Saja Al Zoubi
Assistant Professor

Email: saja.alzoubi@dal.ca
Mailing Address:
Marion McCain Building
6135 University Ave.
»Ê¹Ú²©²Êapp
PO Box 15000
Halifax, NS, Canada
B3H 4R2
Office location:
3041 Marion McCain Building
- Development Economics
- Gender-Based Violence
- Womenâs Empowerment
- Forced Migration, Refugees, and IDP Livelihoods
- Violence and Human Rights
- Academic and Scientific Freedom
- Data for Development
- Peacebuilding, Conflict Prevention, and Resolution
- Socio-Economic Justice
- Middle East Politics
Bio:
I have worked internationally for over a decade in prestigious universities and institutions, including the University of Oxford, the University of Glasgow, UN Women, the EU Delegation to Syria, the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders, the International Science Council, and the UK University of Sanctuary. I also serve as Co-Lead of the Global Young Academyâs At-Risk Scholars Initiative and as a Steering Committee Member of the Science in Exile Initiative.
My research focuses on development studies through a gender lens, with particular attention to womenâs empowerment and its critical role in rural development. I highlight the many contributions women make in sustaining their households and communities. In my book The Role of Women in Domestic Economics, the first academic reference on women and domestic economics published in Syria, I explore how women significantly contribute across various sectors (economy, agriculture, health, environment, education, etc.) through their effective management of household responsibilities. This book was recognized as the Best Book About Women in 2010 by the Arab Women Organization of the Arab League.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, my research has increasingly focused on peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and socio-economic justice. I also work to improve the livelihoods and food security of conflict-affected households, particularly internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, women and girls, and women-headed households. This includes examining refugee policies and political frameworks in host countries.
Teaching :
Data For Development (Fall-2025 COURSE- INTD 3106)
This course will prepare students with essential competencies and career-ready skills for roles in development agencies, NGOs, government bodies, and research institutions.
Studying Data for Development will equip students with:
- Practical skills in data analysis tailored to development contexts
- The ability to work with real-world datasets to inform policymaking
- A deep understanding of how data-driven decision-making addresses global development challenges
Security, Peacebuilding and Development (Fall-2025 COURSE- INTD 4002 )
This interdisciplinary course explores the interconnected themes of security, peacebuilding, and development, with the Middle East as a central case study. It provides students with a theoretically grounded and critical understanding of how global power dynamics, historical injustices, and geopolitical interests contribute to protracted conflicts and forced migration. A distinctive feature of the course is its consistent application of a gender lens across all topics. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with concepts of justice, resistance, and the prospects for sustainable peace in contexts of enduring crisis.
Recent Publishing:
 ââThe Value-added of Womenâs Participation in Conflict Preventionâ a policy brief sponsored by UN Women and Global Network for Women Peacebuilders GNWP, 2024.
ââViolence and Refugee Womenâs Resilience: Syrian Refugee Women in Lebanon During COVID -19.ââ¶Ä. Special Issue âGender and Violence in a Migration and Refugee Context: Agency, Resilience and Resistance.â Canadian Ethnic Studies. VOL. 55, NO. 3, 2024. Â
 ââThe Refugee Crisisââ¶Ä. A Chapter to Fragility of the Lebanese State.ââ¶Ä  Lexington Books 2024. Â
Co-author. ââScholars-at-Risk: challenges facing humanity, can science diplomacy helpââ¶Ä.
âWhen the Coping Strategies Become a Way of Life:Â A Gendered Analysis of Syrian Refugees in Lebanonâ. Oxford Development Studies Journal. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600818.2022.2096210?src=
Saja, Al Zoubi and Humam Wardeh âSocio-Economic Challenges and Demographic Changes Arising from Internal Displacement in Syria: A Gender Analysisââ¶Ä. Researching internal displacement and University of London. https://researchinginternaldisplacement.org/working-papers/socio-economic-challenges-and-demographic-changes-arising-from-internal-displacement-in-syria/
Caroline Krafft, Bilal Malaeb, Saja Al Zoubi. âHow do policy approaches affect refugee economic outcomes? Insights from studies of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanonââ¶Ä. Oxford Review of Economic Policy. Vol. 38, No. 3: Forced Migration.
 ââConducting Research While Death Surrounds you: the Researcher, Gender and War in Syriaââ¶Ä. A chapter to an edited volume Politics of Engaged Transformative Gender Research. Bloomspury, US. https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/politics-of-engaged-gender-research-in-the-arab-region-9780755645220/
 Al Zoubi, Saja, Aden Aw-Hassan and Boubaker Dhaibi. âEnhancing the Livelihoods and Food Security of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.ââ¶Ä ICARDA and TWAS Working Paper, 2019.
 Co-author. âRapid Assessment of Livelihoods and Market Value Chains for Improving the Welfare of the Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Bekaa, Lebanonâ. ICARDA and CARITAS Switzerland Working Paper, forthcoming, 2019.