Unpacking the Syrian Academics’ Experience of Exile and Their Potential Role in the Future of Syrian Higher Education

Abstract

For millions of people around the world, the condition of protracted refugee-ness and exile-ness is a daily reality. We navigate three different temporal worlds: our past socio-cultural, historical, and political roots; our present experience with conflict and displacement, loss, grief, and trauma; and our future dreams, hopes, and plans for ourselves and our homelands. While navigating these temporal worlds, we constantly remember, renegotiate, reimagine, and reconstruct home, belonging, identity, and homeland. This thesis focuses on Syrian exiled academics residing in the UK and their experience of exile. It aims to unpack their complex belonging to their homeland and the dilemmas they encounter in exile. It also explores their potential future roles in Syrian higher education (HE), the barriers they confront in engaging with Syria, and the motivations driving them to contribute to the context with which they have a complicated relationship. The thesis is situated at the intersection of forced migration, education in conflict contexts, diaspora engagement with homeland, and peacebuilding. It reviews the broad literature in these disciplines and the relevant contextual literature on Syria. As I have direct and personal experience of exile, I have employed a heuristic phenomenological framework that has guided all aspects of the research. Heuristic research does not exclude the researcher from the study; the self is present throughout the process, allowing for self-exploration, self-discovery, and reflexive self-dialogue to delve into the subjective experience of the exile phenomenon. Given the emphasis on relationality, intersubjectivity, and betweenness in heuristic methodology, I have conducted dialogues and interviews with 15 Syrian academics living in exile to explore the multifaceted experience of exile. The research findings indicate that exile has a dual nature, encompassing both positive and negative aspects. The experience of exile seems to begin with a sense of alienation felt at home, which becomes formalised through forced separation from home and is continuously relived through the loss of and inability to return home. The study argues that three interconnected dimensions—practical, emotional, and compatibility—help understand the evolving dynamics of exiled academics belonging to their homeland. The research also delves into the main factors influencing exiled academics’ belonging, including the impact of the war in Syria, their work on Syria, social media, prior experiences in Syria, connections with Syrians in exile, and having family in Syria. Furthermore, the study explores five dilemmas that exiled academics face. These are what help people in exile also trigger their traumas, living between two extremes of emotions when one’s homeland does not feel like a home anymore, missing what no longer exists, and wanting to connect with their homeland but also disconnect. As for exiled academics’ contribution to Syrian higher education, the thesis proposed analysing their contribution on three interconnected levels: students, teachers, and academic institutions levels. The motivation driving the engagement of exiled academics in education development is rooted in four key factors: a strong sense of belonging and identity, a deep belief in the power of education, a strong sense of duty and responsibility, and a complex mix of emotions encompassing guilt, love, sadness, empathy, and hope. Finally, the thesis emphasises the importance of comprehensively analysing the barriers exiled academics face to contribute to HE development. These barriers exist across six interconnected levels: political, HE, individual, exile dynamics, local dynamics, and logistical levels.