Dr. Bassel Akar is assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities. Bassel completed his doctorate in education at the Institute of Education, University of London. His research focuses on learning and teaching for active citizenship in the context of Lebanon. Bassel has a strong interest in consulting young people for education research and development. Bassel works closely with Dr. Maha Shuayb at the Centre for Lebanese Studies in Oxford University implementing a whole-school approach of learning for social cohesion across selected schools in Lebanon. Other responsibilities include consultative work with international and local NGOs in developing supplemental learning resource material for the civics, history, sociology and geography classrooms in Lebanon. One project involves introducing documentary films as a learning resource for the civic education classrooms, which is led by People in Need from the Czech Republic and the Lebanese Centre for Civic Education in Lebanon. In the summer terms, Bassel is program coordinator for the Annual Summer School for Emerging Leaders in Conflict Prevention and Transformation at the Institute for Peace and Justice Education, Lebanon American University. Bassel is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom and a member of the Lebanese Association of Educational Studies.

Ph.D. in Education, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom. Focus: Citizenship Education, 2009.

Diploma in Management, Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom, 2008.

Certificate, Teaching and Learning in Professional and Higher Education, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom, 2008.

MA. in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, Institute of Education, University of London, United Kingdom, 2005.

B. A. in Psychology, Lebanese American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2000.

Refereed journal articles

Akar, B. (2007) Citizenship education in Lebanon: An introduction into students’ concepts and learning experiences. Educate, 7(2), pp. 2-18.

Akar, B. (2006) Teachers' reflections on the challenges of teaching citizenship education in Lebanon: A qualitative pilot study. Reflecting Education, 2(2), pp. 48-63.

Conference proceedings

Akar, B. (2009) Pedagogies in the ‘National and Civic Education’ grades ten and eleven classrooms: What kind of citizenship are we learning in Lebanon? Centre for Lebanese Studies Annual Conference: Education for Social Cohesion in Lebanon, Beirut: American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Akar, B. (2008) Schools, NGOs and citizenship education in Lebanon: What kind of citizenship are we creating? The International Centre of Education for Democratic Citizenship. Institute of Education, University of London, UK.

Akar, B. (2007) Exploring the Challenges of Teaching and Learning Citizenship in Lebanon: Students’ and teachers’ experiences inside the ‘National and Civic Education’ classroom. Education for Democratic Citizenship: Multiculturalism and National Identity. Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.

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