Dima Mohammed (PhD in Humanities, 2009, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is Principal Researcher in Philosophy and Professor of Communication at the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Nova University of Lisbon (UNL).
Dima’s main academic expertise is in argumentation theory, at the intersection of philosophy and communication. Her research examines the complexities of public political arguments and the challenges they pose, with a focus on the workings of argumentation in challenging conditions, such as situations characterised by populism, hate speech, polarisation, deep disagreements and epistemic injustice. Over the years, Dima has studied argumentative practices in a diversity of contexts: formal institutional ones, such as Parliaments (UK, EU and Portugal) and presidential speeches (USA), as well as less formal ones, such as (social) media discussions (e.g. Arab Spring, terrorism, #Me-Too, the 2022 Ukraine war, and the global protest for Palestine. Beyond research, she has also taught argumentation, rhetoric and persuasion, communication and media as well as critical thinking in universities in Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada and in Palestine.
At the NOVA Institute of Philosophy, Dima is coordinator of the Argumentation, Cognition and Language Lab (ArgLab), and member of the Institute’s scientific council and executive committee. Dima is also member of the Faculty Council of the NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities at the Nova Lisbon University (UNL). Beyond the UNL, she is active member of several editorial boards (e.g. Journal of Argumentation in Context, Argumentation and Advocacy), academic associations and initiatives (e.g. the Board of Directors of the Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking, the Steering Committee of the European Conference on Argumentation) and regularly serves in international juries and commissions of trust (e.g. the Blair Prize Committee, OSSA 10 & OSSA 13).
Beyond the university, Dima is an active member of several cultural collectives and initiatives, including Frames of Palestine and Palestina em Português, as well as a founding member of PUSP, a platform of Portuguese civil society collectives built to promote solidarity with Palestine. She intervenes in public debates, cultural initiatives and teach-ins, with a commitment to advancing the emancipatory potential of argument in public life and in struggles for justice, equality and decolonisation.
Dima hold a BA in English Linguistics and Literature from the University of Birzeit, Palestine, and an MA in Logic, Language and Argumentation and a PhD in Humanities, both from the University of Amsterdam, NL. Before joining the UNL, Dima was lecturer at the Department of Speech Communication, Argumentation Theory and Rhetoric at the University of Amsterdam, NL, and researcher and programme manager at the Institute of Communication and Health at the University of Lugano, CH.