Gowning Ceremony Held for Our Sociology PhD Graduate Dalal Bajes

A gowning ceremony was held for Dalal Bajes, our PhD graduate of the Department of Sociology, on 7 October 2026. The ceremony was held with our graduate and faculty.

On August 22, 2025, Dalal Bajes Salem defended her doctoral dissertation, “The Islamic Bloc in Palestinian Universities: Student Resistance, Mobilization, and Political Opportunity Structures,” marking the first doctoral dissertation defence in the Department of Sociology under the supervision of Prof. Alev Erkilet.

The dissertation traces the evolution of the Islamic Bloc, established in 1980, through the 2021 Seif Al-Quds uprising. It examines how Palestinian student activism has been shaped by the interplay between religious identity, political opportunity structures, and university autonomy.

Drawing on oral histories, archival sources, and 31 interviews, the study argues that effective mobilization requires both agencies driven by anger and enabling structural conditions. The dissertation offers a comprehensive framework for understanding Islamic student movements under occupation, highlighting how religious identity and structural opportunities interact to sustain collective resistance.

We congratulate Dalal Bajes on this significant academic achievement and wish her every success in her future endeavours.