As a Master’s candidate in Security Policy Studies at the Elliott School, I am excited to continue my academic pursuits in national security. Within security I focus on counter-terrorism, specifically jihadism in the West. My interest in counter-terrorism began while studying abroad in Jordan in Spring 2016. In Jordan, I studied Middle Eastern affairs and got to know the region and culture. Most notably, I volunteered at a local refugee center whose members were displaced by conflict and terror groups in Iraq and Syria.
Determined to become part of the solution after I returned to the states, I became an intern at The Carter Center’s Countering Daesh Recruitment Propaganda Program. At the Carter Center I gained inspiration for my senior thesis with the Elliott Scholars Program, After Raqqa Falls: Uncovering the Connection Between Daesh Territory and Terror Attacks in the West.
In Spring 2017, I continued my specialization in the field as a Research Assistant at GW’s Program on Extremism where I studied attacker profiles, countering-violent extremism, and attacker case files. Once I received the Presidential Fellowship, I was ecstatic to be placed at the Program on Extremism/Center for Cyber and Homeland Security to continue my work. I look forward to continuing my research in counterterrorism, including new research projects on the Islamic State’s use of images on Telegram and Iran’s offensive cyber capabilities. Last, but not certainly least, I’m enjoying my graduate school classes and their practical pertinence to my field!