Interdisciplinary Studies

Aisha Mershani completed her Ph.D. degree (2015) from the UNESCO program in International Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón de la Plana, Spain. Mershani’s dissertation, entitled Palestinian Civil Resistance: A Case Study of the Popular Struggle Against the Wall from 2002-2013, focused on life in the Occupied West Bank since the establishment of the Israeli Apartheid Wall, and the Palestinian popular struggle to nonviolently remain on their lands.

From 2003-2013 Mershani focused her subject on Palestine/Israel and photographed nearly every aspect of life under occupation. These photographs cannot be seen in mainstream media and have been in multiple publications, as well as many Internet news sites over the years, to further the awareness of the ongoing nonviolent grassroots movement. She is also one of the artists in the reference book, "Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists".

As founder of Project Souarna (our photos) Mershani conducted a photography workshop in 2009 for refugee and displaced Arab youth living in and near al Wehdat refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. The project brought together Palestinian, Iraqi, bidun Kuwaiti, and Sudanese youth with international photographers and artists to create a body of work that expressed the situation of youth living in the region.

Mershani combines her scholarly work with her media activism. Her research interests include: Middle Eastern Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Movements, Civil Resistance, Israel/Palestine, Media and Social Justice.