Keynote Speakers

Dr Michael Wyness

Michael is a Reader in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Warwick. His work explores the Sociologies of Childhood and Education. His most recent book is Kid Power, Inequality and Generational Relations published by Anthem Press in 2021. His previous books include Childhood and Society (third edition 2019, Palgrave), Childhood, Culture and Society (2018 Sage); Childhood (2015 Polity); Contesting Childhood (1999 Routledge); and Schooling Welfare and Parental Responsibility (1995 Falmer). His research interests are in children's participation and human rights, childhood and theory, children's transitions and home-school relations. His most recent funded research projects are in the field of child migration with a focus on identity, resettlement and educational needs. He is currently working on a new project ‘Young Carers, schooling and Covid-19’.

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Dr Tejendra Pherali

Originally from Nepal, Tejendra studied in Australia, Nepal, the United Kingdom, and the United States and worked in the development sector before starting his career in higher education. He has developed research and teaching programmes in the field of education, conflict and international development at UCL, where he leads the MA Education and International Development: Conflict, Emergencies and Peace. He is also the chair of the British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE)Link opens in a new window and the Editorial Board of the Compare journal.

Tejendra is interested in interactions between education and conflict and post-conflict peacebuilding in fragile environments. He is broadly interested in critical debates on international development with a particular focus on education in emergencies, post-conflict educational reforms, the role of education in peacebuilding, political movements and social change, political economy of education, and critical pedagogies. 

Tejendra leads the 'Education, Conflict and Peacebuilding' research theme within the Centre for Education and International Development. His research focus revolves around education in various conflict-affected contexts including, Afghanistan, Nepal, Lebanon and Somaliland/Somalia. He is currently co-leading a research project on inclusive education in post-conflict Nepal (2019-2022); he is a Co-Investigator in the GCRF-funded RELIEF Centre (Refugees, Education, Learning, Information Technology, and Entrepreneurship for the Future) (2017-2022; 2022-2027); and has recently completed an ESRC-funded research project that investigates Social Movement Learning in Colombia, Nepal, South Africa and Turkey (2017-2021). For more information, click here.

Professor Dallal Stevens

Dallal's research interests relate to refugee and asylum law and policy. She has published over 50 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reports on UK, EU and Middle Eastern asylum and refugee law and policy. Dallal was a Leverhulme Research Fellow from 2017-2019, researching on the protection of refugees and forced migrants in the Middle East.

Dallal has written on current legal and policy developments, as well as historical aspects, of UK asylum. Her research has been supported by external grant income from the Leverhulme Trust, ESRC, British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Board. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law. Dallal currently teaches on an elective module Critical Perspectives on Forced Migration, and formerly taught UGs on Refugee & Asylum Law & Policy and LLM postgraduates in Refugees, Rights and Realities.

Dallal has been involved in multiple research projects, including a current project on Data and Displacement: Assessing the Practical and Ethical Implications of Targeting Humanitarian Protection, funded by UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office under the Collaborative Humanitarian Protection Programme (£578,000).

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Laura Puiggalí

Laura Puiggalí is a Deputy Programme Manager at the Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara) in London. Cara was founded in 1933, when academics and scientists in the UK came together to rescue their colleagues in Germany from Nazi persecution. Currently, the Fellowship Programme supports hundreds of academics at-risk, mainly from the Middle East, to continue their careers in safety by providing temporary placements in the UK (mostly). At Cara, Laura leads on the ‘Active Fellows’ operation, providing support to Fellows in their placements and helping them transition to the next stage of their career. The Active Fellows Team support ca 100 Fellows at any given time. Laura also leads on the Fellowship Programme’s Mentoring Scheme.

Dareen Assaf

Dareen Assaf is a PhD student based in the Institute of Education and Social Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University. Her primary research focus has been in investigating the experiences and perspectives of Syrian academic faculty members in current or previous leadership roles. Her work explores female leadership in higher education, to understand barriers that obstruct female academics from progressing in their careers, and to understand the enablers that have helped those who hold successful executive leadership roles. She has worked on a project, with a group of female PhD researchers at the University of Sheffield, that aims to support women in academia.

Prior to starting her doctoral research in the UK, Dareen worked as a lecturer and teacher trainer at various Syrian universities, in the public and private sectors. Dareen holds a BA in English Language and Literature (Damascus University), and MA in education (Exeter University).