The research cluster

The LOSWAC research cluster consists of eight members. Since this project was initiated as a collaboration of the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS), the German Jordanian University (GJU), the Lebanese University (LU), and Yarmouk University in Jordan (YU), two members of each university are included in the research cluster: one professor and one research associate.

German Jordanian University (GJU)

Prof. Dr. Christine Hildebrandt (supervising professor, GJU)

  • Head of Social Work Department, SAHL, GJU
  • Professor of Social Work and Social Pedagogy
  • Doctor of Philosophy – University of Marburg, Germany
  • Instructor of Social Sciences and Sociology - Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
  • Instructor of Social Sciences, Social Work and Health – Frankfurt University

Expertise: theories, concepts and methods of Social Work; intercultural communication and transnational virtual counselling & supervision.

Da’ad Nazzal (research associate; GJU)

  • German instructor and interpreter
  • Research associate in the Social Work Department, SAHL, GJU.

Expertise: language acquisition; intercultural communication; education and youth training; migration and refugee studies; political and democratic processes in Europe and in the MENA region.

Yarmouk University (YU)

Prof. Dr. Ayat J.J. Nashwan (supervising professor, YU)

  • Director of Refugees, Displaced Persons, and Forced Migration Studies Center
  • Associate Professor in the Sociology and Social Work Department
  • Member of Yarmouk University Questionnaires Design for Quality Assurance Committee
  • Member of various Sociology Department committees e.g. Social Committee, Quality Assurance Committee, etc.
  • Member of Quality Assurance and Strategic Planning Committee, Faculty of Arts, Yarmouk University

Expertise: social work polices; field of Syrian refugee youth in Jordan (esp. early marriages; humanitarian access (pathways for refugees from transit to safe havens)

Mustafa Abu Serdaneh (research associate, YU) [until October 2019]

  • Mental health psycho social support (MHPSS) projects manager
  • social psychologist

Expertise: mental health and psychosocial field; field training with youth refugees in Jordan; host communities and the sustainable development goals 

Fida'a Hussein (research associate, YU) [from October 2019]

  • Community interpreter and translator in a mental health project for refugees

Expertise: community interpreting, sociology of translation, refugee studies, and mental health programmes in Jordan

Lebanese University (LU):

Prof. Dr. Rania Mansour (supervising professor, LU):

  • Head of the Social Work Department, Lebanese University
  • Instructor at Haigazian University, Lebanon
  • Lead Trainer, SMART Center for Media Advocacy and Training
  • Coordinator, Social Work Department, National Association for Social Care and Vocational Training
  • Vice President of UPEL association (Union pour la Protection de l’Enfance au Liban)
  • Secretary of Social Work Arab Association (SWA)

Expertise: Social intervention with individuals and families; field training with individuals, families, groups and communities; psychosocial support; case management; crisis intervention

Aimée Ghanem (research associate, LU)

  • Instructor and field trainer in social work: group and community intervention
  • Monitoring and evaluation consultant
  • Part-time lecturer at Lebanese University

Expertise: Youth and adolescent sexual and reproductive health programmes; child protection programmes; advocacy and social development; citizenship and environment

Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS)

Prof. Dr. Ralf Roßkopf (supervising professor, THWS) [until Aug. 2019]

  • Project manager
  • Professor of Law, Fundamentals of Law and Social Work in the Migration Society

Expertise: migration and refugee law; international and human rights law; constitutional and public law; social law

Prof. Dr. Hannah Reich (supervising professor, THWS) [from Aug. 2019]

  • Project manager
  • Professor of Artistic and Movement-Oriented Methods in Social Work; Radicalization Prevention, Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding;

Expertise: inclusive societies, social cohesion and social change; peace education practice and research; interactive theatre and conflict transformation; experience-based and participatory learning processes; personal development, stress and conflict management

Stefanie Witter (research associate; THWS)

  • Research associate at the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, THWS

Expertise: resettlement process to the European Union; migration studies, social development and transitional justice in Southern Africa; culture of remembrance