- Convenors:
-
Susannah Pickering-Saqqa
(University of East London)
Emanuela Girei (Liverpool John Moores University)
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- Chair:
-
Bassem Abudagga
(York St John University Al-Azhar University Gaza)
- Discussants:
-
Ahmed Abu Shaban
(York University)
Nazmi Al-Masri (The Islamic University of Gaza)
Ahmed Junina (Al-Aqsa University, Gaza, Palestine)
Mohammedwesam A Amer
- Format:
- Experimental format
- Stream:
- Conflict, crisis and humanitarianism
Short Abstract
This workshop, involving academics and activists working in higher education in Palestine and the UK, focuses on building relationships for the long-term work of rebuilding and reimagining higher education in Gaza.
Description
Supporting Gaza’s higher education institutions is key to maintaining societal resilience and recovery, even in the most devastating conditions. Academics and students have shown that teaching and learning are still possible, even when classrooms are lost and campuses lie in ruins, reminding us that education in Gaza has never been a passive act, but one of resistance and reconstruction.
In Palestine, universities are more than just places to learn; they anchor community cohesion, research, and the development of the future workforce. Strengthening these institutions is both a humanitarian and developmental task. It ensures the ongoing production and sharing of knowledge, professional training, and civic life during times of crisis, redefining higher education’s role in promoting recovery and development in post-war Gaza.
In this context, the workshop explores and advances understandings of international partnerships and collaborations in the rebuilding of higher education in Gaza, emphasising equity, agency, and local knowledge sovereignty. It builds on previous work (DSA 2025), centering the voices, priorities and strategies of academic colleagues in Gaza. It is grounded in the idea that partnering with Gaza higher education “must be rooted in principles of equity, respect, and non-extraction” (FOBZU, 2025:23).
The workshop explores whether and how these principles are enacted in existing initiatives and what can be done to strengthen and amplify them. It is organised in two sessions (1.5 hrs each), involving colleagues in Gaza and the UK (incl. Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship & Architects4Gaza) who are involved in past and ongoing collaborative initiatives.