Alberto Gimenez (Lebanon)

Alberto is a student in the dual-degree program between Columbia College, where he focuses on Middle Eastern history, and Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where he studies international security policy and international conflict resolution. His study-abroad experience has been focused primarily in the Middle East, including a semester in Turkey and summer programs in Jordan, Oman, and Morocco. He considers his most meaningful experience to date to have been the three months that he spent in Nepal volunteering for an NGO to support post-earthquake reconstruction efforts. This summer he will be a graduate student intern with the Lebanese NGO Peace Labs, working on projects and activities supporting local peacebuilding and mediation efforts in North Lebanon. After spending 10 weeks with Peace Labs, Alberto returned with an understanding that, "Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." -Albert Einstein.