
Dr Basma Hajir
BA, MA, MPhil, PhD
Current positions
Lecturer
School of Education
Contact
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Research interests
Basma holds a PhD in Education and International Development from the University of Cambridge and two distinction-level master’s degrees in Education from the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham.
Grounded in decolonial thinking, her scholarly pursuits span areas in Education in Conflict settings and Emergencies, and education for recovery and social justice. Throughout her engagements in these areas, she has explored, researched and published on a range of cross-cutting themes (Scholasticide in Gaza and beyond, education for peacebuilding, research ethics, cognitive justice, decolonial pedagogies, refugee education, virtual reality & moral education, gender-based violence and students’ wellbeing).
At Bristol, Basma serves as the co-director of Centre for Comparative and International Research in Education (CIRE). She teaches two undergraduate courses; Education and Social Change, and Researching Education in the City. She's also the director and teacher of the Master's unit; Education, Conflict, Peace, and Justice (Policy and International Development pathway).
Basma's doctoral research raised questions about the role of a university in contexts of conflict and its potential contribution to post-conflict recovery. Nominated and voted unanimously by members of staff at the Faculty of Education at Cambridge, she received the 2022 Doctoral Student Excellence Award for her publication record and the impact of her research.
Basma approaches the Education and International Development field both as a scholar and a practitioner. She worked in various roles within schools, academic institutions, and international educational NGOs, where she has provided consultancy services among other capacities. Before joining Bristol, she served as a Lecturer at the University of Bath, a Teaching Assistant at the University of Cambridge, and a Teaching Fellow at the University of Birmingham.
Research Interests:
- Education in conflict-affected settings and emergencies
- Inclusive Equitable Education
- Refugee Education
- Education, social movements, social change
- Education and settler-colonialism (with a particular interest in the Palestinian context)
- HE virtual fellowships and transnational partnerships
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Educationalists for Palestine Network: Building Academic Solidarity Against Scholasticide
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of EducationDates
01/08/2025 to 01/03/2027
Gaza Education Research Virtual Fellowship
Principal Investigator
Description
The GERVF is developed in collaboration with the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza (including representatives from IUG, Al-Aqsa, and Al-Azhar Universities) and draws on a model of support outlined…Managing organisational unit
School of EducationDates
01/10/2024 to 01/11/2025
Publications
Recent publications
28/09/2025Scholasticidal Tendencies: Notes on Academia During Genocide
Palestine and the Western Academe
A Historic Opportunity: The role of Higher Education in Syria’s Post-Dictatorship
Virtual fellowships as ‘material solidarity’ against scholasticide - Part 1
Virtual fellowships as ‘material solidarity’ against scholasticide, part 2
Academia in a time of genocide
Globalisation, Societies and Education
Thesis
Higher Education and Peacebuilding in Syria: Youths’ Voices in a Critical Realist De-Colonial Enquiry
Supervisors
Award date
01/01/2023