Event information
Resisting Scholasticide: Insights from the Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship
Venue – Online. Information on how to attend can be found in the order confirmation email
Registration - Sign up for this event on the Eventbrite page.
About the event
This event is part of the School of Education's Bristol Conversations in Education research seminar series. These seminars are free and open to the public.
Host: Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE)
Speakers:
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Dr Nazmi Al-Masri (Islamic University of Gaza)
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Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina (Al Aqsa University)
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Dr Munawwar Najim (Islamic University of Gaza)
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Prof Magdy S. Aqel (Islamic University of Gaza)
Resisting Scholasticide: Insights from the Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship
This seminar critically examines scholasticide in Gaza through the research of three leading Gazan education scholars in the inaugural cohort of the Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship (GERVF). Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina, Dr Munawwar Najim, and Prof Magdy Aqel will share insights from their research conducted during the Fellowship on the ongoing scholasticide in Gaza. The Fellows will also share reflections on the GERVF and ways it could be adapted and replicated in other universities.
About the GERVF: Grounded in principles of solidarity and academic partnership, the GERVF is a collaborative initiative between the Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE) at the University of Bristol, the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), Al-Aqsa University, and Al-Azhar University. The fellowship provides Gaza-based scholars with virtual access to research resources, networking, and professional development and supports them in continuing their vital work and research.
Speaker details
Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina
Dr Ahmed Kamal Junina is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and Head of the English Department at Al-Aqsa University, Gaza. His research focuses on language education in conflict zones, critical pedagogy, academic literacies, and translanguaging. He has published and presented widely on virtual education under siege, including recent work on the resilience of Palestinian students and educators during wartime. His current project, Knowlash and the Crisis of Learning, explores how students and educators in Gaza sustain virtual higher education amid efforts to suppress liberatory knowledge-building processes, a phenomenon he terms Knowlash, defined as the deliberate obstruction or destruction of liberatory knowledge-building, particularly in contexts of war and systemic violence. He is dedicated to advancing educational justice through scholarship and collaboration.
Professor Magdy S. Aqel
Prof. Magdy S. Aqel holds a PhD degree in Instructional Technology-eLearning from Ein Shams University, Egypt, which he earned with a scholarship from UNISECO by 2010. He currently works as a full professor at the Faculty of Education at the Islamic University of Gaza. Prof. Magdy previously worked as a computer teacher at UNRWA and the Ministry of Education (MOE) Palestine from 2006-2008. He has also been trained in courses in Finland and Germany in the use of modern teaching strategies. Prof. Magdy is interested in AI education, augmented reality in education, virtual learning environments, flipped classrooms. and adaptive learning. He is also interested in STEAM learning, learning math and science using technology, using simulation in math and science, and he works as a supervisor for master and doctoral theses on employing technology in math and science.
Dr. Munawwar Najim
Dr. Munawwar Najim is an Associate Professor of Education at the Islamic University of Gaza, specialising in gender studies, crisis education, and the socio-political impacts of conflict on Palestinian women. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Damascus and has led major academic and administrative initiative. During the 2023 Gaza war, she oversaw education for 2,200+ displaced students. She is also a consultant at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Director of IUG Schools. Dr. Najim has co-authored over 40 publications and supervised around 50 MA and PhD theses.