Ms. Guita G. Hourani, Ph.D. is the Director of the Lebanese Emigration Research Center (LERC) at Notre Dame University (NDU), Lebanon.
She has a Ph.D. in Humanities from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan. She is currently a Fellow at the Orientalisches Seminar (The Institute for Islamic Studies), Universität zu Köln (University of Cologne), Germany; an Expert on Citizenship with the European Union Democracy Observatory on Citizenship, Italy; Network Member and Country Expert with the Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration (CARIM), Italy; Editorial Board Member Mashreq & Mahjar Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, USA; University Research Board Member at Notre Dame University (NDU), Lebanon; Consultant to both the Lebanese Development Network and Carthage Center for Research and Information, Lebanon. She was a Fellow of the Civic Education and Leadership Fellowship program (CELF) at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University in New York and a Fellow at the Institute of Christian Oriental Research at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C, USA. She also served as a member of the Migration Expert Committee of the Directorate of Migrants at the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a member of the UNDP National Academic Working Group on Migration in Lebanon, as well as an expert on migration for the Maronite Patriarchal Synod from 2003-2006. Dr. Hourani was an International Development Consultant at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. While in the USA, she pioneered a course on the role of women in war, peace and conflict resolution and taught it at several universities and institutions. Dr. Hourani has conducted research in over 25 countries and given lectures and papers in more than 20 countries. Dr. Hourani has conceptualized, designed methodologies, implemented and written final reports on projects related to migration, refugees, socioeconomic mobility, political participation, human insecurity, integration policies, access to information, and the like. Her recent publications include: “Access to Information in Lebanon: A Survey” published by The Lebanese Transparency Association (LTA) and the Lebanese Development Network (LDN), Lebanon; “Refugees of the Arab Spring: The Syrian Refugees in Lebanon” with Sam van Vliet, published by the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies of the American University of Cairo, Egypt; “Transit Migration of Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon” and “Migration Intentions of Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon” with Kamal Abou Chedid and Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous for the International Organization for Migration (IOM); “Towards Effective Temporary Labor Migration Schemes: Report on Lebanon and Jordan” with Eugene Sensenig- Dabbous for the International Labor Organization (ILO) published by the Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration (CARIM) of the European University Institute, Italy; “Effect of Migration Policies on Human Rights in the European Neigbourhood: The Cases of Georgia, Kosovo and Lebanon” with Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous for the Directorate-General for External Policies: Policy Department, The European Parliament; “The Kurds of Lebanon: Socioeconomic Mobility and Political Participation Via Naturalization”, published by the Lebanese Emigration Research Center of Notre Dame University, Lebanon; “Naturalized Citizens: Political Participation, Voting Behavior, and Impact on Elections in Lebanon (1996-2007)” with Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous published in The Journal of International Migration and Integration (JIMI); “The Global Financial Crisis: Impact on Lebanese Expatriates in The Gulf”, published by the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS), American University of Cairo, Egypt; “Insecurity, Migration and Return: the Case of Lebanon Following the Summer 2006 War” with Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous, published by CARIM, Italy; “Gender Mainstreaming Forced Migration Research” with Eugene Sensenig-Dabbous in Al-Raida, published by the Lebanese American University (LAU) Press; and “Lebanon’s Emigration Integration Policy, Integration Policies: The View from Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries”, published by CARIM. She has one published book entitled The Impact of the Summer 2006 War on Migration in Lebanon: Emigration, Re-Migration, Evacuation, and Returning. She has recently served as Team Leader and Migration Expert to LDN’s Swiss labor policy project in five MENA countries and to CCRI’s ILO project on the employability of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Dr. Hourani has, in the last six years, received over 270,000 USD in individual and collective research and field survey grants.
