SGP Grantees (2018)
The ACSS Small Grants Program (SGP) is a funding opportunity that aims to support individual Arab researchers and activists who reside in the Arab region, and whose work focuses on Arab societies.
Small grants averaging $4,000 fund five types of activities: conference presentations, internships, pilot studies, dissemination events, and workshops.
The 2018 Cycle of the program is funded by grants provided to the ACSS by the Ford Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
The Selection Committee for the 2018 Cycle of the Small Grants Program was made up of the following scholars:
Abdullah Al-Kafri is the Executive Director of Ettijahat – Independent Culture. A playwright and cultural activist, Abdullah works as a trainer in various cultural fields with organizations including Culture Resource (Al Mawred Al Thaqafy) and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Since 2015, he has been a member of the artistic committee of Sundance Institute’s MENA Theatre Lab, and is a regular participant at conferences and forums on culture and art. He has also collaborated with art organizations such as Lift and The Royal Court in the UK and the Lark in the US.
Imen Yacoubi is a Tunisian researcher, translator, and associate professor of English Studies at the University of Jendouba, Tunisia. Yacoubi was a member in a number of projects across the Arab region, like The Trans-Maghreb Creative Writing Project, and the Young Arab Analysts Network International. She became a fellow at Syracuse University in 2011 and 2013. Since then, she has managed and participated in several projects with civil society related to women’s rights and civic education in Tunisia. Her research interests revolve around gender, arts, and culture.
Mona Khechen is a Lebanese urban planning and development expert with extensive experience as a practitioner in developing and post-conflict country contexts, working mainly on cultural heritage, urban policy-oriented research, and strategic planning. She is a regular consultant on urban development to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the United Nations. She also serves as an occasional lecturer at the American University of Beirut (AUB). She received her Doctorate in Design from Harvard University, Masters in Planning from the Development Planning Unit at University College London, and a Bachelors of Architecture from AUB.
Small Grants Program Grantees (2018) | Round 1
Themes: Youth and Urban Spatial Inequalities
Abderrahman Fadili, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Leadership among University Students and its Forms of Practice: Student Leadership at Ibn Zahr University as a Case Study
Alamira SamahSaleh, Cairo University, Egypt
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: A New Action in a New Communication Field? The Egyptian Public Space between Government Institutions and Dynamics of Resistance
Bouchta Essiani, Ministry of Education, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Youth Health Education and Health Literacy: A Sociological Study of the Information Sources of Moroccan Vocational Secondary School Students
El-Hafed Nouini, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Political and Economic Empowerment of Youth between Rural and Urban Areas in the Arab Region: Morocco as a Case Study
Fidae El-Hassouni, University of Ibn Tofail-Kenitra, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Effect of Social Entrepreneurship on Status and Social Representations among Young Village Women in Morocco
Nay El-Rahi, Lebanese American University, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: From the Campus to the Street: Understanding Student Activism and Institutional Responses to Sexual Harassment in Lebanese Universities
Sabreen Aljinawi, Palestine
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Community Responsibility of the Palestinian Private Sector and Spatial Justice in the Support of Youth Programs: The West Bank as a Case Study
Shafiya Naji, University of Science and Technology, Yemen
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: The Impact of Social Customs and Traditions on Young Women’s Political Empowerment
Shaimaa Mohamed, Mesaha for Community Development, Egypt
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: Social Research and Evidence-Based Development Praxis for Young Researchers and Youth Development Practitioners
Sihem Drissi, Arab Democratic Center, Tunisia
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: The Youth amid Democratic Transformations
Dina Batshoun, Al-Fanar Media, Jordan
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Experiences of Access to Higher Education for Gazan Refugee Youth in Jordan: Exploring Perceptions (Paper to be presented at the 17th conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM))
Small Grants Program Grantees (2018) | Round 2
Themes: Youth and Urban Spatial Inequalities
Dina Abdel Rahman, American University in Cairo, Egypt
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Egyptian Female Muslim Youth into the Mainstream (Paper to be presented at the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES))
Dima Smaira, Lebanese American University, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Narrating the Everyday in Deeply Divided Societies: Stories of Place, Stories of Conflict, Stories of Well-Being (Paper to be presented at BRISMES: New Approaches to Studying the Middle East)
Mohamed Salman, Collective Routes (LLC), Egypt
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: A Co-Operative Enquiry into the Meanings and Strategies of Enabling Spaces for Youth Activism: The Case of ‘Mesaha’ in Cairo, Egypt (Paper to be presented at the Transformative Youth Work International Conference)
Sarah Wahby, Jameel Poverty Action Lab/American University in Cairo, Egypt
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Inequality of Opportunity in Access to Employment in Egypt and Tunisia (Paper to be presented at the Luxembourg Income Study Summer Workshop)
