Arab Studies Graduates

Class of 2023

Safi El-Gamal - After graduating Davidson as an Arab studies and Religious studies double major, I plan to continue coursework at Columbia University and Aga Khan University’s graduate schools. During the next few years, I hope to build on my current knowledge of Arabic, Farsi, and Turkish and continue travels in relation to research on mystic practice and religious revival in the modern Islamic world.

Mourad Khalil - After graduating with a double major in Arab Studies and Political Science, I will be traveling back to Egypt for the summer before I begin my law school journey at UC Davis. I am not yet sure what type of law I will specialize in, but I hope to one day incorporate my interest in international development with my legal profession.

Class of 2022

Annelise Claire - After graduating with a double major in Arab Studies and Digital & Screen Media Studies, I now live in DC and work for QFI, an organization that works to advance Arabic language teaching and learning in schools. I get to use my Arabic skills in some capacity every day through my job, and I have loved connecting with the Arabic-speaking community in DC.

Carson Crochet - After graduating with a double major in Arab Studies and German Studies from Davidson, I moved up to Chicago and currently work as an Outreach Coordinator for a cancer rights legal nonprofit. Before graduating, I won the Hurt Hub's Nisbet Venture Fund competition to grow my small business, CA'Buddy. I continue to grow CA'Buddy, while working full time and staying involved in my community and church. In the future, I plan to return to school with a focus on interfaith studies and plan to build my Arabic and Farsi skills until then. 

Class of 2021

Kieran Clark - I'm graduating with an Arab Studies and Philosophy double major and I plan to do my MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at SOAS University of London in the fall of 2021. In the meantime, I’ll be interning for the Jordanian Embassy in DC and doing some freelance tutoring work over the summer. In my career, I definitely plan to make heavy use of my Arabic and Farsi as well as continue to focus on writing and/or language education. I will be starting Harvard Law School in the fall of 2023.

Deen Haleem - I’ll be attending Columbia Law school next year. I’ll be focusing my studies in either immigration law or international human rights law. I expect to be able to use the Arabic I learned in either of these cases, and hope to ultimately be able to work with refugees as my full time work.

Sophia Nissler - I will be attending UNC-Chapel Hill to obtain my MA in Global Studies with a concentration in Global Migration and Labor Rights. I intend to focus on migration in the MENA region and specifically study queer migration from Lebanon.

Sam Rippley - I will be attending Virginia Tech to obtain a Master’s of Science in Agriculture and Applied Economics with a focus on international development economics. I hope to utilize my Arabic and enhance my Arab Studies knowledge in this program and in my future careers.

Sabrina Schamroth - I will be working as a research assistant for Clare Lockhart at the Institute for State Effectiveness. Afterwards, I plan on attending law school to study international law. I hope to be able to use my Arabic and Farsi skills as I focus on international sanctions law in the Middle East and North Africa.

Class of 2020

Catherine Cartier - I am currently living in Morocco as a Fulbright student researcher. My research examines the intersection of gender and changing writing practices in Morocco, with a focus on women’s contributions to the development of Moroccan Arabic poetry. I will be starting Journalism and Middle East Studies at New York University in the fall of 2023.

Nick Lobo - After graduating Davidson with a double major in Arab Studies and Political Science, I made final revisions to the manuscript for Threshold of Pain (2021; co-translated with Dr. Joubin from Arabic to English), then began participating in the CASA fellowship (intended for the American University of Cairo; taught remotely via Qasid Institute in Amman, Jordan due to COVID-19) for intensive language study. There, I have focused on syntax and morphology (النحو والصرف) and literary criticism of classical and modern texts. After completing CASA later this year I hope to return to Lebanon, where I spent nearly a year and a half as a student/researcher, to begin a two-year MA program in Arabic literature at the American University of Beirut, followed by a PhD in sociolinguistics stateside. 

Anna Dolder - I will be starting Stanford Law School in the fall of 2023.

Class of 2019

Waleed Alkoor I graduated as political science major with an Arab studies minor. Next year I will be pursuing a Masters of International Law at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. My prospective career path is directed towards working with international organizations and NGOs in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly those involved in development and human rights issues.

Grace Covelli - I graduated with a major in biology and a minor in Arab studies. I will be studying Farsi and Tajiki in Tajikistan this summer as part of the Critical Language Scholarship. This fall, I will be starting medical school at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. In the future, I plan on completing my residency at an overseas military base and deploying to the Middle East to provide medical care to injured Soldiers.

