The event was co-sponsored by LAU and Prepare New York, a community-based coalition of interfaith organizations working to counter religious intolerance. The three women — one Christian, one Muslim, and one Jewish — engaged in a candid, freeform discussion about their decision to wear the veil, and what it means to each of them.

Entitled “Three Women, Three Faiths, Three Choices to Cover,” the panel was an extension of the exhibit itself, which, according to IWSAW’s former director Mona Chemali Khalaf, was designed to help “lead to a better understanding of the universality of the veil,” and result in “more genuine freedom of expression and choice.” Khalaf produced the original Veil(s) exhibit in 2005.

“The veil is an outward sign of an inward reality, of my dedication to God and my brotherhood,” said panelist Sister Chala Marie Hill, a Catholic nun of the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in Harlem, New York.

Sister Chala chose her congregation partly because they wore the habit. Sister Chala explained to the audience that wearing the habit, and being recognizable visually as a Catholic nun, has given her the opportunity to publicly minister to people she might not otherwise have reached.

Wearing it has also placed her in a position, she says, where she must address questions and challenges in the public sphere, where the significance of the veil is often ill-understood. She told the audience that this experience has strengthened her faith and improved her ability to help others.

Dr. Sarah Sayeed, a program associate with the Interfaith Center of New York and a veiled Muslim, focused her remarks on addressing what she says is a misconception: that women who wear the veil have no say in the matter.

“The veil doesn’t always have one meaning, even for a single individual. Some aspects we like, and some we don’t,” conceded Dr. Sayeed, who stressed that this doesn’t mean that a woman who covers herself isn’t free. In fact, she pointed out, many women find the veil to be liberating.

This sentiment was echoed by the third panelist, Mrs. Bronya Shaffer, a scholar with the organization Chabad and a Hasidic Jew who covers her hair.

“There is a misconception that women cover their hair to make themselves unattractive, but this is simply not the case,” Mrs. Shaffer said. “In fact I would suggested that most people are decidedly more attractive dressed than undressed,” she added, sending a ripple of laughter through the highly engaged audience.

“The Veil(s) exhibit and panel helped provide a window into some of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized faith-based practices in our time,” said Prepare New York’s Annie Rawlings, who moderated the discussion. “Assumptions abound among people who do not wear any head coverings about those who do — particularly women who do.”

Rawlings said the panel and exhibit help to “bring the practice of ‘covering’, and the voices of the women who choose it, out of the shadows and out of silence,” which she described as vital to her organization’s mission.

The New York office of LAU, which happens to be located in the Interchurch Center where the event took place, has played an instrumental role in showing the Veil(s) exhibit throughout the United States, including in Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere in New York City.

The exhibit will make its next appearance in March in Los Angeles, where it will be accompanied by another panel discussion.

Launched on January 23, Veil(s): A Photographic Overview features about 30 striking photographs highlighting differing depictions (and perceptions) of veiled women from the 19th century to the present.

The photo exhibit was conceived by LAU’s Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World and first assembled in May 2005 under the direction of IWSAW’s former Director Mona Chemali Khalaf.

“There is no singular definition of the veil,” explains Chemali Khalaf. “Veiling was, in fact, practiced widely in ancient Mesopotamia, Greco-Roman, Assyrian and Byzantine empires, where it was considered a mark of prestige and a symbol of status.”

The women depicted in Veil(s) are Christian, Jewish and Muslim, challenging the notion that only Muslim women wear the veil. The women come from all walks of life; some are veiled for religious reasons, while others consider their veils part of a fashionable identity. Veils are not limited to one economic class; the wealthy, middle class and poor are all shown wearing some form of covering, just as they did in antiquity.

Veil(s) is part of a series of events at the prominent church intended to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding, according to Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston, senior pastor of the church. “Interfaith conversations and experiences lay the foundation for respect and trust,” he says.

The exhibit also examines the reasons women use the veil. Some say they feel liberated or closer to their beliefs for donning their veils. Others criticize what they say is excessive exposure of women in the West.

“I am the only woman in my family who is veiled,” says K.B., a young businesswoman in Beirut and one of the women whose testimonies are included in the companion guide to the exhibit. “I feel completely transformed. I am in a way liberated, protected, more mature; and definitely, more serene.”

“Young Muslim women are reclaiming the hijab, reinterpreting it in light of its original purpose — to give back to women ultimate control of their own bodies,” says N.M., a Canadian-born Muslim woman quoted in the guide.

This positive view of veiling is also challenged in Veil(s), however; many women recount the experiences of their mothers and grandmothers, whose lives were heavily restricted by their veils. Cultural tradition demanded these women to be almost completely covered.

LAU and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church have had a long relationship before this collaboration on the Veil(s) exhibit. The church has provided benevolence grants to IWSAW as part of its efforts to improve the lives and prospects of women in Lebanese prisons.

Ron Cruikshank, a former trustee and elder at the church, as well as a former trustee at LAU and a current member of the IWSAW advisory board, played an integral role in putting together the exhibit.

