Intellectual Journeys

My Arabic skills, writing experience in Cairo, and digital media training in the Five Colleges prepared my graduate foundation.

Major: Asian Studies, Special Studies minor

Internship: The Daily News Egypt/Daily Star Egypt, editorial intern

Study Abroad: American University in Cairo

Advanced Degrees: Ph.D. Candidate in Religious Studies (Islam), University of Pennsylvania

Employers: Haverford College, Washington & Lee University (Fall 2017)

My experience as an Asian Studies major at Mount Holyoke has taken me on a number of intellectual journeys, beginning in my junior year in college. 

As an Asian Studies major, with a focus on the Middle East, I was able to spend a semester and a summer in Cairo, Egypt - first as a Visiting Student at the American University in Cairo, and afterward - as an Editorial Intern at The Daily News Egypt. While in Cairo, I also had the chance to volunteer for two non-profit organizations that provide educational services to underprivileged Egyptian youth.

My language training at Mount Holyoke, writing experience in Cairo, and digital media training in the Five Colleges, enabled me to gain further professional experience after graduation. I worked at a small publishing company in the DC-metro area that develops products specifically for NGOs and government organizations working in the Middle East.

The language training in Arabic that I received as an Asian Studies major at Mount Holyoke, furthermore, laid the foundation for my graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania, where I am currently completing a Ph.D. in Religious Studies studying the role of Sufism in the intellectual tradition of the early-modern Ottoman Empire.