Lecture

Rosemary Hollis Lecture: The future of multilateralism

Thursday, 20^th February 2025, 17:30 – 20:00 (GMT)
ELG03 (Drysdale Building)
Academics; Alumni; Staff; Students
Free

This event took place in the past.

Building coalitions of solidarity in an age of transnational repression

Overview

The School of Policy and Global Affairs, and The Finsbury Institute are delighted to host Dr Azza Karam to give this year's Rosemary Hollis Memorial Lecture. The title of the lecture is "The future of multilateralism: building coalitions of solidarity in an age of transnational repression?".

This lecture series is dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Rosemary Hollis, a much-loved and much-missed colleague who served as a Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at City from 2008 until her retirement in 2018. She is also one of , and holds a place for her remarkable achievements as voted by staff and students.

Another testimony Rosemary inspiring generations of students is the essay prize that City St George's have been administering over the past few years, thanks to the donation of an alumnus or hers. The most recent prize was awarded in 2023.

Rosemary was the Director of the Olive Tree Scholarship Programme which awarded scholarships for exceptional Palestinian and Israeli students. The students participated in a specially designed parallel programme – in conjunction with their academic studies – in order to promote further understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Olive Tree Programme enabled students to better understand the drivers of the conflict that had shaped their lives and prospects in the Middle East, through cross-conflict dialogue, the study of their respective national narratives and narrative mediation.

Aimed as a cross-disciplinary and community-building event, City St George's envisions this lecture series to celebrate Rosemary’s human and scholarly legacy, and continue to explore the complexities of socio-political issues impacting the world today. The lecture series is chaired by Dr Sara Silvestri, Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Politics.

17:30 – arrival and registration
18:00 – lecture begins
18:45 – Q&A
19:15 – reception for all
20:00 – close

Speaker

Dr Azza Karam is the founding President and CEO of Lead Integrity - a global consultancy firm dedicated to serving the common good, through the leadership, competence and integrity, of women professionals, inspired by diverse faiths.

Azza served at the United Nations for two decades, where she Coordinated the Arab Human Development Reports, co-founded and Chaired the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion - with over 20 UN System bodies - and founded and convened its Multi Faith Advisory Council. Also during her tenure at the United Nations, Azza was a Lead Facilitator for UN system wide peer to peer “Strategic Learning Exchanges” on 'Religion, Development and Diplomacy'.

She has worked in international NGOs, serving as President and CEO of the Women’s Learning Partnership; and Secretary General of the World Conference of Religions for Peace;. She has also served in different intergovernmental organisations (the OSCE, the EU, and International IDEA) in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and East and Central Asia.

Throughout, she has maintained a link with Academia. After serving as Professor of Religion and Development at the Vrij University of Amsterdam, she is now affiliated with the University of Notre Dame's Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion. She is widely published (on development, Islamism, gender, diplomacy etc), and her work has been translated into multiple languages.

In 2022, she was awarded a Doctorate in Humane Letters honoris causa, by John Cabot University (Rome, Italy). She has received multiple other awards, including for her work on/in the United Nations, as well as in/on Interfaith work and Culture.

Born in Egypt, Azza is also a citizen of the Netherlands and resides in New York.