Palestine Interdisciplinary Research Group

About their research

The Palestine Interdisciplinary Research Group is an interdisciplinary research group that is centered on pedagogy in relation to Palestine at Concordia, broadly defined as instruction in the classroom setting and through campus events (e.g., seminars, film screenings). 

The group is convened around the following key questions:

• How do we develop strategies (e.g., course content, pedagogical methods, language) that can provide connections and nodes from which to witness structures of settler colonial violence? 

• How do we develop an interdisciplinary approach to address and guide the dialogue? 

The group's research objectives are to:

1. Collect data (course content, syllabi) to establish what content on Palestine exists, and the modes of knowledge dissemination (e.g., text, visual art, audio, multi-media). The goal is also to identify courses associated with pertinent themes (e.g., colonialism, anti-colonialism, refugees, Global South, creative resistance, non-Western art, surveillance), where content on Palestine could potentially be incorporated. 

1. Develop frameworks and compile resources that will provide faculty and students with the knowledge and tools to initiate dialogue on Palestine. This objective takes inspiration from – and draws on – a teaching resource co-authored by group member Dr. Natalie Kouri-Towe and Myloe Martel-Perry, entitled Better Practices in the Classroom: A Teaching Guidebook for Sustainable, Inclusive, and Equitable Learning from a Gender and Sexuality Studies Framework (published with Concordia University Press in 2024).  The collection focuses on research and praxis-driven pedagogies in the context of the gender and sexuality studies classroom and covers topics such as inclusive language, grappling with racial violence in education, decolonial approaches to education, accessibility and disability justice in the classroom, trigger warnings, and more.

The Palestine Interdisciplinary Research Group recognizes the lack of care that a considerable majority of Indigenous, racialized, and POC students receive as they relive the violence and trauma of colonialism and imperialism. What has also become clear is that there is no concrete study within Concordia which shows us how to effectively address such complex issues in the classroom setting, particularly in moments of crisis.  As such, the group aims to develop resources for bringing such issues into the academic setting. 

The project builds on Concordia CTL’s other pedagogical initiatives, like the Indigenous Decolonization Hub and contemplative pedagogy, and seeks to further center voices that are currently marginalised.

Jamila Ewais, PhD Student, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University.

• Norma M. Rantisi, Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

• Elena Razlogova, Associate Professor, Department of History 

• Beatrice Parsons, Assistant Professor, Department of Studio Arts

1. An open seminar in the Fall (October) by an affiliate of FNEEQ-CSN to speak about legal rights pertaining to freedom of expression and academic freedom in higher educational institutions. 
2. A workshop for group members in November to share ongoing research on pedagogical practices and mapping of Palestine content in the curriculum. 
3. In Winter term (late January/early February), a panel discussion on the theme of anti-Palestinian racism within academia.
4. A workshop for group members in March to exchange ongoing research on pedagogical practices and mapping of Palestine content in the curriculum. 
5. Present a preliminary report at an open meeting in the late Spring.

Group members

• Nayrouz Abu Hatoum, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

• Razan AlSalah, Lecturer, Department of Communication Studies 

• Sarah Gabrial, Associate Professor, Department of History

• Kevin Gould, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

• Natalie Kouri-Towe, Associate Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute

• Alessandra Renzi, Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies

Student members

• Claire Begbie, PhD Student, Department of Film Studies

• Stephanie Eccles, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

• Mick Hennessy, Masters student, Department of Etudes Françaises

• Graham Latham, PhD Student, Department of History

• Varda Nisar, PhD Candidate, Department of Art History, Concordia University