Colloquium | Members

Liam Flaherty

Liam is a sophomore from Sharon, MA, pursuing a double-major in International Relations and German. He is a proud Irish-American whose family has lived in Boston for generations. He was educated in the Sharon Public School system all his life, until going on a Department of State sponsored exchange program called CBYX (PPP) in Germany. He spent his senior year of high school going to a local Gymnasium in Haan, NRW, near Cologne and Düsseldorf, where he experienced German culture and language for the first time. Liam has been interested in Europe most of his life, and that interest has increased in accordance with his experiences. He is planning to study abroad on the Tufts program to Tübingen, Baden-Württemburg in his junior year.

Ayesha Forbes

Ayesha Forbes is a junior studying History and Peace and Justice Studies. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, she finished high school at the United World College of South East Asia in Singapore, and then made the jump across two continents to Tufts. She has worked with the Boston Consulting Group and Walden Media in the past, before realizing that her true passion is to work in the MENA region, particularly in human rights and security, because the dilemmas surrounding the geo-political circumstances of the region and the consequent repercussions on human rights have deeply motivated her to try and make a difference. On campus she is involved with a variegated group of organizations, working with the Office of Campus Life and as a lighting designer in the Tufts Drama Department, serving on the executive board of the International Club, and being an RA to thirty-seven fantastic freshmen in Tilton Hall. An avid traveler, she spent this last summer with her time split between Mumbai, Delhi, Ottawa, Maine, Halifax, Boston and New York, enjoyed every minute of it, and is already planning her next trip. She loves experiencing different cultures, and believes such experiences have sensitized her and led her to develop a knack for culturally sensitive diplomacy fairly well. Her other love is photography and filmmaking, which, although still in its early days, she hopes to pursue professionally in conjunction with her goals in MENA, meshing together her two passions. She has a proclivity for anything that makes her laugh, meeting new people, reading, running, writing, picnicking, and can definitely be labeled a die-hard health foodie. EPIIC 2013-2014 promises to be an adventure and she is unbelievably excited to lose every ounce of her free time to explore it.
 

Kari Frentzel

Kari Frentzel is a sophomore at Tufts University studying International Relations, as well as Arabic and Japanese. Born in Japan, Kari spent the early years of her childhood in Massachusetts and then returned to Japan where she attended both elementary and middle school. Although she returned to the U.S. for high school, Kari was also a recipient of a one-year study abroad scholarship in Egypt sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Kennedy-Lugar YES program. Living in Cairo, Kari developed a passion for studying the Middle East and learning Arabic. This past summer, Kari interned in Tokyo with AFS, a high school exchange program where she worked with Japanese and American high school students. She continues to pursue her interests in the Middle Eastern as well as language at Tufts and is excited to participate in the EPIIC course.

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.

Shana Friedman

Shana Friedman is a sophomore from Los Angeles, California who is majoring in Computer Science. She is fascinated by the intersection between technology and healthcare and interested in disparities in food, nutrition, and agriculture distribution and policy around the globe. Through EPIIC, she is excited to explore these interests and delve into a wide variety of issues related to global health. When she is not taking classes related to programming or politics, Shana studies German, as she hopes to spend a semester abroad in Germany, writes and edits for the Tufts Daily, and adventures through Boston where she loves nothing more than discovering everything the city has to offer.

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.

Raasika Gaugler

Raasika is a senior from Basel, Switzerland, pursuing a double major in Computer Science and International Relations. She received her International Baccalaureate Diploma from the International School of Basel, where she became interested in international affairs and had the opportunity to attend sessions of the European Youth Parliament in Switzerland, Zagreb and Tallinn. Her concentration within International Relations is Economic Development, and she is excited about the intersections of her two majors and discovering new ways in which technology can be used to solve problems creatively. Outside of the classroom, Raasika can be found co-directing the International Development Hackathon, showing incoming students the ropes as part of the Global Orientation program at Tufts, and running long distance while exploring the Boston area. Raasika is incredibly excited to be participating in EPIIC this year and is interested in exploring rising nationalist and xenophobic sentiment and reactions toward Charlie Hebdo, the refugee crisis and asylum policies, as well as the politics of memory.

Hannah Gersten

Hannah is a senior from Lake Bluff, Illinois majoring in French and International Relations. She recently spent 14 months abroad in France, studying literature at the Tufts University European Center in Talloires and political science and international relations at Sciences Po in Paris. This immersive and intellectually rewarding experience fueled an existing passion for French culture and contemporary Francophone issues. Hannah spent the summer working as an intern in the Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago and is writing a Senior Honors Thesis in French on George Sand’s 19th-century conception of the modern woman. She hopes to live in Paris after graduating.

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.

Sarah Glass

Sarah Glass is a junior studying Clinical Psychology at Tufts University. She has a variety of experience in the field of both physical and mental health. She volunteered at a hospital for six years, assisting nursing staff in patient care, and this summer she shadowed a psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. She assisted doctors in the room during sessions and learned proper diagnosis and prescriptions after each appointment. She also created a tutoring organization in California at a K-6 school for struggling students with developmental disabilities. She was the head photojournalist and photo-editor of her school's newspaper, and she is very interested in helping others, expanding the field of mental health, music, and the country of Iceland.