The Fellowship, organised by the Friends of Birzeit University (FOBZU), involved a week long study tour in Palestine in late June with a delegation of eleven academics from British Universities, led by academic coordinator Akram Salhab.
The Fellowship enables scholars in law, education, politics, literary studies, Arab studies and documentary film making to meet with Palestinian academics, students and civil society organisations to foster academic research links and collaborations.
Dr Annapurna Menon’s research focuses on colonial structures of postcolonial states in South Asia and this visit was crucial in visualising and understanding contemporary colonialisms. She has started work on a joint project with members of Birzeit University on the intersections of surveillance and neoliberalism in establishing colonial control. Alongside this, she is leading a mentorship programme for Palestinian academics and students to pursue further studies and research in the UK. Annapurna will also be hosting a reading group in the Department of Politics and International Relations as part of the Race, Empire and Education Collective to encourage interest in Palestine and to challenge the erasure of Palestine from British academia.
The Fellowship delegates will continue to work together to forge institutional links with academics and students in Palestine, to support FOBZU's commitment to the right to education and to the role of education in the creation of a free and flourishing Palestine.
