Biography

My undergraduate studies in opera performance led me to Jordan, where I served as a Fulbright fellow researching music education for young Syrians. I went on to live in the region for another five years, primarily working as an education consultant to humanitarian aid organizations. While this experience solidified my interest in education, it also raised difficult questions about the potential for aid efforts to harm those they aim to help.My doctoral research on the geopolitics of higher education in Syria was born out of these experiences and concerns. The project examines how foreign actors within the conflict—western aid donors among them—have come to shape universities throughout the country. It is my hope that research of this kind might inform more just practices of solidarity and support for Syrian academic communities.