“What I love about both Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church and LAU is how both institutions embrace the notion of inclusiveness, promote diversity and encourage dialogue.” Cruikshank says. “These are extremely important attributes in this day and age, and I’m proud to be associated with both of these great organizations and proud of the work that they do.”

The exhibit will be on display at the New York City church through March 13.

The competition, titled “A Snapshot for Development,” challenged young photographers across the country to capture in a single photo one of the eight MDGs — eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and empowering women; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and creating a global partnership for development.

During a ceremony held at UNESCO palace in Beirut on October 22, awards were given to the photos that best represented each MDG, in addition to a grand prize and a People’s Choice Award.

LAU alumna Abir Ghattas received the top honor for her photo of a young girl, Nada, picking peas in the northern district of Hermel. Ghattas entered the photo, called “The Girl with the Green Eyes,” under the MDG 1 category, to “Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.”

“The focus [of the photo] should be on the fact that as a child Nada is not living how she is supposed to live,” says 23-year-old Ghattas, who graduated in 2008 with a B.S. in Computer Science.

Bassam Lahoud, who has been teaching photography at LAU for 23 years, helped coordinate the competition for Lebanese youth aged 15–24 on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme–Lebanon. He promoted the event through the internet and in universities, and asked some of his LAU students to participate.

From September 1–October 15, 203 young photographers from around the country entered the competition by submitting their pictures on the UN Photo Competition website, and more than 6,000 people cast their votes for the People’s Choice Award, according to the UNDP–Lebanon website.

Lahoud also served as the competition’s lead jury member on the five-member judges’ panel, which had specific criteria when choosing the winners.

“First, you have to look at the photographic technique and creativity. Secondly, it should show the idea, the [Millennium Development] Goal itself,” says Lahoud.

When asked what stood out in Ghattas’s winning photo, Lahoud said: “The eyes, the look — it’s a National Geographic picture; it’s high-standard photography. At all levels it was a very nice picture.”

Sahar Khatib, another LAU alumna, took home the top prize in the seventh MDG category, to “Ensure Environmental Sustainability,” for her photo titled “Tree of Life.”

“I took this photo in Amiq, west of the Bekaa, trying to catch the sunrise, but it was misty all day, and humid. I stumbled onto the dry lake area to find this scene of dead fish, birds and trees,” Khatib says.

Khatib, 23, graduated in 2009 with a B.S. in Graphic Design and took photography classes at LAU.

“This is the first competition I’ve entered and I am amazed at winning one of the prizes,” she says.

LAU graphic design student Nadine Khoury kept the university’s winning streak going, walking away with the award for the best photo under the MDG 3 category, to “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.”

In her photo titled “Home Scary Home,” Khoury depicted a woman who is a victim of domestic abuse.

“I took the picture with a manual camera and developed it here in the university’s darkroom,” Khoury says.

The award ceremony came on the heels of September’s UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals in New York, which brought together world leaders to boost progress against poverty and commit to a concrete action agenda to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

Ghattas won a NIKON DIGITAL SLR D300S camera, while Khatib and Khoury each received a NIKON COOLPIX P100 camera. All 10 prizewinners are invited to a workshop at Lahoud’s place in Amchit the weekend of November 13–14.

“When you work with your heart, you come across a lot of surprises,” Karanouh told the class of about 20, as she explained how she decided to pursue a photography career despite her academic background in international economics and advertising design. “I turned my passion into my work,” she added.

The event marked the beginning of a long-term series of visits by notable LAU graduates, organized by the Alumni Relations Office.

According to Ghada Majed, assistant director of alumni relations, the series was designed with an objective of allowing students to meet with and benefit from the experiences and expertise of prominent alumni.

The office is working closely with faculty members and various department heads to secure spots for the alumni during class hours.

“What we are trying to do at the Alumni Relations Office is bring back our very successful alumni to share their experiences and help you later on in your futures,” Majed — who attended university with Karanouh — told the students during a Q&A session.

Karanouh brought along several photography books she has published over the years. In 2001, she published Et le Sourire Survit (And the Smile Survives) with dozens of photos of South Lebanon shot after the Israeli withdrawal from the area in 2000.

Other books she has published include La Passion de Lire (The Passion for Reading), La Passion de Football (The Passion for Football), and most recently La Passion de Khalil Gibran (The Passion for Khalil Gibran), which features photographs that try to capture the essence of the poems from Gibran’s The Prophet.

Currently based in Beirut, Karanouh has shot photos across the world and spent a significant amount of time working in New York, France and Spain.

“I work with what’s happening around me,” Karanouh said, after a student asked how she comes up with ideas for projects.

“I was expecting this from the Lebanese government, not the Spanish government,” says Lahoud who joined LAU in 1987, noting that recognition for his achievements have always come from outside Lebanon. “Even having a president from the Lahoud family didn’t change anything,” he jokes.

