Molly

I’m a PhD candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology at UCLA whose research addresses the legacy of Lebanon’s Jewish community and their spaces post-Civil War (1975-90). Broadly, I am interested in questions of collective & nationalist narratives and memory, space/place, embodiment, and “otherness” in the body politic, particularly in the Middle East. I received my MA from New York University in Near Eastern Studies (2014) and my BA from Smith College in Religion (2012).Beyond the academy, I contribute to cultural journals and travel platforms in ways that challenge typical narratives of tourism by engaging with the complexities of places and people, demonstrating through storytelling that the cultural is always and inextricably political. I write to reveal both a common humanity and to analyze the power dynamics in travel encounters by, as the anthropological adage goes, making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.

Storytelling is kind of my thing. My skills are best put to use when helping my clients to effectively articulate their goals, structure their narratives, and find their own unique (and eloquent!) voice.