Gregory Hunt I am an environmental studies major and Arab studies minor. For the summer after graduation, I will be interning at Davidson in the International Student Programs Office, where I have worked for all four years of college. I am interested in working in international student services at other schools after the summer. Additionally, I hope to pursue a Fulbright Scholarship (or other scholarship) to continue studying foreign languages (Arabic and Farsi included). 

Matthew Kennedy - I graduated with a major in history and minor in Arab studies. This summer I will be working with the Gaelic Sports Club in Winston-Salem. In the future, I intend to pursue a Ph.D. in history with a potential focus on the MENA region.

Aman Madan I graduated with a double major in political science and Arab studies. I will be pursuing a Masters in South Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies next year. Following a year in London, I hope to either return to India or start a Ph.D. in political science (or a related discipline). 

AJ Naddaff I graduated with a double major in political science and Arab studies. In 2021, I will be taking a leave of absence from my two year MA in Arabic literature and language at the American University of Beirut and moving to Jordan. There, as a Fulbright researcher, I will be part of a team at Yarmouk University's Center for Migration Studies producing films on Syrian orphans and widows in Northern Jordan. In my freetime, I will continue freelancing on cultural and political stories and running the Arabic-to-English translation for the digital media site, 7iber. 

Flannery Rokeby-Jackson I graduated with a double major in Arab studies and economics. I plan on working in refugee resettlement and micro-finance in New York City next year. This will hopefully prepare me for pursuing a Masters in Development with a focus on the Middle East. 

Emma Slater I am graduating with a major in Arab studies and I plan to continue studying French and Arabic through the Sidi Bou Said Language Center in Tunis, Tunisia, before hopefully returning to Algeria for the summer, if the political climate permits. In the future, I plan to pursue graduate studies in Arabic linguistics.

Kristen Stark - I majored in Arab studies and completed the pre-med track. I'll be working as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the next two years. Afterward I plan to attend medical school. In the future I hope to work with Doctors Without Borders in the Middle East.

Class of 2018

Anmar Jerjees I graduated magna cum laude as a political science major and an Arab studies minor. I'm currently working as a James C. Gaither Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a Middle East Junior Fellow where I use my Arabic skills on weekly basis. I plan on working in counterterrorism as an analyst after my time with Carnegie.

Class of 2017

Shannon Hayes I graduated with a major in Arab studies through the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. Currently I am on the second year of a two-year master's program in Arab studies at Georgetown University. In the program, I will be concentrating on women and gender in the Middle East and undertaking a thesis project to continue my undergraduate work on dating and sexuality in Morocco. At school, I am working as a research assistant on the International Organization for Migration's project on durable solutions for Iraqi internally displaced peoples.

Arielle Korman I am a current doctoral student at Columbia University in the Department of Religion’s Judaism track. In my research, I'm looking forward to using Arabic as one of my core languages and exploring lesser-known Jewish texts written in Arabic. Outside of the university, I regularly play violin and daven (lead prayer) at Romemu, a synagogue in New York. I am also pursuing my interest in political organizing through the Grace Paley Organizing Fellowship through Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. In organizing and academics, I have become interested in domestic workers’ rights and eldercare.

Dakota Morlan I majored in Arab studies and minored in theatre. Currently, I'm back in northern California working as a reporter for the local paper, The Calaveras Enterprise, and have been in a background check for a position with the Department of Justice in San Francisco since spring of 2017.

Class of 2016

Meron Fessehaye After graduating, I moved to Baltimore, MD where I worked as a Sr. Business Analyst for Cigna HealthSpring. Then, in June 2017 I moved to Charlottesville, VA to complete a post-bac pre-medical program at UVA. During my time at UVA, I tutored at the Islamic Society of Central Virginia with a program called Youth Education Project. Myself and other student tutors helped school-aged refugees from Syria, Iran and Iraq in the Charlottesville area with homework and other school related activities. After completing the program in May 2018, I moved to Charlotte, NC where I am currently working at CMC Main as a Research Analyst in Orthopaedic Surgery while applying to medical school.

Austin GrayI currently live in Cambridge, MA where I'm pursuing an MBA at MIT. I am studying the intersection of entrepreneurship and national security technology. After Davidson, I spent five years serving as an intelligence officer in the US Navy, splitting my time between shore duty in Washington D.C. and sea duty on aircraft carriers around the world. I spent most of my time afloat focusing on China- and Russia-oriented missions in the South China Sea and Mediterranean. I culminated my time afloat in the Middle East, where we conducted counter-ISIS combat operations and covered the Afghanistan withdrawal. A highlight was getting to brush off my Farsi one night during a successful mission to thwart arms smuggling on the high seas.

