Student Highlight: Kirk Galster
Hometown: Clinton, Iowa
Semester in MIAGE: Third
Languages: Arabic, English
Favorite course: Economics of Multinational Firms with Dr. Reynolds
After serving three years active duty in the U.S. Army as an infantrymen, Kirk received his BA in Political Science and a secondary major of International Studies with an emphasis in Middle East and North African conflict. He joined the Iowa Army National Guard in 2008 and was trained as a satellite imagery analyst. During active duty, he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005-06, and during his guard service he completed a tour to Afghanistan in 2010-11.He completed a semester abroad in Amman, Jordan in the fall of 2012 which focused on language acquisition and Arab-Israeli politics. Kirk has taken two years of Modern Standard Arabic and is currently in his third year under the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship. His plans to pursue a career in international business development utilizing foreign investment and microfinance and focusing on conflict reduction and counter-terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa.