We are pleased to announce the recipients of the MENA Program’s Master’s Thesis Award. For its first edition, this award recognizes academic work that demonstrates exceptional analytical rigor, originality, and relevance to key issues in the Middle East and North Africa region.

This year’s winning theses reflect the diversity and depth of research conducted by our students. The Jury, composed of Laurent Bonnefoy (CERI-Sciences Po), Camille Abescat (Dripolis Institute, Sant'Anna School) and Aghiad Ghanem (Scientific Director, MENA Program) has awarded the following students for their work:

- Master’s Thesis Prize: Louisa Utschakowski, for her work entitled “Justice from Distance? – Ethnographic Study of the German Universal Jurisdiction Trial against the former Syrian Militia Member Ahmad H.", under the supervision of Prof. Sharon Weill. Her interview is available here.

- Special Mention: Aya Badr, for her work entitled "Identity at the Crossroads Emerging Dynamics of Amazighness, Arabness, and the Boundaries of the Nation in Morocco", under the supervision of Prof. Stéphane Lacroix. 

- Special Mention: Samuel Lett, for his work entitled "Constructing Realities: Narrating Conflict and Negotiating Identity in the Story-Based Order", under the supervision of Prof. Jean-Pierre Filiu. 

We warmly congratulate this year’s awardees for their remarkable achievements and thank all students who submitted their work. 

An award ceremony will be held on Tuesday 27 January 2026, from 5pm to 8pm, in room Goguel, 56 rue des Saints-Pères. After a word from the Jury, the awardees will present and discuss their work. This will be followed by a cocktail.