomas Reuters Foundation Trust Scholar, and has attended programs and workshops with the Rhetoric Society of America and with UC San Diego’s Summer Program for Women in Philosophy.

After finishing her MRes, Aria will return to the US to pursue an MA/PhD in Rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University, moving closer to her ultimate goal of professorship. We are incredibly excited to see what Aria goes on to do.