Awards & Recognition
The Contemporary Arab Thinker
Hi, I am Radwan Ziadeh. I was honored with several awards and grants. I am also a visiting scholar and a fellow at some of the distinguished universities. I was selected as a “Scholar at Risk” by Harvard University in the 2008-2009 academic year. Along with may other grants, I also have a Grant from The Ford Foundation.
A Major Player in the “Damascus Spring”
The Encyclopedia of the Most Important Contemporary Arabic Thinkers and Intellectuals included me among the most critical and effective Arab thinkers in the contemporary Arab world in 2008. I played a major role in the “Damascus Spring,” a period of intense debate about politics, social issues, and calls for reform in Syria after the death of President Hafez al-Asad in 2000.
- A visiting scholar at Marburg University- Germany, November 2016-December 2016.
- A fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, Washington D.C September 2012-Present.
- A visiting fellow, Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University
- A visiting scholar at Lehigh University from January 2013 to September 2013.
- A visiting scholar at Dubai Initiative at Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, September 2012-August 2013
- Senior fellow, Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship Program, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington, D.C., September 2011-August 2012
- Visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) at Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University, September 2010-August 2011
- Prins Global Fellow, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University, March 2010-August 2010
- Visiting scholar, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., March 2010-August 2010
- Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Washington, D.C. “Democratization and Political Division in the Middle East,” September 2009-March 2010
- Visiting fellow, Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University
- “Kurds in the Middle East: Human Rights Perspective,” Summer 2009
- Carr Center Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2008-2009
- Visiting fellow, Middle East Programme, Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs), London, U.K., 2008-2009
- Senior fellow, Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship Program, United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington, D.C., “Democratic Change in Syria,” 2007-2008
“Transitional Justice in the Middle East after the Arab Spring,” November 2014-December 2015
- A grant from Euro - Mediterranean Human Rights Foundation to Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, 2006-2008
- Publishing monthly magazine Al-Bosla, 2006-2008
- A grant from the National Endowment for Democracy to Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, 2007-2012
- Establishing and publishing a peer-reviewed magazine Al-Mishkat in Damascus
- A grant from the National Endowment for Democracy to Syrian Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, 2008-2009
- Translating Academic books on Syria from English into Arabic
- Publishing a series of reports on the situation of Human Rights in Syria.
- A grant from Ford Foundation, 2008-2009
- Establishing a website called “Transitional Justice in the Arab World”
- A grant from Freedom House, 2009
- “Human Rights Documentation and Enforced Disappearances in Syria”
- A grant from Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), 2009
- Research human rights perspective of Kurds in Syria
- In 2010, the Democracy Courage Tributes award on behalf of the Syrian Human. Rights Movement by the World Movement for Democracy at Jakarta- Indonesia.
- In 2009 Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Academic Freedom Award in Boston.
- Awarded a prize in Boston, 2009 Annual MESA Conference.
- Shoman’s Prize, Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Amman.
- “Best Researcher in the Arab World for 2004 in the Field of Political Science.”
All of the awards were given in appreciation of distinguished scientific work, the publication of which would lead to an increase in scientific knowledge, support, and enhancement of Arab scientific research, as well as contribute to bringing up a generation of young Arab researchers and experts in the various scientific domains.
https://mesana.org/awards/awardee/mesa-academic-freedom-award/radwan-ziadeh
The Founder & Director of The Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies
I, Radwan Ziadeh, am the founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies. A prominent advocate for human rights and reform in Syria, I have frequently given talks in and outside Syria on the status of human rights and democratic reform in Syria.
I am also a principal figure and activist in the Damascus Spring, a period of intense debate about politics and social issues and calls for reform in Syria after the death of President Hafez al-Assad in 2000.
The “Scholar at Risk”
After an extended period of intensive surveillance by Syrian security agencies, and based on indications that I was about to be detained, I fled Syria in mid-2007.
I was then selected as a “Scholar at Risk,” by Harvard University, where I spent the 2008-2009 academic year in residence at the Kennedy School. Having left Syria without government permission, I was unable to return to my home country.