 IUGTE Members
Sahar Assaf (Lebanon)
 Currently Drama Teacher and Cultural Activities Coordinator at Rawdah High School and Actors Club Advisor at Haigazian University.
In 2001, Sahar graduated from the Lebanese University, Faculty of Information and Documentation with a Bachelor Degree in Information, specialty: Television & Radio. She then transferred to the American University of Beirut and in June 2005 she was awarded the degree of Master of Arts after submitting a thesis on the Lebanese Theatre Women Directors and Gender Reconstruction in the Theatre Workplace. The study employed qualitative methods to explore how Lebanese women stage directors experience their gender in the theatre workplace. Through semi-structured interviews with male and female theatre directors, actors and actresses the study aimed at exploring how gendered identities are negotiated within the theatre workplace and how theatre practices work to reproduce or challenge traditional notions of gender dualism.
Sahar is interested in Theatre in Education and she is currently involved with one of the Lebanese theatre troupes that uses theatre as a medium for educational projects which targets the youth in the war-torn communities in the South of Lebanon. She is also a volunteer consultant and a member of the Executive Baord of Injaz Lebanon (Member of Junior Achievement Worldwide.
CURRENT WORK
• Project Social Manager, Première Urgence - Project Field: Shelter Rehabilitation and Infrastructure works in Sikke area and other Gatherings in Ein El Hilwe Palestinian Camp - Saida.
• Theatre Actress and Director- free lance
EDUCATION
 • Professional Executive Master’s in Psycho-Social Animation In War Torn Societies, Implemented by International Organization for Migration and the Lebanese University, Sept 2007- April 2008
Dissertation and Documentary: Seven Stories Blended into One: Memory, Gender and Psychosocial Effects in the Narratives of the Women Warriors of the Lebanese Civil War.
• Master of Arts in Sociology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2005.
Dissertation: Lebanese Women Theatre Directors and Gender Reconstruction in the Theatre Workplace.
• Bachelor of Arts in Information, Specialty: Television and Radio
Lebanese University (Faculty of Information and Documentation), Beirut, 2001.
Graduation Project: "Of this country;" a 15-minutes documentary film that sheds light on the life and traditions of the nomads in Lebanon.
WORK HISTORY
• Project Manager and Head of a Community Centre, Amel Association - Project Title: Child Protection and Social Support for Iraqi Refugees; funded by UNHCR. July 1, 2007- June 30, 2008. www.amel.org.lb
• Cultural Activities Coordinator & Drama Teacher at the Secondary Division - Rawdah Educational Institute, Beirut, Lebanon, Sept.1, 2005- June 30, 2007.
• Instructor of Sociology and World's Religion - Lebanese International University, Beirut, Spring 2006.
• Video Editor - New TV (a Lebanese Broadcasting Company) Beirut, July 1 –December 30, 2004.
• Research Assistant - Dr. Intisar Azzam (Anthropologist), Beirut, 2002-2004.
• Reporter - Al-Hasnaa Magazine (Lebanese Monthly Publication), Beirut, Lebanon, 1998-2001. Published reports about Lebanese women who are performing jobs vastly conceived by the society as "men's jobs."
COMMUNITY INVOLVMENT
• Involved as a volunteer and organizer in different civil campaigns- since January 2007- organized by unaffiliated citizens and secular local NGOs demanding immediate and civil solution for the Lebanese political deadlock (such as Resolve It Solve It, Watch It Watch Out, End the Political Deadlock and recently Khalass!)
• Member of the Executive Board & Volunteer Consultant at INJAZ Lebanon (Chapter of Junior Achievement Worldwide), 2005-2007.
LANGUAGES
Arabic (Native). English (Fluent). French (Intermediate)
COMPUTER LITERACY
Microsoft Office and Internet. 55 WPM typing speed in English and 45 WPM in Arabic.
TRAINING & CONFERENCES
Certified For Taking Active Part In:
• International Festival THEATRE METHODS 08: Between Tradition and Contemporaneity. International University: Global Theatre Experience, Malpils, Latvia, 7-13 July 2008.
