Biography

As a Palestinian-American dividing my time between Jordan and the United States, I have always struggled with living on the margins. However, fiction provided a sense of belonging and stability in my life, later influencing my study of English literature at UC Davis. During my time as an English major, I searched for Arab representation in the novels that I read. While taking a “Climate Fiction” course, I realized that my culture was not being represented in the climate narrative. The Jordan River is being siphoned off and I am watching my country gradually evaporate, yet there are no works of climate fiction that address these issues. As part of my undergraduate thesis, I examined how authors grapple with climate change while trying to represent marginalized communities. Through the MPhil in English Studies: Criticism and Culture, I hope to further engage with this interdisciplinary research, since climate change is intricately woven with colonialism. I believe that creating a dialogue between science and literature, while giving a platform to disenfranchised communities, is essential for tackling anthropogenic climate change.

Previous Education

University of California Davis English 2020