The First Conference of Syrian Social Researchers
“Academic Freedom for Social Researchers”
Istanbul, Turkey on 4 -5 July 2020

Under the title “Academic Freedom for Social Researchers”, the Hermon Center for Contemporary Studies and the Syrian Association for the Social Sciences, in association with the Syrian Journal for the Human Sciences - Qalamoon, will hold the “First Conference of Syrian Researchers in Social Sciences” in Istanbul, Turkey on 4-5 July 2020. The conference allows researchers in any of the social sciences (sociology, philosophy, anthropology, demography, political economy, political science and international relations, history, education, psychology, media, law, cross-disciplinary studies) to present scientific papers on the research they are currently conducting, or that have been accomplished and not yet published, provided that they are Syrians and the like, regardless of the subject of the research, or the academic specialization of the researcher.

Keynote lectures will be given at the conference by

- François Burgat: French researcher and thinker, professor of political science and honorary director of research at the French National Center for Scientific Research, former director of the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO)

o “The root causes of the European diplomatic "failure" in Syria”

- French sociologist Elizabeth Longuenesse, Senior researcher, the National Center French scientific research

o "The working class, the middle classes, work, professions: methodological questions."

- Omar Dahi, a university professor in the United States, and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center

o "The Political Economy of the Syrian Conflict in an Era of Polarization"

- Burhan Ghalion, professor of political sociology and director of the Center for Contemporary Eastern Studies at the Sorbonne University in France.

o Future of Syria between regime and revolution

Conference Scientific Committee (in alphabetical order)
Khader Zakaria, Samir Seifan, Sari Hanafi, Youssef Breik and Youssef Salameh
Conference Secretariat
Basil Al-Hafiz, Samah Hakawati, and Mervat Hreiz
Conditions for participation

- The applicants to participate in this conference are required to be Syrians or like, and to have a proposal on the social, economic or political issues of the Syrian society.

- To submit to the scientific committee of the conference a 300-words abstract and an updated CV to Syrian.ssc@harmoon.org to later than 31 Jan. 2020.

- Conference will be in Arabic but paper can be presented in Arabic, English or French

The conference's committee will notify the applicants in February 2020 of the acceptance of their abstract. However, the full paper should be ready no later than 15 April 2020. Organizers will cover accommodation and meals during the conference, for participants whose papers were accepted. It will also cover travel expenses for those who are unable to secure these expenses from their university or research centers. To view the conference background paper in Arabic: https://syrian-sfss.org/activities/%d8%af%d8%b9%d9%88%d8%a9-%d9%84%d9%84%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%ad%d8%ab%d9%8a%d9%86-%d9%84%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b4%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%83%d8%a9-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%a4%d8%aa%d9%85%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3/?fbclid=IwAR1I_Jxxs5TfR44dUihwIvmgz3Msfy1Z4ZfPTMTYewFnb1fobfmuy7x5j3Y