Education Research in Conflict and Crisis – British Academy Bilateral Research Chair

About the programme

The fellowship is part of a British Academy Bilateral Chair programme on Education in Conflict entitled “Unpacking the industry of refugee education and research: towards equitable theory and practice” at the Centre for Lebanese Studies and the Faculty of Education, at University of Cambridge. The fellow will work with the BA bilateral chair Maha Shuayb and co-PI Mai Abu-Moghli. The objectives for the chair programme are the following:

1. Strengthen and widen research opportunities for early career scholars and researchers focused on education in emergency and conflict;
2. Foster dialogue and collaborations between research institutions in the global north and south around equitable and critical education in conflict-affected societies.

Create platforms for dialogue between scholars, policy-makers, and practitioners locally, regionally and internationally around education of refugee and vulnerable children in conflict-affected societies.

In order to achieve the above objectives, we will conduct the following activities .

1. Establish a research fellowship programme focused on encouraging a critical lens on education in conflict-affected societies.
2. Run two summer schools on education in conflict:  early and mid-career academics and researchers from Jordan, Lebanon and the UK will come together over a week in a summer school focus on education in conflict- affected societies. The main objective of the summer school is to engage in a critical examination of the field including: the rhetoric of education of refugees, decolonising education in emergencies and conflict-affected societies, research ethics, equitable knowledge production and alternative research methods and approaches to become publicly engaged academics. During these summer schools, the participants will work closely with refugee communities, have opportunities to engage with grass-roots initiatives and organisations and debate openly with policy-makers and university professors from various backgrounds. They will also be supported to produce written material such as blogs and op-eds as well as videos and podcasts.
3. Establish a mentorship programme: early and mid-career academics and researchers participating in the summer school will be paired with experienced critical academics from Lebanon, Jordan and the UK to exchange knowledge and experiences, co-author articles and work towards equitable approaches to knowledge production and publicly engaged academics in both countries and their respective institutions. Additionally, we will encourage the fellows to produce not only peer-reviewed written pieces but also more engaging and easily accessible outputs which, such as educational videos about their research and podcast series in both Arabic and English.

4-  Offer research placements: Research placements for junior researchers at the Centre will be offered in order to provide them with opportunities to further develop and contribute their knowledge.

5. Establish a Refugee Education Hub for Research, Policy and Action with members from various sectors and stakeholders with three main objectives: The appointed fellow is expected to contribute and actively engage with the above activities.

The fellowship

As part of the Education Research in Conflict and Crisis – British Academy Bilateral Research Chair, this fellowship would support the programme in conducting research and producing various types of knowledge(s) on topics related to:

• Power Dynamic in knowledge production: research, academic and alternative mediums
• Dynamics in devising policy related to education in crisis
• Critically engaging with the idea of refugee education and education in conflict/crisis
• (De) (anti) colonial Research Ethics
• (De) (anti) colonial epistemologies
• Utilising theories from the global south
• Role of teachers beyond the institution
• Reversing the gaze and deconstructing white privilege
• Decolonising higher education in the global north and global south (focus on education faculties) 
• Challenges and barriers to epistemic justice
• Imaginaries of transformative education
• Models from/of informal/non-formal emancipatory/liberatory education

The fellow will be working on one or more of the above listed themes.

The fellow will also be working with the programme team on:

• Organising global and regional conferences (both virtual and in person)
• Publishing academic/peer-reviewed articles
• Publishing blogs and producing other forms of knowledge through various mediums such as podcasts, art work, photography etc.
• Organising seminars and webinars related to the above listed themes.
• Supporting the programme team in conducting a summer school related to the above listed themes.
• Contribute to mentoring early career scholars and researchers.

This is a one-year fulltime fellowship (1 October 2022- 31 September 2023). The fellow will be hired by the Centre for Lebanese Studies.  The selected fellow will be expected to travel to Lebanon or the UK for the relevant activities. All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the programme.

Eligibility Criteria

Holder of a PhD or in their last year of a PhD programme. Their PhD focus to be on Education and/or refugee studies or relevant fields;

Be based either in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.

Knowledge, Skills and commitment

• Have knowledge of critical pedagogies, alternative research ethics and global south epistemologies
• Committed to centering knowledge from the global south and marginalised epistemologies
• Have knowledge and experience in alternative and critical research and teaching methods
• Committed to equity, diversity and justice in and through education
• Have experience in working on and utilising critical research methodology including research ethics
• Have knowledge and experience in themes and actions related to decolonising the curricula, higher education and education research.
• Languages: Fluency in English and the main language of the context they are working in  are required. Other languages are a plus. 

Expected outputs

By the end of the fellowship, the fellow is expected to have:

•  (Co)published three blog posts either on CLS related online platforms or other platforms (in English, Arabic or other languages)
• Published at least one or have a peer-reviewed article approved in an academic journal
• Co-authored a peer-reviewed article with the programme team members
• Contributed to at least two podcasts
• Supported the team with the content and facilitation of the summer school
• Supported the team with their social media content
• Supported the team in organising one conference
• Organised and facilitated two webinars or seminars

Remunerations

Overall amount of: £28,000 to be paid over 12 months.

A travel and accommodation bursary to attend the summer school and programme activities will be provided.

The fellow will be affiliated to the Centre for Lebanese Studies at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge and at the Lebanese American University.

CLS will facilitate the visiting visa application to the UK when needed.

The payments are conditional to the delivery of the outputs listed above.

The fellow will be working directly with the Bilateral Chair Maha Shuayb and  Co-PI Mai Abu Moghli.