While she has held a passion for Middle Eastern studies since her first year at Swarthmore, Mara Revkin ’09 admitted that the stalled political progress in the region can often give rise to pessimism in onlookers.
Nevertheless, Revkin, who was just named a Junior Fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program, believes she can help make progress in the upcoming year by coupling her recent research on political literature and poetry with U.S. foreign policy.
“It might sound far-fetched to say that political poetry can help us to craft more effective policies in the Middle East, but I really believe that understanding local interests and aspirations — as expressed through mediums like literature, blogs, and online forums — can help our government engage with the region in a more respectful, and ultimately more productive way,” Revkin said in an e-mail.
Currently, Revkin is a Fulbright Fellow in Oman studying “counter-hegemonic” poetry and literature, which, she said, “attempts to subvert an official, state-sanctioned discourse portraying the government as omnipotent and infallible.”
As a Carnegie Junior Fellow, however, Revkin will work alongside the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s senior associates in Middle Eastern studies. Eight to 10 Junior Fellows are selected each year for this fellowship, making the acceptance rate about five percent each year, according to the endowment’s website.
Swarthmore College has only had one other Junior Fellow.
"[Revkin] was a fabulous candidate for this,” said Melissa Mandos, fellowships and prizes advisor. “Clearly adding to the excitement is that we hadn’t had one in awhile.”
Although Revkin does not yet have an assignment, Junior Fellows “have the opportunity to conduct research for books, co-author journal articles and policy papers, participate in meetings with high-level officials, contribute to congressional testimony and organize briefings attended by scholars, journalists and government officials,” according to the endowment’s website.
Revkin said in an e-mail that she would be interested in being part of the Middle East Program’s work in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Yemen. The fellowship starts on August 1 of this year and ends on the same date the next year.
“She was an exceptional scholar while here,” Mandos said. “Mara has always been exceptionally articulate, knowledgeable and engaging.”
Revkin was an honors major in political science with minors in sociology/anthropology and Arabic. She also was Editor-in-Chief of The Phoenix.
Political Science Professor Carol Nackenoff taught Revkin in an honors seminar in constitutional law. “She was an absolutely outstanding student and a tireless and thorough worker … I admire her not only for her academics, but also for her imagination, energy [and] mettle.” Nackenoff follows Revkin’s Oman blog.
Niklas Hultin, visiting assistant professor of sociology and anthropology, worked closely with Revkin because he shared her thematic interests. Hultin echoed Nackenoff.
“She was really an excellent student and I am not at all surprised that the Carnegie Fellowship saw her remarkable potential,” he said in an e-mail.