Online via Zoom
November 17, 2025 @ 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm
In this wide-ranging talk, Dr. Maha Nassar examines the transnational history of Palestinian student activism over the last century. Drawing on the Palestinian epistemological concept of ṣumūd (steadfastness), she argues that, since the 1920s, Palestinian university students around the world – including many women – advanced a liberation framework that challenged Western hegemonic understandings of Palestine and the Palestinian people. She also uncovers intra-Palestinian contestations, where students with varying political commitments debated what liberation looks like and the best means to achieve it. She concludes by showing how students today are bringing into sharp relief broader questions about the role of higher education in addressing global challenges.
Dr. Maha Nassar is an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona, where she teaches courses on the history of Palestine and the modern Arab world. Dr. Nassar is author of the award-winning book, Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World (Stanford University Press, 2017), as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles that examine questions of decolonization, Black-Palestinian solidarity, and US discourses on Palestine. Dr. Nassar is actively engaged in public scholarship, with analysis pieces in The Washington Post, The Conversation, and elsewhere, as well as media appearances on NPR, PBS, and Vox. In 2024, Dr. Nassar received a Woman of Impact Award from the University of Arizona’s Office of Research, Innovation, and Impact (RII). Her current book project is a global history of Palestine’s young people.
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 