Dr Imene Ajala
Assistant Professor - International Relations
School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Health
+971 4 278 1950
[email protected]
Dr Imène Ajala is Assistant Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). She mainly teaches in the Master of International Relations (MIR).
She obtained her PhD from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Prior to joining UOWD, Dr Ajala taught at Webster University and at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations. In 2015, she was selected by the United States Mission to the United Nations in Geneva to complete an International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) on the theme of “Women Leaders: Promoting Peace and Security”.
She won the International Award for Excellence for Volume 12 of the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Journal Collection for her article “From Islamic Dress to Islamic Fashion to Cool Islam: An Exploration of Muslim Youth Identities in the West”. She is the author of European Muslims and their Foreign Policy Interests. Identities and Loyalties (Gerlach Press, 2018).
- PhD, MA, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (IHEID)
- BA, Political Science, Grenoble Institute of Political Studies (IEPG)
- Kyoto University International Education Programme Certificate (Academic Exchange)
- 2021. “Maghrebis in France: From "Arab Immigrants" to "Muslims"” In Alkazemi, Mariam F. and Claudia E. Youakim (Eds.), Arab Worlds beyond the Middle East and North Africa, Lexington Books.
- 2019. "Tunisian Terrorist Fighters: A Grassroots Perspective". Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression 11(2): 178-190.
- 2018. European Muslims and their Foreign Policy Interests, Identities and Loyalties. Islam and International Relations Series. Berlin: Gerlach Press.
- 2017. “Muslim youth and consumerism: a study of Islamic street wear” Contemporary Islam (12)1: 57-71.
- 2017. “From Islamic Dress and Islamic Fashion to Cool Islam: An Exploration of Muslim Youth Hybrid Identities in the West”. The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Cultural Studies 12(3): 1-11.
- 2016. With Fouad, Linda and Francesco Candino. “Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Perspectives from Islamic Organizations in Europe”. S&F Sicherheit und Frieden- S&F Security and Peace 34(4): 263-269.
- 2014. “Muslims in Europe after 9/11: Securitization, Identities and Loyalties”. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 34(2-3): 123-133.
- 2013. “French Muslim communities and debating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: mobilization and narratives”. French Politics 11 (3): 259-271.
- 2013. With Paffenholz & al. “Civil Society in Transitions: Facing Current Challenges in Tunisia and Egypt”, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP) Issue Brief, Geneva: Graduate Institute.
- 2012. “Mobilizing in Different Political Opportunity Structures: the cases of French and British Muslims”. Air & Space Power Journal-Africa & Francophonie edition, 1st Quarter: 48-84.
- 2011. “The Muslim vote and Muslim lobby in France: Myths and Realities”. Journal of Islamic Law and Culture 12(2): 77-93.
Dr Ajala’s research interests are Comparative politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, Diaspora studies and multiculturalism with a particular focus on Muslims in Europe.
Research Grants
Research grants from the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences to attend the Euro Mediterranean Forum for Young Researchers in Istanbul (2011) and the 8th PanEuropean Conference of International Relations in Warsaw (2013).
Conference grant from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association in Seattle (2011).
- International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort (Co-IRIS)
- European International Studies Association (EISA)
- International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) Alumni
- Theories of International Relations
- International Law and Diplomacy
- Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism
- Gender and International Relations
- Research Project in International Relations
- Thesis in International Relations

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