Tariq Kenney-Shawa was a graduate research fellow for the Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute for the 2021-22 academic year. The fellowship is made possible through a grant by the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
While a graduate fellow at MEI, Tariq completed his Masters in International Affairs at Columbia University, where he studied conflict resolution, international security, and journalism. During his time as a graduate student he also consulted for The New York Times, researching far-right extremism and threats posed to journalists. Before that, Tariq worked at a security consulting firm based in New York City, where he covered conflict developments across the Middle East and North Africa. As a Palestinian-American, Tariq hopes to pursue a career that contributes to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and equal rights and influences US foreign policy. In his free time, he is an avid street and travel photographer.