• League of Arab States Youth Forum, Ain Soukhna, Egypt, November 19-22, 2007.
• Injaz Forum 1: Cooperation to Generate Opportunities, Beirut, Lebanon, September 8, 2007.
• Six Conversations That Matter (Civic Engagement Series by Designed Learning), with Injaz Lebanon, Broumana, July 2007.
• Nurturing your Entrepreneurial Skills, Rotary Youth Leadership Award- Ehden, Lebanon, March 29-April 1, 2007.
• Drama Therapy Workshop (30 hours), al-Madina Theatre, Beirut, February 2007.
• Trainer Development and Leadership and Team Building Course (34-hour), British Council, Beiurt, November-December 2006.
• Follow the King’s Footsteps; conferences on leadership, Rotary Youth Leadership Award- Aqaba (Jordan), September 2005.
• Lions-Quest Workshop: Skills for Growing and Skills for Adolescence, Beirut, August 2005.
• Contemporary Dance Workshop, Attitudes Dance Academy, Beirut, June 2005.
• Multimedia Workshop: Script, Sound and Video, International Arts Academy, Beirut, July 2004.
• Basics of Pantomime/ Theatrical Workshop, Lebanese American University, Communication Arts Division, May 2004.
• Acting Workshop: Movement Techniques, American University of Beirut, March 2003.
Training Delivered:
• Theatre for Conflict Resolution: 1-Day workshop for a group of 30 Lebanese-Iraqi Youth in a Camp on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building organized by Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue (Regional NGO), November 13, 2007, Broumana-Lebanon.
THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE
• Actress – “The Blind,” a 45-minute Drama directed by Lina Abyad, Lebanese American University, Beirut, April-May 2008.
• Stage Director - "Rumors," a two-act farce, Haigazian University, Beirut, 2007-2008.
• Actress - "1909-629," a black comedy that criticizes the two Lebanese laws (1909 & 629) about the rights and conditions of establishing associations and NGOs; directed by Issam Bou Khalid & produced by Massar Association, Sunflower Theatre, Beirut, July 2007.
• Stage Director - "Noises Off," a three-act farce, Haigazian University, Beirut, 2006-2007.
• Actress & Assistant Director – A re-make of "Shee Fashel" (by Ziad al-Rahbani), a play-within-a-play, American University of Beirut May 2006, UNESCO Palace, Beirut, June-July 2006.
• Attended and completed successfully theoretical and practical classes (Diploma Studies) in Acting and Directing for the Theatre at the Fine Arts Institute at the Lebanese University between 2003 & 2005.
• Stage Manager - “They' re All Here,” an experimental play performed at Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre, Egypt, September 2004.
• Actress - A re-make of "What about tomorrow?" (by Ziad al-Rahbani), a realistic drama performed at the American University of Beirut, at Tyre Summer Festival and in other Lebanese villages, 2004.
• Stage Director - "The Story of Antigone," a mixture of experimental and classical drama for the Actors Club at Haigazian University, Beirut, May 2004.
• Producer - "There is Something Wrong," a social satire, American University of Beirut, 2004.
• Stage Director - "The Fate of a Cockroach," a black comedy at the American University of Beirut, 2003.
• Drama Club President at the American University of Beirut, 2003-2004.
• Actress in a student-production short film (Deliver us from Evil) at the Lebanese American University, Beirut, 2004.
AWARDS AND CERTIFICATES
- Best Activity of the Year for "Noises Off" at Haigazian University, 2006-2007
- Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Theatrical Work, Cedars Cultural School, Beirut, May 2006.
- Best Technical Achievement Award for ‘Of This Country,' Docudays 2001 (Beirut International Documentary Festival)
PPROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
- International University "Global Theatre Experience" (IUGTE).
- Lebanese Sociology Association.
- Beirut Cosmopolitan Rotaract Club (BCRAC). Honrary Secretary of the board 2006-2007.
HOBBIES
Reading (poetry, novels, and political, theatrical & social studies), Painting (pencil & charcoal and oil), Dancing (oriental & jazz), Traveling.
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