Colloquium | Members

Bradley Friedman

Bradley Friedman is a junior majoring in International Relations with a regional focus on the Middle East. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bradley was exposed to global diversity at an early age was subsequently drawn to travel. Since studying abroad in Israel for four months in high school Bradley has been committed to learning more about the Middle East and Conflict Prevention. These interests spurred Bradley as a freshman to participate in the 2011-2012 EPIIC colloquium and symposium "Conflict in the 21st Century." Since delving into the IGL's orbit, Bradley has worked with the State Department, the Harvard Humanitarian Institute, and the Israeli Democracy Institute in Jerusalem. Most recently, Bradley spent the 2013 summer interning for Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State where he assisted in the management of U.S. foreign assistance relating to entrepreneurship, civil society, and women's empowerment throughout the MENA region. At Tufts Bradley is a member of the executive board of Tufts Student Senate and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. In his spare time Bradley consults for non-profits, plays soccer, and loves engaging with his peers on current affairs.

Bruna Gaspar

Bruna Gaspar was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil where she attended a French international school. Between the ages of 9 and 11, she lived in Washington, DC, where she learned English and had her first international experiences. Back in Sao Paulo, she graduated in 2010 and, after acquiring her French Baccalaureate, she decided to move back to the United States for her undergraduate education. Now in her second year at Tufts University, she intends to major in international relations and economics. Although she is not sure what she wants to do after college, she hopes to travel as much as possible and to keep learning new languages.

Roland Gillah

Roland is a sophomore student at Tufts University from New York City studying International Relations.  In studying both French and Arabic, he has gained a strong interest in other cultures and a desire to travel and experience the international community firsthand.  Although coming from a civilian background with no previous connection to the military, he has come to be involved quite deeply in the ALLIES program, firstly in the weekly discussions, now as Treasurer, and secondly working on the FieldEx planning committee, in which he helped plan the annual conflict resolution simulation.  Through ALLIES, he also participated and ran the media team in SIMULEX for the past two years, a simulation prepared by the Army War College for the Fletcher School, and also journeyed on the Joint Research Project to Turkey with a group of nine other students from Tufts and the US Military academies to research civil-military relations.  A strong desire to understand and find common ground with the military side of foreign affairs has propelled him forward in studying the military's role in foreign policy while also examining ways to avoid conflict.  He hopes to promote peaceful resolution and negotiation.  EPIIC is becoming a perfect way to combine all these passions around such a dynamic and ever-changing landscape as the Middle East, and he looks forward to watching it continue to change the way he views the world and his impact in it.

Sophia Goswami

Sophia Goswami is a freshman from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School in Sudbury, Massachusetts.  She plans to pursue a major in International Relations or Economics.  For the past two years, Sophia has been active in Massachusetts’s political scene, interning and volunteering for various campaigns and organizations.  In high school, she spent much of her time working with Habitat for Humanity and the Lincoln-Sudbury Memorial School in Cambodia.  She is excited to continue her involvement in politics, community service, and dance at Tufts.  Sophia is thrilled to join the EPIIC community and the explore The Future of the Middle East and North Africa with her peers.

Kieran Green

Kieran is a Tufts undergraduate (class of 2017) who plans on majoring in International Relations with a concentration in International Security. A debater in high school, Kieran developed an interest in US foreign policy and its relation to national security. As a result, Kieran was intrigued by the EPIIC topic for this year, given the Middle East’s history of being a flashpoint in international affairs. He is intrigued by the prospect of gaining a deeper insight into Middle Eastern politics and culture and the interplay between those factors and US involvement in the region. In addition to EPIIC, Kieran is involved in Tufts’ ALLIES program (Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services) which promotes stronger relations between the civil and military branches of the US government. In his free time Kieran enjoys creating music mixes, watching cricket (a habit passed down from his Australian father), and painting.

Kirsten Gute

Kirsten Gute is a junior from Boston and is majoring in International Relations with a concentration in Middle East and North Africa (MENA).  She finds the history of the MENA region extremely interesting and how it continues to shape current social, political, and cultural events.  She is especially interested in the Israeli-Palestine conflict and is excited to learn more, particularly about how access to resources such as water and food supply shapes the present realities within the region. At Tufts she has played on the squash team and is a currently DJ for WMFO, Tufts’ radio station; while she plays no instruments, she loves to listen to a variety of music!  This past summer, Kirsten worked at the Tufts Educational Day Care Center; working with kids is another passion of hers.  She is thrilled to be apart of EPIIC, as it will allow her to combine and pursue multiple interests.  She is excited for the EPIIC program this year focusing on the MENA region!

Patrick Hamon

 

Patrick Hamon is a sophomore from Stamford, Connecticut majoring in International Relations. His major academic interest areas lie in ethnic conflict, post-conflict reconstruction, civil-military relations and security sector reform; he hopes to one day turn these interests into a career in public policy dealing with security in fragile or failed states. At Tufts, he is an executive on the chapter board for the Alliance Linking Leaders In Education and the Services (ALLIES) as well as a councilman on the International Relations Department Director’s Leadership Council. Through ALLIES, he was able to travel to Turkey this past summer to investigate civil-military relations there and got his first taste of the nuances of the Middle East. Patrick is excited to be a part of this year’s EPIIC colloquium and hopes to gain a greater understanding of the intensely interesting peoples of the Middle East and North Africa. 
 

Eloise Harnett

Eloise Harnett is a sophomore from Gardiner, Maine. She is an International Relations major with a focus in the Middle East and an Arabic minor. The daughter of two lawyers, Eloise’s interests in politics and law began at a young age, but her love for the Middle East is a more recent development. She is particularly interested in women’s rights and the role of religion in politics. Eloise also enjoys summer camp, cats, and playing the French horn. 

Kaitlyn Hodgman

Kaitlyn Hodgman is a senior from Ashland, Massachusetts majoring in International Relations and Political Science, with a minor in Economics. Her IR concentration is International Security, with a particular interest in conflict resolution and how internal politics affect the processes of peace and security. On campus, Kaitlyn is a senior member of the International Relations Program’s Director’s Leadership Council and has held leadership positions in Tufts Relay for Life and AIESEC Tufts. Kaitlyn previously participated in the Institute for Global Leadership FieldEx simulation as a freshman through an Experimental College class on Crisis Mapping. Kaitlyn has also spent time working as an intern for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Senator Ed Markey in Washington DC, and Sqrrl, a tech start-up. Kaitlyn spent her Junior spring semester abroad at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. As a member of EPIIC 2013-2014, Kaitlyn is pursuing research on local political participation in the context of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is excited to learn more about the particular histories and cultures of the MENA region. 

Iris Levine

Iris, born and raised in Nashville, TN, previously enjoyed listening to copious amounts of country music and drinking sweet tea on the porch. However, in an attempt to expand her horizons, Iris made the decision to leave the south behind and start life anew in the arctic New England. In high school, she was involved in everything from soccer and track to lobbying against homophobic legislation as well as quite a few things in-between. While she has just begun her career as a Jumbo, she is eager to explore a variety of academic subjects and extra-curriculars. Iris is eager to immerse herself in anything and everything regarding this year’s topic, to challenge her preconceptions, and to grapple with some of the world’s most pressing issues!