Hiba received her PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, through which she studied Syrian refugee students’ well-being in schools in Jordan. Prior to joining Campion Hall, Hiba was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the REACH Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
On her new role as the Pedro Arrupe Fellow, Hiba writes:
"I am incredibly excited to have been selected as the new Pedro Arrupe Fellow in Forced Migration Studies. I am also thankful to everyone at Campion Hall, who have welcomed me with warmth and kindness during my visits so far. It’s been a pleasure to get to know some of you already and I look forward to more conversations and meals together."
"I am also looking forward to being enriched by the wealth of expertise, perspectives, and missions that both Campion Hall and the Refugee Studies Centre embody. I will be moving between and across both spaces, learning from the traditions, seminars, books, and casual conversation of each to expand my own thinking and work. My research focuses on education in contexts of forced displacement, particularly on the aspirations and well-being of displaced youth. I have conducted research in the Middle East, especially in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, where I have researched the experiences of displaced children in their education spaces. Prior to moving to Oxford, I was based in Cambridge, where I completed a PhD followed by a one-year postdoctoral position at the REAL Centre. I have also worked on a wide number of projects outside of the academic world, evaluating global education programmes for displaced children. I am passionate about the importance of listening to the voices of refugee children and youth, and of advocating for their well-being and capacities to thrive."
"Drawing on my knowledge and work so far, my work as the Pedro Arrupe Fellow will focus on the role and meaning of Hope in contexts of displacement. This makes my base at Campion Hall particularly enriching, and I hope to learn from the different approaches and conceptualisation being studied here. I will focus on how the aspirations of displaced youth can be protected and supported, enabling them to continue to look forward to their futures. As part of this Fellowship’s partnership with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), I will also collaborate on programming related to education, especially refugee girls’ education and protection needs."
