Meet the MURFs: Carma Ghorab

Carma Ghorab is a member of the Class of 2028 in the School of Foreign Service, intending to major in International Political Economy. As a MURF, Carma works with Professor Rochelle Davis, researching the social history of Jerusalem before 1948 through reading oral interviews conducted in the 1990s-2000s. Outside of MURF, Carma serves as a Resident Assistant for Arrupe Hall.

Tell us about a research project you worked on as a MURF

This year, I have been assisting my faculty mentor with a research project into the social history of Jerusalem before 1948. My faculty mentor had conducted interviews in the 1990s-2000s with Palestinian Jerusalemites whose families had lived in Jerusalem before 1948 but were later displaced after 1948. As I was reading through the interview transcripts, I started to make a potential coding system by taking note of themes that came up, such as education, socioeconomic class, finances, gender, Arab-Jewish relations, and politics in Jerusalem. The hope for this project was to potentially connect with children and/or grandchildren of the people interviewed and tie in themes from the interviews with contemporary events and experiences today.

What was one thing you learned as a MURF that surprised you?

One thing that surprised me was that I learned a lot more about how to do comprehensive literature research by utilizing resources that I hadn’t explored before. For example, when I was researching existent literature on Jerusalem before 1948 and I couldn’t find free access to specific books online, I had to find those books at Lauinger Library. This helped me learn more about the library system at Georgetown, and how to utilize the resources there to help me find what I was looking for.

What is one memory that stands out to you from your participation in the MURF program so far?

The MURF Symposium last spring. I was so fascinated by all the different research projects presented, from senior MURFs independent research projects to sophomore MURFs research assistantship projects. It was so cool to listen to the senior MURFs’ presentations and see the final product of their research project and fellowship. Hearing about why they were drawn to the topics they eventually pursued, and what they were able to do with that topic definitely gave me a lot to think about, especially as I start planning for my own independent research project in the future.

What do you enjoy doing outside of the MURF program?

Playing the flute, practicing calligraphy, reading, and hanging out with friends!