Having joined USEK in 2023, Joanna Azar is an associate professor of sociology in the Department of Psychology and Social Sciences at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Her research interests focus on information disorder and its societal impact, exploring themes such as the relationship between misinformation, the electoral process, fact-checkin, and the dynamics among media, society and politics. She has conducted a research study, titled “Fact-checking, the truth police or just a new journalistic genre. An ethical perspective within the profession".

She is currently collaborating with a group of reserachers on the same study to prepare a joint paper for a comparative analysis across different national contexts. She is also collaborating with colleagues from Brazil, Hong Kong, and Romania on a comparative study on teaching digital Literacy to journalism students, assessing the trustworthiness of digital sources. In March 2023, she published her first book in Arabic, titled “Raksa Abadiya” (Eternal Dance), a collection of 16 short real stories.

With over of 15 years of teaching experience in Arabic, English and French at several Lebanese universities, Joanna designs and delivers specialized courses on society, media, negotiation, and politics. She was selected by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State to represent Lebanon in the 2019 Study of the United States Institutes for Scholars (SUSI) on Journalism and Media. As a seasoned news reporter and media sociology specialist, Joanna has authored over 1000 articles in Arabic for newspapers like An- Nahar and Al-Akhbar, covering diverse topics like political elections, security incidents, and social news.

With more than 15 years of experience as a media and communication consultant, Joanna has worked for the Ministry of Economy and Trade, for the Bureau of the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, and for the Order of Engineers and Architects of Beirut. She is also a trainer, conducting workshops on “The Rise of Fake News”, “Freedom of Expression in Lebanon”, and “Mass and Social Media”. She was elected Deputy Mayor for Jeddayel Municipality in 2016 and has been a member of the Advisory Board of World Vision-Lebanon since 2021. Additionally, she has contributed her expertise to various local and international NGOs in Lebanon as an evaluation and research consultant.

EDUCATION

• Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) for Scholars on Journalism and Media Program, Arizona State University – USA
• PhD in Sociology, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) – Lebanon
• Professional Masters in Journalism, Lebanese University, Institut Français de Presse (IFP) and the Centre de formation et de Perfectionnement des Journalistes (CFPJ) – France
• BS in Communication Sciences - Journalism, Lebanese University – Lebanon