Dunya Habash ’12 Named 2019 Young Alum on the Rise
The Indian Springs School Alumni Council has named Dunya Habash ’12 as the 2019 Young Alum on the Rise, a recent graduate whose accomplishments poise her to leave an enduring mark in her field. Habash holds undergraduate degrees in Music and History from Birmingham-Southern College and a master’s in Refugee Studies from the University of Oxford. She now works as a researcher and outreach officer for the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, England. Starr Drum ’02 asked Habesh how her time at Springs has influenced her career.
Q: Since graduating in 2012, you have been a prolific writer, speaker, composer, performer, and filmmaker, with many of your projects focusing on the refugee experience. Tell us about how you became interested in that topic and how it has influenced your work.
A: The Syrian conflict commenced in 2011 when I was a sophomore at Springs. I even remember discussing the conflict with fellow classmates in Mrs. McGawen’s geometry class. By the time I was a sophomore at Birmingham-Southern College a few years later, Syria had become the leading story across the media. There were so many stories about Syrian refugees moving to camps in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon with accompanying images of struggle and despair. My parents are Syrian and my entire extended family, who we used to visit during the summer vacation, lived in Syria before the conflict. As time passed, I watched most of my extended family move out of the country, scattering all over the world. I felt very disconnected watching from my comfortable home in the U.S. and decided that I needed to do something for Syria. So, I traveled to Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan during my junior year in college to volunteer my time and listen to the Syrian people. My experience in the camp was so transformative that I decided to dedicate my career to understanding forced migration—especially in relation to the Syrian conflict— as well as writing and speaking about it.
Q: Tell us about some experiences from your time at Indian Springs that shaped who you are today.
A: I don’t think I can say in words fully just how formative my years at Springs were for my personal and intellectual development. I discovered my passion for music at Springs and started formal piano lessons as a junior with Dr. Alina Voicu. There were so many opportunities for me to explore music at Springs because the arts and humanities were not only a significant part of the curriculum but also a general ethos of the wider school community. I still remember how wonderful it was for me to be able to perform one of my compositions, which I composed for Dr. Voicu’s music theory class, at my graduation ceremony. I don’t think it would have been possible to do something like this at another school. That kind of encouragement is exactly what I needed to develop my creativity and take music seriously; it turned me from someone who plays piano as a pastime to someone who studies music intellectually. This discovery is why I decided to do a degree in music as well as history at Birmingham-Southern College as an undergraduate.
Q: Do you still have connections or involvement with fellow Springs alumni and/or the Springs community? Tell us about those.
A: Yes, I am still in touch with several friends and professors at Springs. I try to visit the campus every time I am in Birmingham to chat with Dr. Cooper, Ms. Tetzlaff, and others. One of my best friends at Springs is now living and working in London, which is about an hour away from Cambridge, so we still visit each other and catch up when we can. It has been amazing to see how far we have both come professionally since graduating together in 2012, and we often reminisce on our time at Springs, a time when we thought we were so old but now realize just how young we were!
Q: What are you currently working on and what’s next for you?
A: I am currently a researcher and outreach officer at the Woolf Institute in Cambridge, England, working on a project that is exploring the cultural and social implications of musical encounters between Muslim, Jewish, and Christian neighbors in historical Iraq and Syria. When I applied for the job after finishing my master’s degree in Refugee Studies at the University of Oxford, I couldn’t believe how perfect the project was for me in terms of my academic as well as personal interests in music, spirituality, and the Middle East. I feel very fortunate to be where I am today, and I still haven’t quite accepted the fact that I live in England. As a next step, I am now in the process of applying for a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology. I intend to explore the ways in which Syrian refugee musicians are adapting as artists in new host countries outside of the Middle East.
Q: What advice would you offer to current Indian Springs students?
A: Find the time you need for reflection and creativity. Delve deeply into the things that make you passionate and spark your interest. You will never have this time in your life again, both as a young person and as a young person at Indian Springs. Take advantage of the wealth of knowledge around you, starting with your incredible professors. It was Dr. Cooper who sparked my interest in history, especially since he taught history as a philosophy on life. To this day, I remember him as the first person who opened my thinking and showed me how to critique and doubt the narratives that are presented to us as social and political creatures. Ms. Shephard taught me the power of words through writing. Dr. Voicu and Dr. Thomas opened the world of music to me. So much of who I am today is because of the classes and teachers I engaged with at Springs. Be open to this gift while you are still there!
190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.