This workshop introduces the different strategies that academics can employ to increase the societal impact of their research beyond the confines of traditional academia. The workshop will start by navigating the disconnect between academia and practice while challenging conventional notions of academic success. Grounded in the belief that academic research holds immense potential to contribute to global conversations and address pressing societal challenges, in this workshop, participants will focus together on exploring innovative communication strategies, identifying opportunities for embedding research within broader societal contexts, and developing actionable plans for increasing their research's reach and relevance. Through interactive exercises and case studies showcasing academic projects with societal impact, attendees will reimagine research projects as catalysts for positive social change. This workshop draws on the experiences that the presenters and their colleagues have developed over the years in defining and implementing projects geared towards societal impact, specifically in areas around gender inclusion, healthcare management, youth civic engagement, and education transformation.
About the Speakers
Lina Daouk-Oyry
Lina Daouk-Oyry is an Associate Professor of Organisational Psychology, with a strong interest in bridging academia and practice, and utilizing academic knowledge to serve society. Her research lies at the intersection of people, management, organization, and society. As a Scholar-Activist, Dr. Daouk-Oyry's approach to research is interdisciplinary and translational, focusing on partnering with researchers and practitioners across fields to create multiple forms of scholarly outputs that better integrate research and societal impact.
Dr. Daouk-Oyry is a 'context-sensitive' researcher with expertise in the cross-cultural contexts of the Arab Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the healthcare sector, and extreme contexts marked by crises and disasters. She has led the team that developed the first indigenous model of personality for the Arab world and has published extensively on individual differences and evidence-based management in healthcare. Her current research focuses on organizing in extreme contexts.
Lina is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Scholar Award from the Arab for Social and Economic Development, and her scholarly activism in the aftermath of the Beirut blast was recognized by AACSB as an 'innovation that inspires.' An advocate for women's and minority groups' rights, she has collaborated on several projects advancing workplace inclusion for these groups. Lina also serves as an adjunct professor at the American University of Beirut and is currently co-PI on the SAWI Project, a multi-million USD initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State Middle East Partnership Initiative. The project focuses on mobilizing decision-makers and leaders to build more inclusive HR systems and workplace cultures across eight Arab MENA countries.
Carmen Geha
Carmen is co-founder and Managing Director of Soltara Consulting, a growing platform of experts specializing in strategy design, leadership development, and applied research for inclusive policies and practices serving international organizations, businesses, and governments. She is an international consultant with 15 years of practitioner experience in designing strategies and programs on gender equality, elections, civil society, and public sector reform. Carmen is a Research Fellow and Associate Faculty at the Barcelona Institute for International Studies, teaching courses on gender and development.
Carmen is a scholar-activist and an expert in women's political and economic participation, refugee policies, and collective action in the Middle East and North Africa. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews (2014). She was a Maria Zambrano Fellow at Pompeu Fabra University (2022-2024), a tenured Associate Professor at the American University of Beirut (2020-22), and has held visiting positions, including as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University (2021), research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study (2018), and the Watson Institute at Brown University (2015).