Yassine Aoussar, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Role of Land Policies in Restructuring Urban Peripheries in Casablanca: The Case of Sidi Mimoun (Paper to be presented at the Conference on Contemporary Trends in Social, Human and Natural Sciences)
Myra El Mir, Independent Researcher, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: Engaging Young Adults in Research through Graphic Novels (Book optioned by Penguin-Random House)
Adham Tbeil, Al-Azhar University, Palestine
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: The Impact of Israeli Practices on Health Services in Jerusalem
Hatem Jemmali, University of Manouba, Tunisia
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Inequality of Opportunity for Higher Education among Youth in Tunisia: A Pilot Study
Mohammad Awwad, Syria
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: INGO Programs to Empower Syrian Youth in Rural Areas: Field Assessment of the Community Development Program in Hama
Mouloud Amghar, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Militant Uses of Public Space: A Sociological Study of Resistance Strategies through the Use of Public Space in Mohammed V Avenue, Morocco
Samar Al-Hajj, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Youth Road Traffic Injury: A Prospective Hospital-based Pilot Surveillance Study
Mariam Benalioua, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Youth of the Periphery: Towards another Model of Political Engagement? The Case of the Social Movement “Al Hiark Chaabi” in Al-Hoceima
Zouhir Bahammou, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Young Women against Poverty, Stigma and the Absence of Men in Morocco: A Qualitative Approach
Mohammed Alhaffi, Al-Quds University, Palestine
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Civil and Voting Awareness of New Voters (Youth) in Palestine
Small Grants Program Grantees (2018) | Round 3
Themes: Youth and Urban Spatial Inequalities
Amira El-Naggare, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Chosen Celibacy: Women’s Reluctance to Get Married in the Arab World: The Case of Egypt and Morocco
Jabrane Amaghouss, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Why Young Women Drop out of University: Empirical Investigation (Moroccan Students)
Saadeddine Igamane, Sidi Mohamed Ibn Abdullah University, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Young Entrepreneurs in Morocco and Vulnerability: The Other Side of Entrepreneurship
Yasmeen Qi'dan, Palestine
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Movement Policy in Ramallah: A Study of the Palestinian Contemporary Space and Landscape
Yassine Yassni, Ministry of Education, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Youth from Poor Neighborhoods and Forms of Resistance against Discrimination and Stigmatization in Morocco: The Youth of the Safihi Neighborhood
Islam Abdel Magid, Social Democracy Studies Center, Egypt
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Spatial Inequality: How Do We Understand Space with Respect to Inequality?
Mustapha Azaitraoui, Multidisciplinary Faculty of Khouribga, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Young Men and Women in the Waste Management System in Morocco: The Case of Beni Mellal-Khenifra
Nizar Hassan, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: What Makes Lebanon's Youth Activists? The Case of LiHaqqi
Soufiane Chinig, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: Social Mixing in the City of Salé: Between Urban Planning and Housing: How Do Residents Restructure a City?
Chaymae Benfares, Morocco
Type of Grant: Pilot Study | Project Title: The Youth in Small Cities and the Strategies to Fight Poverty and Marginalization
Nour El-Safoury and Heba Mahmoud, Egypt
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: Working in Partnership: Young People and Arts and Culture Organizations in Downtown Cairo
Duha Maari, Palestine
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: The Role of Civic Education Curricula in Promoting Civic Participation among Palestinian Youth
Driss Fakhour, Morocco
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: Supporting Youth Participation in Local Governance
Abdulbaset Qaid, Yemen
Type of Grant: Organizing a Workshop | Project Title: Evaluation of Guarantees and Incentives Provided to Young Entrepreneurs in the Republic of Yemen
Brahim Alhiani, MEN, Morocco
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Food System and Women Workers in Moroccan Agri-Alimentary Enterprises: A Sociological View (Paper to be presented at the Spanish Conference of Sociology of Food)
Salim Abuthaher, Birzeit University, Palestine
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: The Geopolitics of Spatiality (Paper to be presented at MESA's 52nd Annual Meeting)
Youness Benmouro, Morocco
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Trans-Border Experience and Immigration Spaces: Transnational Migration of Sub-Saharan Africa and Public Spaces Uses: The Case of Rabat (Paper to be presented at the Frontiers and Border Regions Conference)
Alain Daou, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Workshop Title: Teaching & Learning Studio Educators Workshop
Chahir Zaki, Cairo University, Egypt
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: Global Value Chains and Business Environment: Which Factors Do Really Matter? (Paper to be presented at the Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting)
Redouane Lemkhinek, Ministry of Justice, Algeria
Type of Grant: Travel Grant | Project Title: The Role of Local Governance in Fighting Administrative Corruption in Local Elected Councils in Algeria (Paper to be presented at the Second International Conference on Social Science and Education)
Abir Saksouk, Public Works Studio, Lebanon
Type of Grant: Dissemination Event | Project Title: Thinking Housing: The First Competition for Affordable Housing Alternatives in Beirut
