Hisham Sharabi Memorial Lecture: “Palestinian Education for the 21st Century”

Dr. Fouad Moughrabi will examine the problems facing Palestinian education under occupationand prospects for the future. Given the loss of land and control over primary resources, investing in human capital–in such a crucial field as education–became critical for the survival of the Palestinian community and its ability to resist intelligently. The Qattan Foundation, with which he worked, initiated such a project: the Qattan Center for Educational Research and Development, now an independent national institution in the fields of teacher training and educational research. Dr. Moughrabi will focus on this important project in educational reform for K-12, outlining the strategic thinking and analysis that shaped it and the problems associated with building successful institutions under difficult circumstances.

Dr. Fouad  Moughrabi is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and former department head at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has written extensively in the area of Middle East studies and political psychology. He returned to Palestine in 1999 to establish the Qattan Center for Educational Research and Development, where he served as director until 2004 and then as senior advisor. Previously, he served as a Fulbright visiting professor at Birzeit University and worked with the late Professor Ibrahim Abu-Lughod on the first Palestinian educational curriculum project.