The Memory of the Syrian War
Displacement, Gender, and Space
Mari Shammas
Overview
The Memory of the Syrian War is an interdisciplinary online research laboratory exploring how the Syrian war is remembered, documented, and contested across personal, spatial, cultural, and digital contexts. Integrating memory studies, oral history, heritage studies, and conflict research, it examines how displacement, destruction, and reconstruction shape collective and gendered memory.
The course analyzes the destruction of homes, cities, and heritage sites as violence against memory, while engaging with testimony, ruins, diaspora narratives, and grassroots documentation. Gendered experiences and marginalized voices remain central.
Through oral history and participatory spatial documentation, participants contribute to the documentation and analysis of Syrian war memory while developing advanced interdisciplinary research skills.
Learning Outcomes
A general understanding of:
- Core Memory Studies Frameworks
- The Built Environment as a Medium of Memory
- Gendered Dimensions of Memory Production
- Ethical and Political Dimensions of Documentation
- Transnational Memory Politics
- Better understanding for the Syrian War Memory.
The skills to be gained upon active participation:
- Analytical Skills in Memory Studies
- Spatial Interpretation Skills
- Oral History and Interviewing Skills
- Participatory Documentation Skills
- Ethical Research and Archival Skills
- Synthesize findings across testimonies, spatial maps, and archival materials.
- Production of Primary Research Materials (interviews, transcripts, spatial memory maps, and thematic analysis).
Course Outline
You can see and download the course syllabus below.
Instructors
Mari Shammas
Mari Shammas is an architect with an experience in shelter programs and emergency response in the Syrian context, worked with local and international organizations and UN agencies in the humanitarian field for more than 10 years. She’s currently doing her PhD at the University of Liège, AAP Unit (Art, Archology and Heritage unit). She is a member at DIVA Laboratory (Documentation, Interpretation, and Valorization of Heritage) and her research is focusing on digital heritage preservation in crisis zones.She holds two master’s degrees: Master of Building Information Modeling and Management (BIMM) – Syrian Virtual University and Master of Humanitarian Shelter Coordination (HSCT) – University of Oxford Brooks in collaboration with UNHCR & IFRC.
Certification
This course is hosted by Bremen University, dept??? and certified with 6 ECTS upon successful completion.
Please check the course requirements from the course syllabus and inform your instructor(s) about your request to receive a certificate for this course.
You will find the full syllabus on Moodle course page.
At the end of the semester, the instructors will inform the learning designer about your request and grade. The certificate will be prepared with the university secretariat and it may take up to 8 weeks.
Registration
Our courses are held on a digital learning platform, Moodle. Before you create your account on Moodle, we have some notes for your and others’ digital security.
- When you register, you can use a nickname. Nicknames with offensive, racist or sexist undertones will not be accepted.
- Communication outside of the platform is not private. It is a solidarity action with people who would like to stay anonymous for different reasons. Please use our secure platform to communicate with others and respect their choices of communication channels.
- We aim to create an inclusive learning environment with our participants and educate ourselves in a more inclusive language. Be eager and tolerant to learn from each other and challenge any discriminating language. You can have a look at it here.
Creating a new account and registering to a course on Moodle
1. The link will take you to the Off University Moodle homepage.
2. Click the “Log in” button on the top right side of the page.
If you have an account on Off University Moodle, please login and continue from step 7 below.
3. Scroll down to see “Create new account” and click the button.
4. Please fill in the fields marked as *required.
You can use false information to protect your identity and increase your safety. You can enter a nickname, a false email address that resembles the format, such as name@example.org etc. Please note down your user name and password in a safe place.
5. Once you created your account, please wait until the next working day to continue.
Your account needs activation which will be done by Off University. We will need some time to activate your account. This can take up to 24 hours on weekdays and longer on weekends.
6. Please login to check whether your account it active. Once you can login, you will find the available courses on the home page of Moodle and will be able to register by clicking the course title.
7. You can now discover the course page. The first item on the page, General, contains the syllabus and the announcements. Please follow these announcements to stay up to date about your course.
Course Details
Duration
??.??.26 – ??.??.27
Time
??days, ??:00 CET
Credits
6 ECTS
Language
English
Host Institution
Bremen University,
………
Registration:
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