FLW 24 Resilience under Fire: The view from Lebanon

Join our Future Leaders Patricia Pop and Savannah Taylor for an in-depth discussion about individual and community resilience under fire. This episode focuses on the lived experience of Lebanese students and activists Stephany and Hasan. Stephany Semaan is a Political Science and International Affairs student at the Lebanese American University whose interests center on international engagement and political dynamics. With experience across diverse international contexts, she engages with the concept of resilience through both a global and local lens. In the context of Lebanon’s recent developments, she explores resilience as both a social and political phenomenon, shaped by uncertainty, institutional challenges, and the adaptive capacities of communities. Hasan Jaber is a psychology graduate and dual Master’s candidate in Public Health at the American University of Beirut and Clinical Psychology at the Lebanese University, whose work focuses on mental health, crisis systems, and youth leadership. With experience in emergency health coordination at Lebanon’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center and over two years with the Lebanese Red Cross Youth Sector, he engages with resilience through both practical and research-driven lenses. In the context of Lebanon’s ongoing crises, he explores resilience as a system-level and community-based process, shaped by emergency response, innovation, and the adaptive capacities of individuals and institutions.