Matin Mirramezani

I’m a rising senior majoring in economics and minoring in Iranian Studies. Over the summer, I worked with the Carnegie Senior Fellow, Karim Sadjadpour on radicalism in the Middle East. My work focused on the relationship between sexuality and radicalism to get a better understanding of how sexuality has been utilized as a tool for perpetuating extremism in the region. This was a great experience since I got the opportunity to work closely with an insightful researcher at a global think tank on a topic that I was interested in but had much to learn about. Furthermore, this internship taught me how to be a better researcher, especially through extensive qualitative research and exploring primary sources. One of my main goals for this summer was to get a better understanding of how a think tank works. Fortunately, I was able to get a better sense of this type of work. This is very valuable to me and I will pursue this type of opportunity later when I graduate. Beyond the critical perspective and career insight that I gained from this internship, I also learned how to work more independently in a remote setting. This experience has been tremendously helpful to my growth as an individual, as a researcher, and as a prospective candidate for opportunities in foreign relations and especially in the think tank world.