Event Details:

Learn about the cross-cultural community and environmental studies at the Arava Institute, a leading environmental studies and research institute in the Middle East, where students from Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and around the world come together to collaborate on environmental solutions. Our speakers are alumni of the Arava Institute. 

Eve Tendler was born in Tel Aviv to parents of Israeli and German citizenship. She studied at the Arava Institute from 2016-2017 while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at Ben Gurion University Before the Arava Institute, Eve lived in Nepal, teaching English and assisting in village rehabilitation after the Nepali earthquake of 2015. She completed her mandatory military service in the Education Unit of the Israel Defense Force, managing an after-school program for at-risk children of different backgrounds. She is currently involved with Women Wage Peace, which promotes peace in the region.

Shadi Shiha is a spring 2017 alumnus of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and currently lives in Amman, Jordan. He graduated with a degree in Autotronics Engineering from Khawarizmi College in 2015. He was born to a Palestinian family in Amman - his parents were born in Palestine under the British Mandate, but relocated in 1967 to Kuwait and ultimately traveled to Amman as refugees during the Gulf War. Shadi works as a dance instructor for children, including at a camp for orphans where he taught dance lessons from 2011-2014, and has also spent time working as an English translator. 

Sponsered by the Asian Studies Center, Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, College of Arts and Letters, James Madison College, Jewish Studies Program, Lyman Briggs College, Muslim Studies Program, and the  Science Technology, and Public Policy Program.