Thomas Hall I graduated in 2016 with a political science major and Arab studies minor. I am currently a Masters of Education student at NC State University studying higher education administration. I will hopefully graduate in May of 2020. As a part of my program I also work in the Park Scholarship office doing student programming. In terms of Arabic, I use it very rarely speaking with some of my students at State who are studying the language. 

Jasper Vaughn After I graduated in 2016, I worked for a couple of months doing refugee resettlement in the Seattle area. I was the case manager for Arabic-speaking clients. I then moved to Washington, DC and have been here since. I'm currently working for the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which doesn't involve my Arab studies background, but I have taken a semester of Arabic through the Omani embassy's Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center. I am planning to apply to graduate programs in Arabic or Middle East studies in the next year or so.

Class of 2015

Mustafa Al-Hasan Abid Since I graduated from Davidson, I lived in Jordan for a year through a Fulbright Fellowship as a researcher looking at how health information was shared within refugee communities in Amman. I then began my studies at Wake Forest School of Medicine, where I am a third year medical student. While at Wake, I completed an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship with a project focus on health literacy for immigrants and refugees living in the Winston-Salem area, and the Benjamin H. Kean Travel Fellowship in Tropical Medicine, working on issues of refugee health through the WHO country office in Jordan.

Dave Curtis I graduated in 2015 and have been working for British PR firm, Portland Communications, from their Washington, DC office. This specific position attracted me because Portland's largest client is the Government of the State of Qatar. I work in government advisory chiefly for Middle Eastern clients and have done extensive work on the recent Gulf diplomatic dispute that broke out in 2017.

Mike D’Andrea I was a religion major at Davidson. I continued to take Arabic courses at the Middle East Institute in DC, and I kept up for a while after that using Natakallam. I started work as a paralegal for the Department of Justice after graduation. I worked on civil merger investigations for a year before transferring to a criminal section, where I've worked on white collar crime investigations. I recently accepted a position as a criminal investigator with the Treasury Department. I will, naturally, still be working on white collar crimes. I've been asked to translate Arabic business documents at work. I do some basic Arabic translation and my Arabic background certainly helped in my interviews.

Aric Reviere I graduated in 2015. As the recipient of the Smith Scholarship, I moved to London to pursue my Masters in Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art. My course work focused on fashion film and photography from the 1920s-1960s. After graduating, I moved to New York where I began working for SUTTON, a global cultural communications firm. While at SUTTON, my clients ranged from commercial galleries to major, global contemporary art institutions. Last fall, I left SUTTON to join Bridgewater Associates, where I work as a Candidate Lead focusing on security recruiting. I am currently in the process of shifting my area of focus to recruiting senior investment professionals. 

Class of 2014 

Noah Bricker After graduating from Davidson, I spent four years working for Deloitte's Strategy & Operations Consulting practice. There, I worked primarily at the intersection of retail strategy and supply chain helping large corporations evolve in the new age of digital retail. Most recently, I left Deloitte for a short stint in Private Equity as a Portfolio Operations Leader before leaving to attend Harvard Business School, where I'm using my work and educational background to form a more global perspective of business. While only at the beginning of my first year, I am looking at opportunities that will hopefully take me back to the Middle East and North Africa.  

Josh Hengen I currently live in Nashville, TN where I’m in my third year teaching. I am completing a Masters of Arts in Teaching with Relay Graduate School of Education. I teach AP Human Geography at Valor College Prep, a new high school serving a diverse student body in southern Nashville that has an emphasis on social emotional learning. I use my Arabic and (relative) cultural fluency with the Middle East every day working with Valor’s Kurdish students.

Class of 2013

Beau Clark After a year of working for Amal Sale, I moved to the American Cultural Association of Morocco in Rabat where I worked as a Program Coordinator. I led the Community Service Programs in 13 language schools across Morocco. I currently work in business operations for an international real estate development company.

