Dina Dara Meran is completing her senior year at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. She will graduate as an international studies major and a journalism minor. She was born and raised in the capital city of the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government), Erbil, and speaks Kurdish, English, Turkish, and Arabic. She has a special interest in how the attitude toward nationalism changes, and doesn’t, over time in classical and contemporary Kurdish poetry. Beyond her academic pursuits, she is an avid mountaineer.