AARMENA Teams

AARMENA Team Consists of the following Scientific Researcher:  

• Scientific Director: Prof. Dr. Martin Leiner

  

  Scientific Director of the AARMENA.  

  He holds a Chair in Systematic Theology / Applied Ethics at the Faculty of Theology at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He is also the founder and director of the Jena Center for Reconciliation Study

• Coordinator: Hon. Prof. Dr. Iyad Muhsen AlDajani

  

  Coordinator for the AARMENA Doctoral School

  Post-Doc Research Fellow / Applied Ethics, Faculty of Theology / Department of Systematic Theology and Ethics;

  Research Specializations

  • Reconciliation, Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies
  • Digital Peacebuilding and Digital Humanities
  • Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Public Policy
  • Applied Phronesis and Netnography
  • Reconciliation in the Islamic World and MENA
  • Sustainable Development Goals and Peacebuilding
  • International Higher Education and Capacity Building

  Hon. Prof. Dr. phil. Iyad Muhsen AlDajani is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in reconciliation, conflict transformation, peace studies, digital peacebuilding, and the application of artificial intelligence and digital humanities to public policy and sustainable development.

  1. Academic Qualifications and Honorary Appointments

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) — Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. Research specialisation in information and communication technologies for reconciliation.
  • Honorary Professor — Saint Lucas Academy, Austria, associated with EUREKA, Brussels, Belgium - EUREKA Institute Austria.

  2. Executive Education and Professional Certificates

  Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University — USA (2023)

  • Artificial Intelligence in Public Policy
  • Cybersecurity
  • Negotiation

  Saïd Business School, University of Oxford — United Kingdom (2021)

  • Artificial Intelligence Programme

  University of Oxford — United Kingdom (2024)

  • Reference Class Forecasting

  Seeds of Peace

  • Certificate in Facilitation
  • Professional experience as a facilitator in peacebuilding and conflict resolution programmes

  3. Academic Honours and International Awards

  • Albert Schweitzer Golden Medallion for Science and Arts — Recognition of contributions to science, scholarship, and society.
  • Cross of Hope — Honorary distinction.
  • Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Award — Academic recognition associated with internet research.
  • Chevalier des Belges — Honorary distinction.
  • Books for Peace Award (2025) — Recognition associated with contributions to literature, peace, and intercultural understanding.

  4. Academic and Professional Recognition

  • Editorial Board Member — Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Springer Nature.
  • Founder and Coordinator — Academic Alliance for Reconciliation in the Middle East and North Africa (AARMENA).
  • Chief Editor — AARMENA Book Series.
  • Coordinator — Doctoral School of Reconciliation, Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies.
  • International academic project coordination and leadership in Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education.

  ---

  Academic qualifications, executive education, honorary appointments, and awards are listed separately to distinguish formal degrees from professional training and honorary distinctions.

  • ORCID digital profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1489-2551External link 

  Learn morepdf, 538 kb · de
• Research Fellow: Prof.Dr. Ciarán Burke

  

  Research Fellow

  Professor Ciarán Burke is an academic, a lawyer, and a Eurocrat. Ciarán is Senior Research Fellow at the Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. He also works at the Internal Market Affairs Directorate of the EFTA Surveillance Authority in Brussels. He is the former Director of Research at the Law Reform Commission of Ireland, and has worked for a variety of governments, international organizations and NGOs.

  Ciarán's areas of interest include various aspects of public international law, international human rights law, European Union law, comparative constitutional and private law, general principles of law, equity, Arctic regulation, migration and legal theory, as well as reconciliation studies and peace studies .

• East Asia Cooperation Dr. Amanda tho Seeth

  

  Holds a PhD in political science from Philipps-University Marburg. She has studied Islamic studies, Indonesian studies and politicals cience at the University of Hamburg and at Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif  Hidayatullah Jakarta. She has held postdoctoral positions at EHESS Paris,  Humboldt University Berlin and GIGA Hamburg. Her research focuses on the role of Islamic academia in Indonesian domestic politics and society as well asin foreign policy and science diplomacy. She is responsible for communication and exchange with Indonesian academics.

