Poralla, Lea

I am currently working as a student assistant on the ERC project “MAJLIS: The Transformation of Jewish Literature in Arabic in the Islamicate World” at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), Munich. I began studying Middle Eastern studies and Islamic science at the University of Hamburg in 2016 and decided to resume my bachelor’s degree at LMU. I have always been very fond of learning new languages and after a student exchange to Israel in high school I decided I wanted to learn Hebrew and Arabic and learn more about the Middle East.

After I finished school, I lived in Poland for a year and worked as a volunteer at the International Youth Meeting Centre Oświęcim near the Auschwitz Memorial. Then I began my degree in Middle Eastern studies, with my primary focus on Arabic and the history, culture, and politics of the Middle East, at the Asien-Afrika-Institut at the Universität Hamburg. There I also worked as a student assistant at the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies (MCAS), where my job was mostly focused on organizational tasks.

Eventually I moved back to Munich to finish my studies here, and started taking Hebrew lessons and working again as a student assistant. I enjoy learning new languages very much and love making connections between them. Also, I am interested in the more recent history as well as the politics of the Middle East. After finishing my bachelor’s degree, I am planning to undertake a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies or do a second bachelor’s degree in social work.