Colloquium | Members

Lizzy Robinson

Lizzy Robinson is a junior from Albany, New York, double majoring in International Relations and Economics. On campus, she is involved in NIMEP (New Initiative for Middle East Peace), the China-US Symposium, Hemispheres (Tufts’ undergraduate research journal), and works as a research assistant in the Political Science department. Lizzy finds the Middle East fascinating because she believes that the current challenges, while seemingly intractable, create the possibility for significant progress in the future. She is primarily interested in foreign policy, security issues, and diplomacy, and hopes to join the Foreign Service. Outside of academics, Lizzy enjoys running and raspberries. 

Sam Rock

Sam Rock was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At Tufts, he is a senior English major and an Arabic minor, and he spent the last semester studying Language and Culture in Amman, Jordan through CIEE. He is also a member of the Ultimate Frisbee team, the Tufts Mountain Club, and the Wilderness Pre-Orientation program. He has spent the last three summers leading youth canoeing trips in northern Wisconsin and southern Ontario, an experience that has taught him about himself and others in a way that he never foresaw. He is excited about EPIIC this year, and hopes that his experiences can add to the experience of the people around him.

Gia Rowley

Liv Rowley

 

Liv Rowley is a sophomore from Newtown, Connecticut, with plans to major in international relations. She studies Spanish and Arabic, which fits nicely with her interests in counter-terrorism and immigration. At Tufts, she is active as a member of The Advisory Council for Endowment Responsibility, a verbal SAT coach through Let’s Get Ready, and a new cadet with Tufts Army ROTC. Liv also enjoys writing, playing the saxophone, and volunteering. Her goal for the future is to change the world. 

Abuzar Royesh

 

Abuzar Royesh is an International Relations student at Tufts University, class of 2016. He was born in Afghanistan, just before his family relocated to Pakistan to escape the Taliban rule. He returned back to Afghanistan with his family in 2002, where he lives since. Abuzar is particularly passionate about International Security and the politics of Middle East and South and Central Asia. He spent this summer in Afghanistan, translating a book and doing a project for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Afghanistan. He is resolved to work in Afghanistan upon graduation. At Tufts, he is a member of Muslim Students Association and New Initiative to Middle East Peace (NIMEP). Abuzar looks forward to learning more about the complex politics of Middle East and North Africa through EPIIC.  

Katie Saviano

Katie Saviano is a freshman from Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin with plans to double major in International Relations and Arabic. Her interest in Arabic was sparked when she traveled abroad to Morocco in the summer of 2011 to study the language, funded by a U.S. State Department Scholarship. Katie is also passionate about Spanish and Latino Studies. As a graduate of the United World College of Costa Rica, a high school with a mission for international understanding and global sustainability, Katie believes that the topic of EPIIC 2013- 2014 could not be more timely. More recently, Katie was part of a small delegation of young adults representing the United States at the International Seliger Youth Forum in Russia. At Tufts, Katie hopes to become involved with the Sustainability Collective, Tufts Mountain Club, The New Initiative for Middle East Peace (NIMEP) and volunteer work through CORES, an ESL program for new immigrants to the Medford-Somerville area.

Umar Shareef

Umar Shareef is a Muslim Indian-American born in Warsaw, Indiana. After moving three times, he now finds himself in Windham, Maine, where he has been residing for two years. At Tufts, he plans on majoring in political science with a minor in English and Philosophy. He plans on joining the Muslim Student Association as well as the Debate Society. He wishes to contribute to the redress of politico-socio inequities such as economic injustices, racism, sexism, and classism, the deterioration of the democratic process.  He would like to study globalization because it has engendered these conditions, which will allow appropriate solutions to be made. He hopes to pursue a higher education in Law for social justice. In particular, his interests are in engaging in social justice, particularly in challenging Islamophobia, to create a necessary dialogue that bridge the perceived gap between Muslims and the West. He seeks to situate himself and understand the identity of an American Muslim living within a discursive context that reduces the complexities of Islam’s historical and contemporary relations with the West into reductionist binaries of “us” vs. “them.”

Jenna Smith

Jenna Smith is a freshman in Tufts’ class of 2017. She is potentially majoring in International Relations and Economics. Born and raised in the Midwest and Chicago area, Jenna moved to DC-area Virginia halfway through high school. Her interest in the Middle East and North Africa stems from her intensive high school Model UN career. She takes a special interest in urban development, environmental sustainability, and global health. In the past she served as a fellow at Organizing for America, where she registered many new voters. Besides political activism and global affairs, Jenna pursues art and travel in her free time. Jenna plans on using her time spent in EPIIC as a foundation for critical global thinking and activism.

Mahpari Sotoudeh

Mahpari Sotoudeh is a senior majoring in International Relations with a focus on the Middle East. She has spent her last two summers working at the Middle East Institute and the Department of State. At Tufts, she has been involved with Hemispheres, the Tufts Daily, and the Advisory Committee for Endowment Responsibility. She spent her junior year studying abroad in Jordan and France.

Elayne Stecher

 

Elayne Stecher is a senior majoring in Arabic and International Relations with a concentration in the Middle East. After studying abroad in Amman, Jordan in the fall of 2012 and volunteering at an orphanage there, she became even more passionate about her fields of study and hopes to spend more time working on the ground with communities in this region of the world. Her academic interests include Arabic language, Middle Eastern, Indian, and North African culture, laws and diplomacy, post-conflict psychology, translation, education, and Spanish language. This summer she received an Empower Fellowship to intern with a local organization in Jinotega, Nicaragua, which focuses on sustainable development and community empowerment. At Tufts, Elayne is the executive editor of the opinion section of the Tufts Daily, a member of the group BUILD: Nicaragua, a club soccer player, an Arabic tutor, and an employee of the Edwin Ginn Library.