• Director of Practice : Dr. Laura Villanueva

  

  Director of Practice 

  • Director of Practice in Peace, Conflict Transformation, and Reconciliation.
  • Establish a program that integrates practice into the educational process and facilitates an AARMENA community of practice.
  • Academic advisor for exchange opportunities for students available through the AARMENA network agreements with the Ph.D. program "Reconciliation, Conflict Transformation, Peace Studies" (RPS).
  • Establish sustainable partnerships between local communities and AARMENA in advancing peace and reconciliation work and joint research.
• Research Associate: Dr. Luis B. Pena

  

  Research Associate

  • Lecturer and researcher in conflict analysis, security, and peacebuilding
  • Researcher of the Study Center for the Reconciliation of the University of Jena in Germany (JCRS)
  • Fellowship researcher of the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences (CALAS)
  • Lecturer and researcher at the University Externado of Colombia, IGAC Colombia, National University of Medellin Colombia, University of Jena, the FLACSO in Quito, Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Leipzig in Germany
  • Founding member of the network of Critical Geography Rooted in Latin American -GEORAIZAL
• Research Associate: Dr. Davide Tacchini

  

  Research Associates

  • Research Fellow and Project Coordinator at the Friedrich Schiller University (Jena Center For Reconciliation Studies) Jena, Germany.
  • Visiting Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the University of Parma (DUSIC Dipartimento di Discipline Umanistiche, Sociali e delle Imprese), Parma Italy,
  • Cultore della Materia  in Islamic Studies and The Catholic University, Milan. (Ph.D. Candidates Supervision, MA Theses reviews).
  • Radical Islam: Sayyid Qutb and the role of his thought and personal story in contemporary Islamism, Radical Muslim Views of Christianity: the Muslim View of St. Paul.
  • Islam in the West / Islam in Europe / Christian-Muslim Relations / Islamic Reformation ( Islāh, Tajdīd ) in the thought of contemporary Muslim thinkers (Tareq Oubrou, Tāriq Ramadān, 'Abdullahi Ahmad An-Na'īm, Abdolkarim Soroush, Mohammed Ābid al -Jābirī). Italian Islam and the Catholic Church.
• Research Associate: Dr. Francesco Ferrari

  

  Research Associate 

  • Coordinator, Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies (JCRS)
  • Coordinator, Graduate Program "Religion-Conflict-Reconciliation" (RCR)
  • Coordinator, DFG Project “Hearts of Flesh - not Stone”
  • Post-Doc Research Fellow, Chair for Systematic Theology and Ethics
• Doctoral Program Assistant

  

  Mrs. Zinat HASSAN Ph.D. candidate _ 

  Research Interest:

  A Political Reconciliation Process into Taif Agreement: The Case of Lebanon.

   

   

  • Zinat Ahmed Hassan holds a master's degree in Conflict Management and Humanitarian Action from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
  • Administrative Program Coordinator for three master's programs at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
  • Research Assistant in the Islam and Global Affairs Program at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
  • Interested in studying the "Taif Agreement" and the obstacles that prevented real reconciliation and actual and sustainable peace between the Lebanese sects.
  • Participated in “Forced migration in the Arab countries: problems and issues” conference held by The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in November 30 & December 1, 2019 “Challenges of the return of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and prospects for integration”
  • Participated in International Conference Governance of public policies during and after conflicts in the Middle East Regional held by Doha Institute For Graduate Studies in April 4th - 6th, 2021 “Geopolitical Conflict and the Fragile State - The Penetrated State of Lebanese Sovereignty”.
• Research Assistant

  

  Mrs Ednah Kangee

  • Researcher, Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies (JCRS)
  • Research Associate. Academic Alliance for Reconciliation in the Middle East and North Africa project (AARMENA).
  • Research Topic: “The Role of Political Parties in Electoral Violence in Africa. Is there an Opportunity for Reconciliation? A Case Study of Kenya and Ghana. "

   Email: Ednah.kangee@uni-jena.de

  Education

  • 2021 - Ph.D Candidate in Political Science - Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies, Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
  • 2015 - 2016 Fellow - Institute for Global Engagement - Center for Women Faith and Leadership - Washington DC - USA.
  • 2013 - Masters in Armed Conflict and Peace Studies -University of Nairobi
    Research Title: “Land Conflicts in Taita Taveta County 1963-2010”.
  • 2008 - Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration - University of Nairobi.

  Research Interest

  • Conflict transformation, reconciliation and peace building
  • Democratization process in Africa
  • Development cooperation
  • governance
  • Restorative and Transitional Justice
  • Religion and Global Development
  • Women, Peace, and Security
• Distinguished Ph.D. candidate:

  

  Distinguished Ph.D. candidate:

   
  Ms. Rawan Tahboub, Ph.D. candidate 

  Research Interest: Virtual Exchange as a Mechanism for Digital Education in Reconciliation Process -Transdisciplinary Research

  • Leading the Arabic Erasmus + virtual exchange courses (development and managing)
  • Assisting in the implementation of other Erasmus + Virtual Exchange courses
  • Experienced facilitator and coaching in academic research
  • Managing partners and initiating new partnerships among HEI's and non HEI's in the MENA region