R (Rima) Rassi, MA

Biography

Since 2008, Rima Rassi has worked exclusively in academic and research settings, holding positions spanning universities, think-tanks, and research institutes in Lebanon and abroad. She is an Instructor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Rima holds a Master of Arts in Sociology from AUB (2008). For the past twelve years, her research has been dedicated to the study of population movements and refugee crises in Lebanon and the greater Arab region. She has presented at and participated in more than twenty conferences, seminars, and workshops and has a number of publications on refugee issues. For her Ph.D. dissertation, Rima is looking at the governance of the Syrian refugee influx to Lebanon between 2011 and 2021. Broadly speaking, her research interests include refugees, international organizations, the United Nations, the ethics of refugee research, and social justice. Rima has been asked to serve as a reader on Masters theses at the American University of Beirut as well as Harvard University and is often asked to guest lecture in graduate seminars on the Syrian refugee crisis and UNHCR.