Department of Anthropology doctoral student Marwa Bakabas is featured as the Diversity Torch in this month’s College of Social Science Diversity Matters recognizing Arab American Heritage Month. Arab American Heritage Month commemorates the contributions of Arab Americans to American life and their struggles to receive full protections as American citizens. The College of Social Science Diversity Torches celebrate students who uphold a diversity value or ideal. As “Diversity Torches,” they provide light, guidance, and awareness to their fellow students and all who see them.

Marwa Bakabas is a PhD student in sociocultural Anthropology whose work centers on violence, forced migration, exile, and trauma in the Arab world. “Working with faculty advisor Dr. Mara Leichtman, whose research focuses on humanitarian work in the Middle East and Africa, Marwa is a sociocultural anthropologist studying the displacement of Yemeni refugees. For Marwa, the decision to start a PhD was a difficult one – but the community she found at MSU helped her pursue her passion project…” Click here to read the full feature