The Middle East North Africa Special Interest Group of the Comparative and International Education Society
The Middle East North Africa Special Interest Group (MENASIG) was founded in 2007 and operates under the auspice of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). The CIES MENASIG brings together scholars, educators, and development practitioners interested in the study of the region. Through high quality scholarship, dissemination, and service we seek to enhance educational policy, programming, and pedagogy, and to foster understanding of the region’s peoples more generally. The MESIG is not associated with any political or religious affiliation. Our geographic scope includes the broader Middle East and North Africa region, as well as locales with historic or contemporary ties to the region and their peoples. Membership is open to all registered CIES members.
Purpose
Through scholarship and service, the CIES MESIG seeks:
Current Activities
The MENASIG currently engages its purpose through the following activities and seeks to develop it functions according to the growing needs of its membership and the field. Members wishing to serve the MENASIG by enhancing its capacities are invited to contact the MENASIG by email or bring ideas to the MENASIG Business Meeting at the CIES Annual Conference. At present, the MENASIG:
History
The Middle East North Africa Special Interest Group was established in 2007 through the initiative of several founding members with the support of Gita Steiner-Khamsi. The founding officers were Sina Mossayeb, Reza Arjmand, and Maryam Soltanzadeh. Today there are close to 50 registered and unofficial members of the MENASIG.
The Middle East North Africa Special Interest Group (MENASIG) was founded in 2007 and operates under the auspice of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). The CIES MENASIG brings together scholars, educators, and development practitioners interested in the study of the region. Through high quality scholarship, dissemination, and service we seek to enhance educational policy, programming, and pedagogy, and to foster understanding of the region’s peoples more generally. The MESIG is not associated with any political or religious affiliation. Our geographic scope includes the broader Middle East and North Africa region, as well as locales with historic or contemporary ties to the region and their peoples. Membership is open to all registered CIES members.
Purpose
Through scholarship and service, the CIES MESIG seeks:
- To promote high quality scholarship and dissemination on education in and about the broader Middle East and North Africa region
- To further the collaboration of scholars, educators, and development practitioners working in and on the region
- To enhance educational policy, programming, and pedagogy in and about the region
- To foster understanding of the region's peoples
Current Activities
The MENASIG currently engages its purpose through the following activities and seeks to develop it functions according to the growing needs of its membership and the field. Members wishing to serve the MENASIG by enhancing its capacities are invited to contact the MENASIG by email or bring ideas to the MENASIG Business Meeting at the CIES Annual Conference. At present, the MENASIG:
- Facilitates forums and panel discussions about educational issues pertaining to the region
- Disseminates information about research, publications, opportunities, and events through an active listserv
- Mentors junior scholars and promotes quality emergent scholarship through an annual student paper prize
- Promotes the scholarship of our membership through the MENASIG website (under construction)
- Facilitates access to resources for scholars and practitioners through the MENASIG website (under construction)
- Convenes an annual business meeting at the CIES conference to connect members for the purposes of furthering collaboration, supportive networks, and the overarching goals of the MENASIG
History
The Middle East North Africa Special Interest Group was established in 2007 through the initiative of several founding members with the support of Gita Steiner-Khamsi. The founding officers were Sina Mossayeb, Reza Arjmand, and Maryam Soltanzadeh. Today there are close to 50 registered and unofficial members of the MENASIG.
Meet Our Officers
Jade Jehad Halawani
Co-Chair: Jade is a Doctoral Student of Learning Technologies Design Research and International Education at George Mason University, VA. She is also the Presidential Scholar to the Center for International Education. Her research focuses on designing professional development and learning opportunities for in-service teachers using the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) framework to promote effective teaching practices, the use of PBL in the classroom, and Future-Ready Learning and Teaching. Jade Grew up in Jerusalem, Palestine, and earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics & Electronics from Birzeit University. Before joining GMU, she enjoyed 10 years at different private and public schools in the US and the Middle East working as a Physics teacher, a STEM coordinator, a Dean of Students, and a training consultant in STEM teaching and learning practices. |
Mona Younes
Co-Chair: Dr. Mona Younes is specialized in the field of ‘Online Education’ as well as ‘Education in Emergencies’. She has finished her master’s degree in Online Education from the University of Southern Queensland, before moving to Lancaster University to acquire a PhD in ‘Education and Social Justice’. Mona’s focus, research and expertise crystalizes around the educational needs and challenges of refugees, especially refugees in developing countries and the potentials of blended and online learning, to improve their lives. Dr. Younes worked with a long list of international organizations, e.g. UNICEF, UNHCR, War Child Holland, Plan International, in projects and research assignments related to the education of refugees in displacement settings, investigating the challenges and potentials of EdTech to empower marginalized populations and/or improve the efficiency of the educational systems. To serve those organizations better, she founded in 2020 “Beyond Borders, a US-based S-corporation that focuses on EiE and EdTech esp. in crisis and conflict contexts. |
Shytance Wren
Secretary/Treasurer: Shytance is a doctoral student at the University of Maryland, College Park studying International Education Policy. After working as an instructor and advisor at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi for three years, her research interests encompass analyzing the teaching practices of expatriate faculty and how they impact indigenous knowledge production in the United Arab Emirates. Her international consulting roles and research revolve around improving international higher education through integrated reforms in curriculum, teaching, research, assessment, and policy and planning. |
Yara Abdelaziz
Communications Manager: Yara is a PhD student in the Education Leadership & Policy program in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto with a specialization in Comparative International and Development Education (CIDE). She holds an M.Ed. in Research on Teaching and Learning from the Technical University of Munich and a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo. She has diverse research experiences from working in research groups at the Technical University of Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Toronto. She is currently co-authoring an academic publication that looks at global wealth-based inequalities in accessing higher education. She is the co-chair of the Comparative International and Development Education Student Association at UofT. She is also a committee member of the Human Rights Taskforce at the Association For Middle Eastern Women’s Studies. Yara is interested in studying international organizations and teacher issues in the Arab World. |