Jasmine Karkafi graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in global studies and a specialization in peace and conflict studies. She studied French and Spanish throughout her undergraduate years and spent a semester abroad at Sciences Po Paris, where she studied Franco-Arab relations. Following graduation, Jasmine spent a year working as a paralegal in Los Angeles before relocating to Amman, Jordan for full-time, intensive study of Modern Standard Arabic. There, she volunteered weekly with the Collateral Repair Project (CRP), teaching English and professional development to refugees from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and local underrepresented youth. She spent the following summer in Beirut as a journalist for Agenda Culturel, reporting on Lebanon’s art and cultural scene and working with the Lebanese Ministry of Culture to host nation-wide cultural events.
Last year, Jasmine moved to Washington, DC, where she completed a year of graduate study in Middle East studies and economics at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. This past summer, she interned at UNESCO headquarters in Paris with the Lebanese Delegation, while also conducting research for her professor on technology and authoritarianism in the Middle East, work situated at the intersection of two of her core interests: the ethical implications of emerging technology and AI, and the evolving landscape of governance and human rights in the Middle East region. She has spent the past ten months working part-time at the Embassy of Lebanon in Washington, DC, and will continue working during her time at Georgetown University.
Jasmine’s research interests lie at the intersection of economics, technology, and diplomacy in the Middle East.