Dr. Mark Ayyash

Speaking Topics: Palestinian-Israeli struggle, violence and non-violence, social movements, and social change.

Mark Ayyash is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of the John de Chastelain Peace Studies Initiative at Mount Royal University (Calgary). He teaches and writes in the areas of social and political theory, the study of violence, decolonial movements, as well as culture and politics in the Middle East, particularly focusing on the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. He has published several academic articles in journals such as the European Journal of Social Theory, European Journal of International Relations, and Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies. His co-edited book with Dr. Ratiba Hadj-Moussa titled Protests and Generations: Legacies and Emergences in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean (Brill) was published in 2017. In his capacity as Director of Peace Studies, Mark oversees and organizes the Annual Calgary Peace Prize Ceremony, a Lecture Series, and has recently developed a Minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. He has given several public lectures and a few workshops on pressing issues such as Islamophobia, the history and politics of the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, the complex relationship between violence and non-violence, social movements, and social change.