Tenth conference in our program Aula Árabe Universitaria 2, to be given by Professor Carmen Geha (American University of Beirut). The conference is also available at our Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/rvxjCAO8Amg After ten years, the Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon are facing a new reality of long-lasting conflict and fear over returning home. Carmen Geha’s conference will analyze the complexities of being trapped in Lebanon, caught up in the middle of a turbulent political reality. The political system for sectarian-based power distribution in the country creates risks and challenges which can be seen in its educational policy towards Syrian youths. How do young refugees experience the educational system and what political realities make up the paths towards their return? The goal of this conference is to help conceptualize the role of education amid situations of uncertainty about the future and how a host country’s politics can influence the lives and future choices of young refugees. Casa Árabe has organized this conference with the cooperation of the bachelor’s degree program in Modern Languages at Nebrija University. Introducing the session will be Laura de la Parra Fernández, director of the bachelor’s degree program and a professor at Nebrija University, and Olivia Orozco de la Torre, Casa Árabe’s Training and Economic Coordinator. Carmen Geha Carmen is an activist and Associate Professor of Public Administration at the American University of Beirut. She specializes in mass political mobilization and the challenges to political reform across the Arab Middle East and North Africa. She is a co-founder of the Center for Inclusive Business & Leadership (CIBL) for Women at AUB, a regional reference on readying gender-inclusive employer policies across the region. She is also a co-founder of Khaddit Beirut (the shake-up), a network of 150+ experts implementing a community-driven roadmap for the recovery of Beirut following the port explosion on August 4th. She served also as Founding Director of the “Education for Leadership in Crisis,” scholarship program for Afghan women at AUB. Carmen manages and oversees large portfolio of research programs and grants in 11 Arab MENA countries focused on women’s economic participation as well as gender, peace, and security. Her work has been published in the Middle East Journal, the British Journal for Middle East Studies, Middle East Law and Governance, Journal of Refugee Studies, and Social Movement Studies among others. Carmen is an activist-scholar and is interviewed regularly on local and international media about events in Lebanon and the region. Carmen regularly advised and consults for top international organizations, UN agencies, and government institutions across the region. She has worked in Libya, Myanmar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq among other places. She has most recently consulted as Senior Gender Advisor for UN Women in Lebanon. Carmen has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, she was the 2018-2019 fellow in social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study. She has been a visiting fellow at the WiSER Institute in Johannesburg, Weatherhead Center at Harvard, and the Watson Institute in Brown University. More info: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/studying-in-lebanon-challenges-to-syrian-refugee-children Photo: Russell Watkins/Department for International Development