Before entering college, Miriam Keep had never studied Arabic or been outside of the United States. Four years, three study abroad programs and multiple scholarships later, Keep leaves DePaul as a Fulbright scholar with degrees in international studies and Arabic.

This fall, she will depart for a 9-month stay in Meknes, Morocco, to study the impact of the country’s “Cities without Slums” initiative.

The Fulbright program is a government-funded and highly competitive merit-based grant for international exchange. Keep’s academic advisors were instrumental in navigating the application process.

Her first advisor, assistant professor Kaveh Ehsani, stimulated her initial curiosity in the Middle East while geography associate professor Maureen Sioh went a step further to make sure Keep could turn her interest into action.

“I first contacted professor Sioh in order to obtain a letter of recommendation. She ended up sending me a list of suggestions to make my Fulbright statement of purpose successful, without even asking. That was huge for me,” Keep said.

Fulbright offers 12 grants nationwide for study and research in Morocco. Keep was chosen out of 61 applicants and will pursue independent research conducted through a series of interviews. She also hopes to continue studying Arabic.

Her junior year abroad as a Boren scholar in Amman, Jordan, was the turning point for Keep’s interest in the Arabic speaking world. It also pushed her to step outside her comfort zone. Jordanians, including her host family, spoke a different dialect of Arabic than what was taught in school.

At first, she didn’t understand what they were saying. “But once I advanced in the language classes, I could better understand their conversations. I never realized how funny my host family was.”

They also taught her the value of nurturing relationships. Rather than retreating to her room after school to do homework and relax alone, family members in Jordan passed time together in the living room.

“I had to force myself to come out of my room and watch the soap operas. It was the start of a great bonding experience. So this year, my friendships have become a lot more important to me,” she said.

Her newfound confidence and appreciation for friendships led her to meet with several Fulbright scholars in Amman who served as the inspiration for developing her own research project.

Keep went abroad once more in summer 2013 with the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco. It was then when she saw a great disparity in Meknes’ neighborhoods, which eventually became the subject for her research proposal.

“Moroccan cities are really fascinating for a lot of different reasons. There was this divide between the colonial cities and the medina. The Moroccan upper class now lives in the colonial cities, which the French built and left behind. I was living in the medina, which is the ancient Moroccan city, with my host family. So, I came back and spent this year learning a lot about how this division happened,” she said.

Keep returned to DePaul and took an in-depth look at this question with the entire department’s help. “International studies is a major where the professors take a lot of strong interest in their students, give a lot of feedback on assignments, and are really passionate about the material they’re teaching. Also, the students are really supportive. I know this encouraged me to even think that it’s a possibility to apply to things like Fulbright,” Keep said.

After completion of her Fulbright research, Keep plans to pursue a master’s degree in urban planning beginning fall 2015.

Written by Stephanie Goldina

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