Thursday 18 June 2026, 9:00am – 5:30pm BST
Register to join in person or online
In person at: Homerton College, University of Cambridge
Join us for this one-day conference, held during Refugee Week, which brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and advocates to examine the increasingly complex relationship between political discourse, global policy and the lived educational realities of displaced communities.
Speakers include:
- Muna Abbas — CEO, Asfari Foundation
- Ali Ahmadi — Doctoral Researcher, University of Cambridge
- Zeina Azmi — Lecturer in International Relations and Middle East Politics, University of Liverpool
- Giorgia Donà — Professor of Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, University of East London
- Faiza Hassan — Executive Director, Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)
- Judith Herbertson — Head of Girls’ Education Department, FCDO
- Solava Ibrahim — Associate Professor, Anglia Ruskin University
- Laila Kadiwal — Associate Professor in Education and International Development, University College London (UCL)
- Michelle Pace — Professor of Global Studies, Denmark
- Mezna Qato — Director, Centre for Southwest Asia and North Africa (CSWANA), University of Cambridge
- Pauline Rose — Director, REAL Centre, University of Cambridge
- Ruba Salih — Professor of Sociology, University of Bologna
- Renata Schaeffer — Director of Global Engagement, Global Engagement Office
- Maha Shuayb — Director, Centre for Lebanese Studies, University of Cambridge
- Sharath Srinivasan —Associate Professor in International Politics & Director, Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR), University of Cambridge
- Lord Simon Woolley — Principal of Homerton College, University of Cambridge
The conference is structured around two interrelated questions:
- How have anti-migrant and anti-refugee discourses in the UK, Europe and North America shaped global responses to displacement?
- How far do policy commitments on refugee education translate into meaningful learning opportunities on the ground?
Drawing on research from contexts including Sudan, Ethiopia, Palestine, Ukraine, Lebanon and Myanmar, the day will explore the gap between policy rhetoric and lived educational realities — and advance more equitable, justice-oriented approaches.
This conference also builds on the University of Cambridge’s recent recognition as a University of Sanctuary, and its commitment to critical scholarship on displacement and asylum.
Organised by the Centre for Lebanese Studies, in collaboration with the REAL Centre, Homerton College, and the Centre for Southwest Asia and North Africa (CSWANA) at the University of Cambridge.