I was born and raised in Danville, California, a suburb of San Francisco as the youngest of three girls. During my childhood, I was always interested in science and eventually attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor as a chemistry major with aspirations to obtain a PhD in Chemistry. However, after my junior year abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, my career goals changed. Instead, I realized I wanted to work in low-income countries promoting public health. As first step, I worked in South Africa for a year developing HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs aimed at youth and young adults. This experience helped me realize that I needed further education. Consequently, the following year I commenced my Masters of Public Health program at the Yale Dept. of Epidemiology and Public Health, concentrating in Global Health. For my internship, I spent a summer in Kampala, Uganda defining best practices for HIV/AIDS NGOs. My current interest and the focus of my Master's thesis is the use of community-based health insurance schemes to improve access to health care for the poor in low-income countries.
The Middle East is often described as having three heritages: the Muslim, the Christian and the Judeo. The three religions are linked historically to Abraham and share the similar basic tenets regarding the worship of GOD. However, the religions have divided rather than united and have produced a lot of distrust between the people of the Middle East, especially between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world. America’s predominately Christian population, its War on Terror,” and pro-Israel politics has lead to its inclusion in the web of distrust and bitterness in the Middle East. This has resulted in stereotyping and generalizations by both groups, Americans and the Muslim world. While Americans are painted the picture of Muslim culture as oppressive and dictatorial, Muslim world has painted Americans as immoral and selfish. As the “War on Terrorism” progresses, the stereotypes will grow stronger as cultural differences will be exacerbated. Now more than ever, there is a need for cultural exchange between the US and the Muslim world, especially Saudi Arabia.
However, Americans on a cultural exchange often can reinforce stereotypes rather than break them down. Thus, the Americans involved in the cultural exchange need to well traveled themselves, open and accommodating to new cultures, and be able to explain the American culture to others. Given these criteria, I am a well-suited candidate to be an ambassador of American culture in Saudi Arabia. I have traveled to more than 25 countries and lived in South African for over a year. These experiences have taught me how to be sensitive and adaptive to a wide variety of cultures and geographies. Furthermore, many conversations and interactions with non-Americans have forced me to critically evaluate my own culture so that I could describe it to others. Given the stark contrast between Saudi Arabian culture and American, it is vital that our ambassadors be able to analyze their own culture to find a common ground with those in Saudi Arabia. Our ambassadors must be able to find a commonality in the cultures and explore them with those in Saudi Arabia to promote a greater understanding of our shared religious heritage- I feel that my background enables me to do this.
Email: laura.harley@yale.edu