Student Spotlight: Rama Alhabian
March 11, 2019
Rama Alhabian is a doctoral student in near eastern studies from Hammah, Syria. After studying at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia as an undergrad, she chose to pursue graduate study at Cornell because of its variety of academic programs.
What is your area of research and why is it important?
I work on Arabic literature in the 19th century, a time period that witnessed Arab intellectuals’ travel to Europe and was therefore important for the development of modern Arabic literature. I’m do so mainly by looking at three big questions: travel, genre, and translation.
What inspired you to choose this field of study?
Although I earned my first graduate degree in English and Anglophone literatures, I had always been meaning to “return” to Arabic literature after being exposed to literatures from different parts of the world.
What have you gained by participating in the NextGen Professors Program?
I have gained more confidence in sharing my personal views and challenges in academia with other graduate and professional students and learned a lot from their views and experiences. Moreover, the program raised my awareness about different opportunities and resources for personal and academic developments, both at Cornell and beyond.