2016-2017 Malta Cohort

Daniel Altman has a BA in Anthropology from Wheaton College in Massachusetts with a focus on the Middle East. This degree culminated in a thesis titled: "The Environment as a Shared Resource Enemy, and Mediator in Levantine Conflict". The research explored the hazards and potential for environmentally inclined negotiations in the Levant. During the Summer of 2014 he held a video production position at the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development in Jerusalem: a non-profit devoted to fostering interfaith dialogue on environmental issues facing the Middle East. Subsequently, he spent a semester at the AravaInstitute for Environmental Studies in southern Israel: the school hosted students from Israel, Palestine, and Jordan and featured a curriculum centered on Peace Studies and the environment. His facination with the region and devotion to fostering inter-cultural dialogue and reconciliation led him to Malta. Daniel hopes to get some work experience in the private sector related to human rights, environmental mediation and peacebuilding before enrolling in Law School.

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Nicole Ekvall is a Swedish speaking Finn who grew up in Belgium where she went to the European School of Brussels II. The school’s multicultural environment gave her a good insight into different cultures and perspectives which also sparked her interest in International Studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences with a concentration on International Relations from Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia. It was after her internship at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, Cyprus, that she became interested in conflict resolution. The internship focused on Peace Research, the role of Media (in general) and Peace Media when managing conflict with some reference to the Turkish-Greek conflict over Cyprus. The aim of the internship was to become more familiar with the dynamics of Cyprus and how that relates to the dynamics of the entire Mediterranean. This inspired Nicole to deepen her knowledge in the area by doing a master’s degree that incorporates diplomacy, conflict resolution and security.

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Frankie Keesee has a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Foreign Affairs with a minor in Latin American Studies from the University of Virginia.  After graduating she spent one year as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Indianapolis, where she helped a local nonprofit expand their capacity to reach under-served high school youth.  Frankie's love for travel started early, as she is the daughter of a US Army officer, and was nurtured by various trips around the US, to Honduras, and to Spain.  She hopes to unite her passion for service and her enjoyment of travel by studying conflict resolution in Malta.

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Bryce Kobayashi holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from American University's School of International Service in International Studies with a focus in Peace and Conflict Resolution. His international focus led him to study abroad in Seoul, South Korea to focus on the Korean conflict and later work for human rights in North Korea.  Upon completing his degree, he attended the Olympism 4 Humanity conference in Greece gaining experience with the sport for development field. He also served as an Americorps member with Playworks DC developing social and emotional skills through peace education principles of inclusion through healthy play with over 700 elementary aged students. His academic interests include sport as it pertains to conflict resolution and peace education, mainly in Ultimate Frisbee.  Upon completion of the program, Bryce hopes to create sport-focused peace curricula for use around the world.

 

 

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Gabriel Monterrosa Metairon was born in Jacksonville Florida, but has spent more than half of his life outside the United States. He returned to the state of Florida to acquire his B.A. in International and Area Studies from the New College of Florida. Due to his father’s military career, Gabriel's passion for travel and exploration flourished and pushed him to study abroad in Jerusalem for his fall semester during his junior year at New College. This experience deepened his desire to explore the field of conflict resolution as well as that of Security. Furthermore, his multicultural heritage, French mother and first generation Salvadorian immigrant father, has classified him into a strange category known as "third culture kid," meaning that he identifies more with being a human rather than belonging to a certain nationality, religion, or ethnicity. He plans to incorporate everything he learns through this program into his future career as a criminal investigator specializing in human trafficking and organized crime

 

 

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Irina Morrow was born in Russia. At the age of nine, along with her brother, she was adopted by an American family. Irina graduated from Duquesne University with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations. While she was pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree, Irina had the opportunity to live and work in Nairobi, Kenya. While in Kenya, she spent time working for the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development. Irina also had the opportunity to spend some time in Rwanda and visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The time spent in Africa inspired Irina to pursue her interest in conflict resolution and mitigation. Irina is grateful that she has the opportunity to study in Malta under the direction of exemplary professors from George Mason University and from the University of Malta and looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the impact of conflict and ways by which it can be resolved.

 

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Ian Nutter is a consummately curious individual. Throughout his many disparate interests, a common thread can be found: the striving to understand the complex interactions that define what it is to live in a global society. His first intellectual love was the field of History, and this love provides the context for that search for Understanding. Recognizing that the world is a much bigger place than one country, he has always been fascinated by all things international. To that end, while pursuing a BA in German and a minor in Business at Christopher Newport University, he studied for a year in Salzburg, Austria and after graduating taught English for BridgeEnglish in Santiago, Chile. Although, both of these experiences were extremely personally enriching, he also gained greater insight into the nature in which different states relate. In many ways, it is these experiences that led him to the field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution; by living abroad he was able to step away from the narrative he had grown up immersed in, and was able to hear those that define the worldview of others. This was an important lesson, though simply a lived reiteration of what he and many others grow up hearing: there are always two sides to a conflict, and usually neither has full capital of being in the right. Most recently he served as Registrar for the 2015 World Police & Fire Games in Fairfax, Virginia, working directly with first responders/athletes from over 70 countries. Though Ian’s interests may shift as he moves through University of Malta’s Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC)/George Mason University’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution dual degree program, he is currently interested in exploring the role of climate change on conflict, as well as the role New Media plays in conflict.

 

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Jessie Rosatti has a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies: Global Justice and Policy with a minor in Humanitarian Affairs from James Madison University. She is interested in restorative and social justice, the role of gender in conflict, and post-conflict recovery. In the past, she has volunteered with the Refugee Resettlement Office in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence. She also has worked with the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery, assisting with projects for communities that have been affected by the repercussions of violent conflict and war, specifically, ones in which explosive remnants of war continue to pose a threat. Travel, study, and work in over 25 countries has helped her gain greater cross-cultural understanding which she hopes to use in her future profession.

 

 

 

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Laurel Stark has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and a minor in Religious Studies from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. While at UVic, her global interests and love of exploring encouraged her to spend a Semester at Sea, visiting 17 countries and addressing various community and country-specific issues in the floating classroom and on land. After graduation, Laurel spent some time in Uganda, working with In Movement: Art for Social Change, a small NGO focused on youth empowerment through arts education, before returning to her hometown, Juneau, Alaska where she worked as a Legislative Aide for a State Representative.