Maria Maalouf is a social sciences researcher at the Centre for Lebanese Studies (CLS). Her work explores the intersection of displacement, governance, and education in crisis contexts, with a focus on how legal and policy frameworks shape the lived experiences of Lebanese and non-Lebanese people in Lebanon. Currently, her work focuses on education in conflict and crisis, examining how systemic inequalities and policy responses affect marginalised children’s access to learning. Her research combines policy analysis with qualitative fieldwork, capturing voices from the ground to document vulnerabilities, and state and non-state responses to multiple crises.

Maria holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Lebanese University and a Master’s degree in strategic research jointly from the Research and Strategic Studies Center at the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Lebanese University. Her master’s thesis, ‘The UNHCR and States’ Sovereignty: The Case of Lebanon,’ examined the legal and practical dimensions of its humanitarian interventions. Before joining CLS, Maria worked with NGOs advocating for women’s rights and the rights of persons with disabilities and completed a research internship with the Refugee Research and Policy Program at the Issam Fares Institute (AUB).