Dr Shwaikh’s current research interests cover a wide range of multidisciplinary areas related to:

• Decoloniality;
• prison hunger strikes;
• critical approach(es) to resistance;
• academic freedom.
• peacebuilding from decolonial, critical, and intersectional perspectives.

Awards and grants

• (2021) American Political Science Association Grant;
• (2020) American Political Science Association Professional Development Grant;
• (2018) International Nonviolence Centre (ICNC) Research Monograph Award;
• (2016) Honorary Bachelor’s Degree in law from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey & International Composite for Scientific Researchers (ICSR) in Lebanon;
• (2015) Sheffield Community Award for voluntary service;
• (2015) UK Council for International Students’ Affairs (UKCISA) award in innovation in international education (third place);
• (2014) Student of the Year national award by the National Union of Students (NUS) black students’ campaign;
• (2014) Palestinian Ministry of Media award on the use of new media to cover conflicts.

• IR3038 Conflict management, settlement and resolution
• IR3048 Peacebuilding and humanitarian intervention

Malaka joined the School of International Relations in January 2020. She was awarded her PhD in Middle East Politics, with no corrections, from the University of Exeter in 2019.

Malaka has previously taught at the University of Leeds and the University of Exeter. She has gained her Master’s from the University of Sheffield in Global Politics and Law (2014) and has a diploma in Peace Studies and Counter Extremism from Adyan Institute in Lebanon (2016). She was recently awarded a fellowship at the American Political Science Association (APSA) and has multilingual skills in Arabic, Persian and Hebrew.

Her research primarily focuses on critical prison studies, with a particular emphasis on the dynamics surrounding prison hunger strikes. She provides a comprehensive typology that categorises the various forms and motivations behind these hunger strikes, while also analysing the factors that influence their outcomes. By examining hunger strikes in diverse global contexts, her work refines theories of resistance and integrates feminist perspectives on embodiment and subjection, thereby addressing a gender studies angle that is often overlooked in resistance literature. Geographically, her expertise is particularly strongest in the Arab region, where she has examined topics such as oral history in Palestine, refugee challenges, peacebuilding efforts, and issues of displacement.

She has conducted multidisciplinary research in the Levant (especially Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon), North Africa (especially Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco), the Gulf region (especially Qatar), Turkey, South Africa, Britain, and Northern Ireland.

Fellowship

• Aurora Leadership Program Fellow (2024-5)
• Fellow at the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) (2023)
• Fellow in Women and Politics, the American Political Science Association (2019)

Qualifications

• BA in English, Palestine (Islamic University of Gaza)
• Diploma in Literature, Palestine (Islamic University of Gaza)
• MA in Global Politics and Law, UK (Sheffield University)
• Diploma in Peace Studies and Counter Extremism, Lebanon (Adyan Institute)
• PhD in Middle East Politics, UK (Exeter University)

Professional membership

• American Political Science Association
• The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) [also BRISMES Council member]

Seminars and conferences

Since joining St Andrews in January 2020, Malaka has traveled extensively across the globe, visiting regions from Australia to Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. Throughout her journeys, she has engaged with a wide array of audiences, including academics, policymakers, students, activists, and the general public, to discuss her research, share valuable insights, and foster meaningful dialogue.