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After 54 years of brutal dictatorship and 14 years of merciless war, Syrians have achieved their freedom. How did the Syrian people get here? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead? 

This is the topic we will explore when the Center for Global Humanities kicks off its 17th season with a lecture titled “Understanding Syria” on Monday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. in Girard Innovation Hall at the ����ֱ�� Portland Campus for the Health Sciences.

Drawing from her interviews with more than 500 displaced Syrians over the past 13 years, Wendy Pearlman, Ph.D., Jane Long Professor of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science at Northwestern University, will put the stunning collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in a historical perspective while also explaining the stakes for the 6 million Syrian refugees living abroad. 

Pearlman is one of academia’s leading authorities on Syria and the Syrian diaspora. She earned her doctorate from Harvard University, has studied Arabic and the Arab world for 30 years, and is the author of six books and scores of academic articles and book chapters on the Middle East. 

Since 2011, Pearlman has interviewed Syrians around the world about their life experiences. She shares their testimonials in two books. 

published in 2017 and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, is a mosaic of personal testimonials chronicling the Syrian uprising, war, and displacement crisis. The New York Times Book Review called it “essential reading.” 

Pearlman’s subsequent book, published in 2024, interweaves narratives of displaced Syrians on five continents reflecting on losing home, searching for home, and rethinking the meaning of home. Publisher’s Weekly called it “a haunting rumination on what it means to belong somewhere,” and the book was recently named a finalist for the 2025 Dayton Literary Peace Prize. 

CGH Director Josh Pahigian, M.F.A., put the center’s season-opening lecture in context.

“We all watched the Arab Spring of 2011 with so much hope. But, soon after, Syria descended into civil war and the accompanying humanitarian crisis unfolded before our eyes,” Pahigian said. “With the country now at an inflection point that might signal brighter days ahead, we are grateful to host an expert like Professor Pearlman who can help us understand the stakes in human terms.”   

This will be the first of five events this fall at the Center for Global Humanities, where lectures are always free, open to the public, and streamed live online. 

Learn more about this semester’s Center for Global Humanities events.