Professor Joseph Aranha is a Fulbright Specialist at Universitas Warmadewa in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, from July 24 to August 31, 2023. The project focuses on providing an experience for young lecturers in conducting field documentation and teaching architectural design studios related to traditional architecture. Professor Aranha works with faculty and students on documentation drawings and architectural narratives in two traditional and relatively unchanged villages in Southeast Bali. Fieldwork will be followed by digital drawing production, a short design exercise for students based on the knowledge gained, and an exhibition of the work produced. The program also involves a writing workshop for junior faculty, explorations for joint publications, and groundwork for future collaborations.

Professor Aranha teaches architectural design studios and seminar courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels at the Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. His research and area of specialization focus on meaning, symbolism, and change in traditional and vernacular architecture in non-Western societies. He has published his research in scholarly journals and presented at international conferences. His international experience includes invited lectures and design workshops related to his research at universities worldwide, including China, Laos, Malaysia, South Africa, and Portugal. He has also held exhibitions of these images of traditional buildings and settlements in India, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, and Lebanon. He regularly leads and teaches study abroad programs in architecture for his home institution in Seville, Spain, and Cholula, Mexico.

Professor Aranha has received two Fulbright scholar and lecturer awards, first in Zimbabwe and later in Ethiopia. Prior to his current appointment in Bali, he has also participated in Fulbright Specialist projects in India and Mexico.