Samyah Alfoory
Former Research Associate
Samyah Alfoory is a former research associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Samyah Alfoory graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree in Arab Studies, concentrating on the Gulf and gender. Her past research includes a project for the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security in which she examined women’s agency in the Bahraini uprisings of 2011, a project which examined military expenditures in the Arab Gulf as they relate to post-Arab Spring political developments for BAE Systems, and field research conducted in Kuwait among second-generation migrants which focused on citizenship and gender and how the two intersect to impact young women’s lives.
Samyah was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Kuwait from 2012 to 2013, during which she conducted extensive fieldwork to examine women’s groups and activism within the opposition movement. She obtained her bachelors’ degree from Colorado State University in Political Science. She has previously worked as a news writer, translator, and a freelance journalist.
Analysis
Feedwise: Nourishing Society in Kuwait
Asked to describe Feedwise’s mission in a sentence, one of the organization’s founders, Taibah Al Mansour, says, “We nourish society.” Made up of a core group of 25 Kuwaiti youth, including Taibah and her co-founders Ali Burhaama and Shahad Al-Busairi, Feedwise is attempting to tackle a variety of issues, from feeding the hungry to addressing...
Embrace Doha: Generating Cross-Cultural Dialogue in Qatar
Embrace Doha began with the simple idea that a two-way dialogue can create sustainable friendships and connections, and at the same time aid in the preservation of Qatar’s traditional identity as it undergoes intense development and transformation. Founder Amal Alshammari intends for her initiative to be a cultural resource that increases understanding between the Qatari...
Transforming Art in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province: LOUD Art and Huna Art
In 2012, Raneen Bukhari had graduated from university and was back home in Khobar in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. She wanted to expand her family’s business, an art store called Desert Designs that opened during the Gulf War, and she began trying different art community projects. One of those initiatives started with a...
Jedareyat: On a Mission to Beautify Kuwait’s Cityscape
In the cities of the Gulf states, white and unmarked walls are the standard. But in Kuwait, Jedareyat is doing something unusual and innovative: organizing local artists to paint colorful murals on buildings around the city. Aiming to combat visual pollution in Kuwait, Jedareyat is a volunteer group founded by Sulaiman Alrodhan in early 2016. The team, which also consists of Abdulaziz Alreshoud, Hind Francis, and Ameena Almutawa, scours the city and crowdsources for dead walls and artists who can transform them into picture-worthy landmarks. AGSIW spoke with Sulaiman about how the initiative works as a medium between building owners and artists, the messages the group hopes to portray through the murals, and the strong spirit of volunteerism that runs through the team’s work.
Riyadh Writing Club: Empowering Female Writers
When Hala Abdullah started the Riyadh Writing Club with her best friend, Mashael Alblehed, in 2009, they had in mind an easy way to meet and get inspired by other writers. Six years later, the small writers’ club has blossomed into a monthly meet-up where dozens of young female writers gather to discuss writing projects...
Al Balad: Raising the Bar for Omani News
Oman’s first online newspaper, Al Balad, is run by a group of local youth: Turki Al-Balushi, Ali-Alansari, Noora Almeer, Rahma Al-Judaili, Firas Altubi, Salah Al-Balushi, Rahma Alsawafi, Talib Alabri, and Ghalib Alabri. The founding members wanted to diverge from traditional practice and bring a new flavor of independent and credible journalism to Oman. Since its...
