Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Research Interests: U.S. foreign policy in MENA, North African politics, civil-military relations, and security cooperation

Aleia graduated from the University of Chicago in 2014 with a B.A. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. During her undergraduate career, she undertook intensive Arabic study in the region, spending a semester in Cairo, Egypt, and a year in Rabat, Morocco as a Boren Scholar. After graduating, Aleia returned to Morocco to teach English at the American Language Center in Tangier. She currently works with the U.S. Department of Defense, where she supports initiatives that promote study abroad and critical language and culture acquisition.