PhD student in Media and Information Studies
Michigan State University
Education: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY East Lansing, Michigan, USA ( fall 2012-present)
PhD student in Media and Information Studies (Dept of Advertising + Public Relations)
BOND UNIVERSITY Gold Coast, QLD, Australia (2009)
Master of Communication
(Public Relations)
JUNIATA COLLEGE Huntingdon, PA, USA (2005-2007)
Bachelor of Arts: LIBERAL ARTS
Major: International Affairs and English
ASHLAND UNIVERSITY, Ashland OH, USA (Summer, 2005)
Access Program, English as a Second Language
Human Communication (3 credit course)
SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY, Oman (2000-2004)
English Language and Literature
Credits Completed: 91
Awards: Recipient, Full Scholarship funded by the Omani government to study for a full Ph.D. degree in the United States (2012)
Recipient, Leaders for Democracy Fellowship, New York and Washington DC (March 17th- June 10th, 2012)
Recipient, First in Class Award for receiving the highest grade for Middle Eastern Global Issues (May 2008)
Recipient, Full Scholarship funded by the Omani government to study a Master degree in Australia (2008)
Recipient, PLUS Scholarship & Certificate of Achievement as an outstanding PLUS Scholar (Partnership for Learning Undergraduate Studies) sponsored by the Department of State of the USA (Summer 2005-2007)
Recipient, Certificate of Achievement for participation in the 2nd Annual Liberal Arts Symposium, (April 18, 2007)
Recipient, Certificate of Achievement for outstanding participation in U.S. Community and campus life, (Jan 27, 07)
Recipient, Certificate of Achievement for successfully completing the Seminary/Islamic Summer Program, (June 11- August 18, 2006)
Recipient, Certificate of Achievement for participation in the Second and the Third PLUS Program Washington Enrichment Seminars, (January 26-29, 2006 & January 25-28, 2007)
Recipient, Letter of Merit for outstanding achievement in LANC600 in intensive English program, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman (5th April 2001)
Skills:
LANGUAGES: Arabic: Native; English: Fluent.
Professional LECTURER, College of Applied Sciences (April 2009 – 2012)
Experience: Ministry of Higher Education, Nizwa, Oman
▪ Lecturing on Public Relations courses along with other Communication- related courses
▪ Participated in student and college events planning and execution.
▪ Coordinated courses taught in the field of PR between the 5 colleges teaching courses
BANKING EXECUTIVE TRAINEE, National Bank of Dubai (Sep 16th – Nov 20th 2008)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
▪ Trained as a banking Executive where different skills were obtained.
▪ Worked as a bank teller as part of the training program.
▪ Resignation requested after getting a full scholarship to study for Master Degree.
STUDENT ASSISTANT, Language in Motion Program (Spring 06- Spring 07)
World Languages Department, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA
▪ Taught American high school students about cultural differences and studying abroad issues
▪ Coordinated schedule for high schools in the area and the college for internationals to present their cultures
INTERN, Interfaith Worker Justice (Summer 2006)
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
▪ Educated the minority workers in New Orleans, LA about their rights after hurricane Katrina
▪ Conducted research on the mental health and workers rights violations in NOLA after Katrina
INTERN, Development Associates (Summer 2006)
Washington, DC, USA
▪ Conducted research on specific issues related to developing countries like Egypt and Columbia
▪ Assisted in the reception area and coordinated communication among employees.
STUDENT ASSISTANT, (Spring 2006)
Theatre Department, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA
▪ Assisted in creating an electronic database for all the music and video disks in the theatre department
TRANSLATOR AND NEWS EDITOR, Oman Radio FM (Summer 2004)
Ministry of Information, Muscat, Oman
▪ Assisted in translating the news (English-Arabic) coming from various news agencies
▪ Helped in editing the news in oral style for listeners
TRANSLATION TEACHER (Spring 2004)
Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khodh, Oman
▪ Taught and coordinated a translation course (English-Arabic-English) for University students with an emphasis on literary translation to Arabic
ENGLISH TEACHER, Sital Sports Team, (Summer 2003)
Al-Awabi, Oman
▪ Taught Basic English to elementary school students
Activities: Organizer, Media Committee member, 10th Student Gathering of Colleges of Applied Sciences, Oman, April 18-20, 2011
Participant, Research methodology Workshop at Institute of Public Administration, April 2-6, Muscat, Oman
Participant, “Plan Your Life” Course, January 21, 2010, Manah, Oman
Participant, Reducing Security Risks in Digital Communications Symposium, April 21st, 2009, Nizwa, Oman
Participant, Professional Etiquette Program for Business and Social Occasions in November 2007 in Dubai, UAE
Participant, Workshop on Effective Thinking, October 2007, Dubai, UAE.
Participant, Excellence at Work Workshop in September 2007 in Dubai, UAE.
Participant, Power Reading Skills Workshop in September 2007 in Dubai, UAE.
Presenter of Research, Liberal Arts Symposium on Wed, April 18, 2007 at Juniata College.
Participant, Muslim Students’ Association Central Zone Conference: Renewing Hope, Seeking God, Serving Society in March 30th-April 1st, 07 in Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.A
Minority Leaders’ Representative at Student Government, Juniata College, 06/07
Treasurer and Group Officer, Muslim Student Association Club at Juniata College from Spring 06 to Spring 07
Clubs’ member: (Sultan Qaboos University) Translation Group, English Society.
(Juniata College) Student Government, Muslim Student Association, United Spiritual, United Cultures of Juniata College, Club International, French Club, SPEAK, PAXO (Latin for peace)
VOLUNTEER, Urban Immersion Program in Washington D.C in Jan 11-15, 2006
ORGANIZER, the 5th and 8th OPEN DAY for the English Society, Sultan Qaboos University
PARTICIPANT, Translation Group’s activities since Fall 2002, Sultan Qaboos University;
TRANSLATOR, Published translations in Omani newspaper: Oman (www.omandaily.net), internet website: Ofouq (www.ofouq.com) and Translation Group website (www.transqu.net).
PARTICIPANT in translating a poetry book for Nasra Al-Adawi (Omani poet) from English into Arabic (Summer 2004)
TRANSLATOR, Published literary translations (English to Arabic) with colleagues, Sultan Qaboos University in 2005
FREELANCE TRANSLATOR (Fall 2004-present), Helped Master Program students in translating research materials from English into Arabic
Crisis Communication in Autocratic Regimes:
Image Repair Strategies during and after the Arab Spring
This study is undertaken to test the applicability of image repair theory on autocratic governments. By quantitatively content analyzing stories of response of governments in different news sources during the Arab Spring, and focusing on the strategies taken by the governments of Oman and Bahrain, the research tries to find out the most used strategies, types of news sources used to deliver those strategies and whether any other strategies will emerge during the research. It is expected that the strategies related to transparency of the government will not be used while image bolstering and transcendence will be extensively used. This study extends the theory of Image Repair to autocratic governments which adds to the current knowledge on cross-cultural comparative studies investigating the theory.