Elizabeth Leoce is a Master of Arts Candidate in the United Nations and Global Policy Studies (UNMA) program in Political Science at Rutgers University, concentrating in Conflict Resolution, Counterterrorism, and Cybersecurity. She is interested in using diplomacy, intelligence, and language as a driving force to fight injustices and inequality in the MENA region, specifically focusing on those most vulnerable to authoritarian regime pressures and global terrorist threats. She started the UNMA program in the Fall of 2021 and anticipates graduating in the Spring of 2023. Hoping to study abroad before graduating, and possibly earn a PhD, she plans to pursue a career towards implementing U.S. foreign policy and developmental assistance, further leading to a long-term position in one of the federal government agencies.
Elizabeth graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University New Brunswick in May 2021, where she majored in Criminal Justice, Psychology and minored in the Arabic language. Her undergraduate coursework focused on the criminal justice system and the psychology of behavior behind those most vulnerable to the U.S. prison system. She also focused her research skills on the MENA region, specifically Iran and Iraq. Through her classes, she found her passion for language studies through Arabic and hopes to continue learning and growing her skills. She is also currently studying Persian (Farsi) in-between her graduate courses.
Outside the classroom, Elizabeth is an active member in the Palestine Children's Relief Fund as a fundraising volunteer and participates in outreach, research, and writing emails for the Students for Justice in Palestine organization – as the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict persists.
She hopes to use her knowledge of language to pursue travel and overseas work to gain cultural experiences that cannot be found within our borders. Elizabeth seeks to keep pursuing research, as her own blog on foreign affairs and relations is currently in progress.
