We are delighted to report that Fadi Amer, MPhil alumnus (2019-20), has been awarded a Gates scholarship to study a PhD in Development Studies. Fadi met the Gates selection criteria, which are:
- outstanding intellectual ability
- reasons for choice of course
- a commitment to improving the lives of others
- leadership potential
Fadi will study the complex origins of displacement. Fadi’s family is from Lebanon and has suffered at the hands of the civil war that has torn his country apart for 15 years.
He says: “The past year and a half have seen the violent eruption of the structural contradictions emerging from the civil war and those which facilitated its emergence in the first place, leading to the contemporary collapse in Lebanon's economy and governance structures alongside the explosion of the Beirut port - the lifeline and microcosm of a country dependent on imported goods, incomes, and capital for its livelihood. I hope that I may contribute to improving living conditions in my home country. I believe that a critical understanding of the past ought to illuminate genuine paths to reform in the coming time.”
For further information about this year's awards, please see the Gates Cambridge website: https://www.gatescambridge.org/about/news/class-of-2021-announced/ and for information on this year's scholars, see the University website: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/gatesclassof2021.