Paul diFore I graduated with a political science degree and an Arab studies minor. I lived in Egypt after Davidson, working at the American University in Cairo as part of their Presidential Internship Program. I then moved back to my hometown of Dallas, TX, and spent three years working in corporate social responsibility for an energy company. I am currently pursuing a Masters in Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Meghan Lucas I graduated with a major in Economics and minor in Arabic. After graduating I worked for the World Bank in Washington, DC and Amman, Jordan on several topics related to the economics of migration and refugee policy. My projects included integration policies for Syrian refugees in local host countries and improving data collection on refugees in Jordan. I am currently a student at Columbia Law where I am focusing on immigration and asylum law. My main use of Arabic currently is chatting with the Yemeni deli owners in my neighborhood, but I hope to work with Arabic speaking clients in the future and will continue to focus on refugee policy pertaining to the Arab world. 

Amelia Lumpkin After Davidson, I continued working at The Theater Offensive in Boston for three years. I also did some acting and directing where I auditioned for some Arabic speaking roles. Just over two years ago, I moved to Guadalajara, Mexico. I teach math and language arts for 4th and 5th graders. Almost all of my students are ESL, so my language learning/teaching skills are always needed.  

Class of 2012

Alexandra Francis I graduated from Yale Law School in 2018 where I focused on human rights, national security, and international humanitarian law. Prior to law school, I worked as a Junior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I also held a Fulbright Scholarship in Amman, Jordan where I studied the Syrian refugee crisis and interned with the UN Refugee Agency. I subsequently worked in Istanbul, Turkey on Syrian conflict stabilization. During law school, I worked at the Office of the White House Counsel, the State Department Office of the Legal Adviser, and the law firm, Covington & Burling.

Lauren Khater I continue to work as a translator in the federal government. Additionally, I am in my second and final year pursuing a Masters in Arab Studies at Georgetown University.

Joseph Sills After completing CASA Amman in 2014, I moved to New York, where I am in my fifth year of teaching middle and high school Arabic at Friends Seminary, a Quaker school in Manhattan, where I led a school trip to Morocco in March 2017. I continue to translate magazine articles from Arabic to English, and in 2016 I completed translating the novel The Truck by Mahmoud Saeed. Additionally, I expect to complete a Masters in Arabic Pedagogy from Middlebury College in August 2019.  

Class of 2011

Madeline Koch I graduated in 2011 with a French major and Arabic minor and study abroad experiences in Rabat, Morocco and Tours, France. After graduation, I taught U.S. civics and English in Fes, Morocco, thanks to a Fulbright scholarship. After several years at a Washington, DC NGO working on peace and security issues in the Middle East, I joined the Foreign Service. My first tour was in Yangon, Myanmar and I’m currently posted in Beirut, Lebanon.

Class of 2010

Jennifer DeKnight I have been living in Beirut, Lebanon since 2015 pursuing my Masters in Education Administration at AUB. I have had the opportunity to work as a graduate assistant and research intern at AUB, help out at a local education NGO called Unite Lebanon Youth Project and work on my spoken Arabic along the way. Most recently, I started working at an International Baccalaureate school in Beirut as the CAS student life and service coordinator.

Class of 2009

Stephen Kalin After graduation, I studied Arabic in Egypt, Jordan and Oman. Since 2013 I have worked in the Middle East as a correspondent for Reuters News. I started out in Beirut covering the Syrian civil war, then moved back to Egypt just ahead of the elections that made Sisi president. In 2015, I moved to Iraq to cover the U.S.-backed campaign to roll back ISIS, including six months on the frontlines in Mosul. Last summer, I moved to Riyadh to report on big changes to Saudi Arabia's economy and society.

Ben Starkweather After college, I did fundraising for the UNHCR, raising money for refugees around the world. I later lived in Nablus, Palestine, teaching children English and doing community outreach with the program Teach for Palestine. I am graduated from law school at St. John's in 2015 and I am currently an associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in New York.

Class of 2008

Robert Mark After separating from Active Duty service post-Davidson, I continued as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves as an intelligence team leader supporting AFRICOM and I was accepted to the White House Internship Program working for the National Security Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.  Upon completing my internship, I attended Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. During school I worked for the White House and the ‘Hillary for America Campaign’ on a project basis as an Advance Associate. Additionally, I did an internship as a consultant with BP.  I graduated with my MBA in 2015 and accepted a role with Apple in the operations group as a Business Operations Manager in charge of finished good manufacturing for products in the Desktop and Apple TV space. Outside of work I serve on the Board of Directors for a national non-profit called Reaching Out which serves LGBT graduate business school students.

Stewart Pierce-Gardner I am a Senior Consultant at Deloitte based out of Washington, DC where I work with International Donors, such as USAID and the World Bank on development projects in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. I currently manage a project in Tunisia working to improve municipal service delivery and expand opportunities for citizen engagement in local planning.