Guest Speakers
Ahlam YassinAhlam Yassin is an award-winning educator and global learning fellow with over 15 years of experience in the field of education. As a high school history teacher and debate coach, she works to inspire critical thinking and creativity in her students. Through her consulting work and international fellowships, Ahlam connects culture, community, and storytelling to empower young people to see themselves as changemakers.
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Mona MustafaMona Mustafa is a Palestinian-American educator with 11 years of teaching experience. She graduated from Rutgers University with a major in Political Science and International Affairs and a focus on Urban Education. She has worked both nationally and internationally participating in the Ramallah Friends School “I Know I Can” International Summer Academy in Ramallah, Palestine in 2022. She currently teaches Social Studies and Arabic Language and Culture at the high school level in “Little Palestine,” Paterson, New Jersey. She is a 2024 and 2025 Fellow with New York University Kevorkian Center’s Global Nomads Teacher Fellowship Program which seeks to build connections between teachers in grades 7-12 in the United States and classrooms in the Middle East. She is passionate about culturally responsive curriculum building and she believes strongly that fostering global connections can help students develop a more expansive and equitable world view.
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Mahdi SabbaghMahdi Sabbagh is a Palestinian architect, urbanist, and writer based in New York. He is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), where his research focuses on the spatial history of collective movements in Palestine during the mid-20th century. Mahdi co-curated the Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) in 2019, centered around the theme “Urban Futures: Colonial Space Today.” He has contributed to various publications, including Perspecta 50: Urban Divides (MIT Press, 2017), Open Gaza (AUC Press, 2021), Architecture of the Territory (Kaph Books, 2022), and Their Borders, Our World: Building New Solidarities with Palestine (Haymarket Books, 2024).
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Dina AbouzeidDina Abouzeid is the Chief Executive Officer of Media Vision Co., a company specializing in documentary production. Under her leadership for over 19 years, the company has established itself as a key player in the documentary production space. Dina has been involved in producing and directing several notable documentaries, including Gouzour El Fetna (2011), Al Idrisi (2009), and Ziryab (2009).
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Sereen HaddadSereen Haddad is a Palestinian-American student and activist. She gained national attention when Virginia Commonwealth University withheld her diploma due to her participation in a peaceful memorial commemorating violent police arrests at a student encampment for Palestine in 2024. Sereen is the daughter of Dr. Tariq Haddad, a cardiologist who grew up in Gaza. Her activism highlights issues of academic freedom and the suppression of Palestinian voices in academic institutions.
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Mayida ZaalDr. Mayida Zaal is an Associate Professor at Montclair State University, specializing in urban education and social justice. A Palestinian-Colombian immigrant, her research focuses on participatory action and the experiences of marginalized youth. She is the founder of Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy and Reclaiming ME: Muslim Educators, a national study of Muslim K–12 teachers.
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Barbara WienBarbara Wien is a nonviolence scholar, peace educator, and human rights activist. She has worked to end violence, human rights abuses, and war, with a focus on grassroots women's movements around the world. Barbara has written or edited 23 articles, chapters, and books, including Peace and World Security Studies, a pioneering curriculum guide for university professors. She has led eight national nonprofit organizations, including Peace Brigades International, and has served as a U.S. representative for the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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Miriyam AouraghMiriyam Aouragh is a Dutch-Moroccan anthropologist and digital media scholar based in London, where she serves as a Professor of Digital Anthropology at the University of Westminster. Her research critically examines the intersection of technology, politics, and identity, with a particular focus on the Palestinian context.
Born in Amsterdam to parents who had migrated from Morocco, Aouragh has been deeply engaged in both academic and activist circles since the early 2000s. She earned her doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, where her dissertation, Palestine Online, explored internet activism in Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon. This work has been instrumental in shaping the field of digital anthropology. Aouragh's work challenges prevailing notions of techno-solutionism and emphasizes the importance of grounded methodologies in understanding the infrastructures that underpin digital politics. Her contributions continue to influence the discourse on digital media and activism, particularly in the context of Palestine and the broader Middle East. |
Guest Facilitators
Kiana Salameh |
May Omran |
