Alena Bartoli

Middle East Course Director, Silk Road Instructor

BA, Geology & Geophysics/International Studies, Yale University; MA, International Studies, Uppsala University. 

 

Alena had a bi-coastal upbringing in Santa Cruz, CA and Northampton, MA and spent time in college working in Armenia and studying in Italy.  Since completion of her undergraduate degree, Alena has lived, worked, taught and studied in Australia, the US, China, Jordan and Sweden. 

 

Exploration has always been a significant part of Alena's life, whether following the neighborhood stream to its source as a child in California, studying the politics of identity as a graduate student in Sweden or climbing into Lawrence of Arabia's old well in Azraq castle in Jordan's Eastern Desert.  Alena has directed the college advising program at King's Academy, a boarding school in Jordan affiliated with Deerfield Academy, her high-school alma mater. 

 

In her new role as course director for Dragons Jordan and Syria summer program, Alena is thrilled to introduce Dragons students to the complexities of the contemporary Middle East.

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