Jad Hamze ‘25 is a double concentrator in Middle East studies and health and human biology. As a student in Brown’s eight-year Bachelor-MD Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), he is dedicated to a career in medicine, integrating biomedical research with a nuanced understanding of the Middle East to tackle global health challenges. His research focuses on ischemic heart disease and metabolic syndrome, utilizing high-sensitivity proteomic analyses to investigate cardiovascular therapies. He has authored multiple research papers, presented at the American Heart Association conference and contributed to translational large animal model surgeries. Jad also served as a DUG Leader for MES, fostering student engagement with the discipline. After graduation, he will attend the Warren Alpert Medical School.

Baylie A. Hartford ’25 is a Middle East studies concentrator with particular interests in ancient and medieval history and literary translation. In addition to studying Arabic and Persian, Baylie has also pursued coursework in visual art and technical theatre, and has worked on a number of student and departmental productions at Brown. After graduating, Baylie intends to continue studying both languages through travel and hopes to incorporate these interests in language and history into a career in the creative sector.

Anais Leichtling ‘25 is a triple concentrator in Middle East studies, political science and Judaic studies. During her time at Brown, Anais has focused on exploring the intersectionality of religion, culture, and politics in the MENA region and beyond. She is passionate about understanding how political and religious narratives play into and shape collective identities, and in turn catalyze or limit prospects for intercommunal cohesion, sustainable conflict management and de-escalation more broadly. Her capstone centers on the ways in which portrayals of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in contemporary Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Muslim art reflect and inform religious narratives on the Israel-Palestine conflict, with particular emphasis on themes of messianic apocalypticism and religious fundamentalism. After graduation, Anais looks forward to spending time with family and further expanding on these areas of study.

Mica Maltzman ’25  is a double concentrator in history and Middle East studies. At Brown, she served as the co-editor-in-chief and an editor of the Brown Undergraduate Journal of Middle East Studies, as well as worked with Palestinian activist groups. She is interested in the history of Palestinian resistance and its intersections with diaspora. She has spent the past year writing a thesis on a Jewish Communist housing cooperative that once existed in the Bronx, exploring interests closer to home. After graduating, she hopes to pursue a career in public interest law. 

Bianca Rosen '25  is a double concentrator in Middle East studies and international and public affairs. She is passionate about the Arabic language and has studied it intensively both at Brown and abroad in Jordan, Morocco and Oman. A highlight of her Arabic language studies was getting the chance to publish a translation she worked on in class with Professor Miled Faiza in the journal ArabLit. Bianca is also fascinated by North African history and has spent the past year writing a thesis on Amazigh activism and tribalism in Morocco during the Arab Spring. Outside of class, she was managing editor of the Brown Political Review and involved with CMES in various capacities, including serving as a student assistant, teaching assistant and undergraduate fellow. Bianca looks forward to continued exploration of her interests in politics and the Middle East after graduation. 

Ian Stettner ’25 is a double concentrator in Middle East studies and international and public affairs. Coming to Middle East studies initially from an interest in archaeology and early Christian history, Ian has tried to build a course load that balances the new with the old. He wrote for the Brown Political Review as a senior staff writer and, outside of Brown, he organized archaeological surveys of northern Long Island settlement sites. Last spring, he continued his Arabic studies through Middlebury’s semester abroad program in Jordan, and he intends to return to the region in the next year to improve his Arabic and work as a freelance journalist.