Albana Dwonch, Ph.D.

Dr. Albana Dwonch is a Lecturer at Gonzaga University, where her research and teaching examines issues of peace, security, and development, with a particular focus in the region of the Middle East. She has studied the social and political impact of online and offline Palestinian youth activism in the context of the historic popular movements of the Arab Spring and their evolving role in the larger context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Prior and after her doctoral studies at the University of Washington, Dr. Dwonch worked and lived over a decade as an international aid worker, in multiple conflict-affected states and societies in the region of the Middle East, where she designed and led projects in youth development and humanitarian emergency sectors. She also was a Visiting Scholar at the Ibrahim Abu Lughod International Studies Institute, at Birzeit University in West Bank, where she revised and completed her book “Palestinian youth Activism in the Internet Age”. Currently she is a member of the International Research Group for the FBA (Folke Bernadette Academy) the Swedish Peace, Security and Development agency.

Albana’s goal as a passionate Teacher-Scholar is to integrate these field-driven international development practices and evidence-based peace-building strategies with interdisciplinary scholarly perspectives and innovative assignments in order to create a classroom where experiential learning and empathetic community building can lead to authentic and lasting relationships with her students and their lifelong learning journey at Gonzaga University and beyond.