I am a PhD Candidate at Stanford University School of Education, specializing in International and Comparative Education and Sociology and Education. I am interested broadly in education and globalization in the Middle East and North Africa region, including the expansion of higher education in the region, and the link between education and employment. My dissertation examines the privatization of higher education worldwide and specifically, the process of higher education policy reform in Jordan and Tunisia. Currently, I am the recipient of an NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, which I am using to compile a database of university enrollments in public and private universities worldwide from 1955-2010. I have also received dissertation research grants from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) and the American Institute for Maghrebi Studies (AIMS).

I was a Fulbright grantee to Morocco in 2006, and was a recipient of a Critical Language Scholarship to Oman in 2008. I have presented research in conferences in Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, Canada, and throughout the US, including at the American Sociological Association (ASA), Middle East Studies Association (MESA), and American Educational Research Association (AERA).In addition to my academic research, I have also worked in research consultancies and internships with numerous non-profits and international development organizations. I am currently a Research Assistant for the Arab Reform Project at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) and have also carried out short-term research consultancies for the Academy for Educational Development (AED) in Morocco, Save the Children (SC) in Egypt, and the Syrian Trust for Development in Damascus.

 

I have studied Arabic for 8 years and French for 3 years; I consider myself fluent in Modern Standard Arabic and Moroccan Dirija, and am trying to learn the Levantine dialect for my future dissertation research.  I hold a MA in Sociology from Stanford, conferred January 2012 (concurrent degree with the PhD in Education), and a B.A. in Educational Studies and Sociology from Swarthmore College, where I graduated with Highest Honors in 2006.