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Ethnic Studies Distinguished Community Leader Speaker Series
Please join us in welcoming Ramah Awad, Executive Director of the Majdal Arab Community Center of San Diego, for the Department of Ethnic Studies' Distinguished Community Leader Speaker Series.
Ramah Awad
Ramah Awad is a Palestinian-American community organizer and advocate based in San Diego, California. She graduated with honors from Stanford University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Anthropology. Her honors thesis examined the historical and legal conditions of Palestinian refugees displaced from Syria, drawing from months of field research that she conducted abroad. Her research and student activism were recognized through a Stanford Award of Excellence.
Since graduating, Ramah has published articles on topics including Arab-American feminism, Palestinian statelessness, and youth organizing. Over the past decade, she has worked with various organizations including human rights agencies in Istanbul and Capetown, advocacy organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee, and the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.
Ramah currently serves as the Executive Director of Majdal, the Arab Community Center of San Diego, a local resource hub for refugee and immigrant communities. Beyond her community leadership, she continues to find joy and rootedness in her heritage as a member of the House of Palestine's "dabkeh" dance troupe.
Majdal, the Arab Community Center of San Diego, is a resource and community hub with a mission to service, uplift, and build power for San Diego’s Arab refugee and immigrant communities. Formally established in 2018, the center’s work emerged from volunteer efforts to respond to the influx of Syrian refugees resettling to San Diego in 2016. The Majdal Center’s services, programs, and campaigns intersect across four programmatic areas: youth education and leadership; community health and wellbeing; economic empowerment; advocacy and policy.
Since graduating, Ramah has published articles on topics including Arab-American feminism, Palestinian statelessness, and youth organizing. Over the past decade, she has worked with various organizations including human rights agencies in Istanbul and Capetown, advocacy organizations such as the American Friends Service Committee, and the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva.
Ramah currently serves as the Executive Director of Majdal, the Arab Community Center of San Diego, a local resource hub for refugee and immigrant communities. Beyond her community leadership, she continues to find joy and rootedness in her heritage as a member of the House of Palestine's "dabkeh" dance troupe.
Majdal, the Arab Community Center of San Diego, is a resource and community hub with a mission to service, uplift, and build power for San Diego’s Arab refugee and immigrant communities. Formally established in 2018, the center’s work emerged from volunteer efforts to respond to the influx of Syrian refugees resettling to San Diego in 2016. The Majdal Center’s services, programs, and campaigns intersect across four programmatic areas: youth education and leadership; community health and wellbeing; economic empowerment; advocacy and policy.
About the Ethnic Studies Distinguished Community Leader Speaker Series
In the first of the Ethnic Studies Distinguished Community Leader Speaker Series, Ms. Awad will be presenting on the Palestinian origins of the Majdal Center and taking us into present-day community programming and advocacy within the broader Palestinian and Arab community. Her talk will explore the history of Arab migration to San Diego, the role of art in community organizing, and the connection between local initiatives and global movements for social justice.
Date and Time: Wednesday 10/30 3-4:30 p.m.
Place: PEB 721
Refreshments will be provided
