PROJECTS
Below is a comprehensive list of projects I've worked on, including the finished products.
Final Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement: Capstone
For the capstone Negotiating Israeli-Palestinian Peace the overall focus of the class was a multi-week simulation as opposed to other capstone classes that focus specifically on a semester-long research project. Although I love research, I wanted to take this class as opposed to other capstone options because I already have a decent amount of research experience and because I wanted to deepen my knowledge of this complex conflict. This simulation went throughout the latter half of the semester and was between three groups: Israel, Palestine, and the United States. Each team was randomly assigned and I was a part of the American team, which meant I helped run "negotiations" as well as helped the two teams in coming to some sort of agreement. However, the goal was not to come to an agreement per-say, but rather focus on the negotiation element of the conflict. Even at an undergraduate level, the teams were not able to come to a complete agreement on some of the most contentious issues, but below is the partial agreement that was able to be decided upon.
Thematic Country Report: Jordan
For my class Contemporary Middle East, one of the assignments was to do a thematic country report where each student focused on one issue pertaining to a country of their choosing. Having studied in Jordan where I experienced some of the economic and political strife firsthand, I chose to discuss why they avoided the Arab Spring in 2011 and how, according to my research, I believe they are headed towards their own Arab Spring in the very near future.
Restoring Relevance to the Intelligence Community
For the end of the semester in my Intelligence Community class, each student was given an introductory statement that had to be copied verbatim and then defended throughout the essay. This paper addresses the ways in which the intelligence community has been undermining its own efficacy in recent history as well as how intelligence collection, analysis, and application can be improved to address the aforementioned failures.
A Flawed System: The Detriments of an All-Hazard Approach to Risk, Crisis, and Consequence Management
For the end of the semester for my Homeland Security class, each student was given an introductory statement from the professor that had to be defended in the body of the essay. The final paper had to address the systemic problems with Homeland Security policy and strategy and ways that it could be improved. Below is my research essay and creative solution to the programs plaguing Homeland Security and DHS today.
CET Academic Programs in Amman, Jordan: Jordanian Societies
In addition to the credits dedicated to improving proficiency in Arabic, students in the language intensive took two content courses. One of mine, Jordanian Societies, required a research project about a topic specific to Jordan and its culture. The research project that I engaged in was regarding the lifestyle and culture of the Bedouin, the nomadic tribes of Jordan, and how the Bedouin lifestyle has shaped the culture and way of life across Jordan (please note that not only was it not required for us to cite our sources, it was preferred that we did not cite them because they did not want space within the paper to be taken away from the actual use of the language nor did they want us to focus too much on making sure our citations were correct).
CET Academic Programs in Amman, Jordan: Intensive MSA and Jordanian Dialect
Although the Modern Standard and Jordanian Dialect courses were technically separate classes, they were taught simultaneously and accounted for ten of the 16 credits for the semester. One of the main focuses for the course was to craft an in-depth comparison of American culture and Jordanian culture, with the research essay attached below (please note that not only was it not required for us to cite our sources, it was preferred that we did not cite them because they did not want space within the paper to be taken away from the actual use of the language nor did they want us to focus too much on making sure our citations were correct).
Islamophobia
Throughout the Fall of 2017 and the Spring of 2018, I took two classes regarding research methodologies and practices. I spend the first semester researching the negative effects systemic Islamophobia has on counterterrorism policy. This semester, my focus has shifted to focus more on the impact western Islamophobia has on Muslim populations both in America and abroad. I was given the opportunity to do field research into this topic and I then wrote a paper describing my findings. To read my findings from my interviews in the field as well as to understand my analysis on why Islamophobia exists in America today, please see the attached PDF.
Virtual Exchange Project
In the spring of 2017, I participated in a cross-cultural team comprised of three people from American University and three people from the University of Batna, Algeria. Together, we collaborated to create a singular video demonstrating the cultural differences between the US and Algeria, specifically on the topic of how each respective culture uses its free time. Through weekly or bi-weekly video calls, we learned about each other's home lives, food, future aspirations and school activities, all the while becoming friends. Below is the video we created and then presented before our class.
Perry High School Broadcasting: Revolution
Revolution was the closed circuit variety show created by the high school broadcasting class. In addition to helping team members film their contributions and edit clips, I had my own segment called Weekly Update. This was a parody of the segment Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. I was responsible for researching my own political and comedic news stories and choosing which ones would be received well by an audience of my peers, recording, and editing my own videos. Below is an example of one of my segments.