Gray Zeisse

Fulbright University of St Andrews Summer Institute - Scotland's History: Kingdom, Nation, People

Gray Zeisse is a student at the University of South Florida majoring in Biomedical Sciences and minoring in Aging Sciences. Gray is interested in researching about identity and how it’s constructed, specifically in the St. Andrews LGBT+ community. Scotland has a vibrant history of notable queer activists that advocated for the LGBT+ community despite anti-LGBT+ rhetoric and policing.

Something he hopes to gain from researching at this university is how LGBT+ citizens in St Andrews continued to advocate for their community despite this rhetoric. He is also interested in exploring how Scotland has pivoted to becoming such a haven for LGBT+ people. By studying the history of St Andrews this will bring him a wholistic understanding to how wellbeing and identity sit together. This applies to Gray’s future goals as physician as he believes medicine and humanities should work in tandem to create meaningful change in patient care.

During his time in St. Andrews he hopes to learn more about the intersection of identity, wellbeing, and history and he would like to write a paper on how St Andrews and Scotland embraced the LGBT+ community and what policy implementation occurred to make this change.