“I am a renaissance man,” declares Lahoud boldly.

Of the three LAU faculty members that teach photography, Lahoud is the only full-timer, and flits back and forth between the Beirut and Byblos campuses to tend to any one of the four Photography I classes he teaches each fall semester.

“This is probably the only elective course in the university that everybody would use, because everyone needs to take a picture at one time,” he says.

In the field

During the 2009 Francophone Games in September and October, Lahoud was invited by organizers to collaborate in the games’ photography contest by working with participants through workshops and talks.

He is also frequently invited to tour cities around the world on behalf of governments and industries to promote tourism through his photography and articles published in travel journals and magazines. Some recent trips include Taba Heights in Egypt, Colombia, Cuba, San Francisco, Cyprus and Argentina.

Aside from publishing work on tourism, Lahoud has also covered some significant events through his photography. He was arrested in East Germany in 1984 for photographing the Berlin Wall, and kidnapped on several occasions during the Lebanese Civil War, including in 1990 after witnessing the slaughter of a Lebanese soldier by a militia member.

His photographs have been displayed in exhibitions around the world including New York, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Dubai and Bulgaria. He is preparing for at least two new ones in Lebanon this year.

A journalist, trained architect, photographer and active community member, Lahoud insists that organization is the key to his success as he manages to juggle his personal passions without losing sight of the responsibility most important to him — serving his students.

A guiding light

In 2008, convinced of the need to promote his students’ work, Lahoud took it upon himself to organize and launch an annual photo exhibition on both campuses featuring hundreds of shots taken by his Photography I students.

“It’s my job to really give students the best education in photography,” he says. “Students are very intensive — they are passionate — so sometimes they give you better work than professionals.”

Some of his former students, Lahoud explains, went on to lead successful careers in photography such as Hadi Halabi and Hayat Karanouh, two award-winning photographers.

Lahoud dedicates a great deal of time and effort working with photographers outside the university too.

In 1998, he founded the Lebanese House of Photography, which archives Lebanese photographs from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and helps young talents organize exhibitions, seminars and other events to showcase their skills.

The center, located in the basement of Lahoud’s home in Amsheet, is planning a photography festival in the city of Amsheet, north of Byblos, this year after it was selected by the European Commission in December 2009 along with five other Mediterranean cities as a prime location to undertake artistic and cultural projects.

Aiming for a minor

Several years ago, Lahoud spearheaded an effort to expand LAU’s photography program by establishing a photography minor consisting of the four current courses plus an additional two courses — Digital Photography and Fine Art Photography, the latter of which is a senior-study course enabling students to create a masterpiece using the layer of their choice.

Lahoud organized a committee to discuss the plan before drafting and submitting a proposal to administration. After a long period of waiting, Lahoud says he finally sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and is optimistic that the newly established School of Architecture and Design will agree to accommodate the minor.

“Many students want this minor,” he says. “Everybody keeps asking me, ‘when is it going to be ready? Before I graduate?’”

If approved, Lahoud expects the minor to be available on both campuses.

Photography courses are currently required for several majors including interior design, graphic design, architecture, and interior architecture. “Every major needs photography,” says Lahoud.

The exhibition features 400 black-and-white photographs focused on four themes: action, campus atmosphere, architectural detail, and portrait. The event is organized by the newly established School of Architecture and Design.

LAU photography instructor Bassam Lahoud, who put the event together, says that in addition to serving as an attraction for visitors, he hopes the exhibition will help stir interest in photography among students and lead to a minor in the field.

“I have a lot of students telling me they want to do a photography minor,” says Lahoud.

The featured student photographers are from Lahoud’s 2008–2009 Photography I courses, offered at both the Beirut and Byblos campuses.

Lahoud said he chose the four themes to relate to the different majors of his students who come from various backgrounds including graphic design, architecture, communication arts and fine arts.

The Beirut exhibition will open on November 12 at 5:00 p.m. at Sheikh Zayed Hall and will run until November 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
 

Despite its compact dimensions, "the guide is filled with information," said Dr. Houri, associate professor of chemistry. It contains 400 new photos not found in the 240-picture first volume, published in 2001.

In a handy, portable format, the richly illustrated guide includes every flower's scientific, English, Lebanese or Arabic, and family names; uses; and the location and date the photo was taken.

Mrs. Houri '01 (B.S., interior design) explained that the guide was divided according to the color of the petals--pink, violet, yellow, orange, red, green, and white--to facilitate their identification.

After many hiking and camping trips to Tannourine and the Cedars, the Houris are now challenged to find new species from the estimated 3,000 ones in Lebanon, by visiting other areas of the country. "This year we are trying to work in the Beqaa, since it is not well covered," said Dr. Houri.

He said wildflowers are abundant in water-rich areas, but the ones near the developed coast are becoming extinct due to urbanization. On the other hand, some endangered species are found on high mountains such as Barouk and the Cedars.

Now that the second volume is published, an update to the searchable online database created last year is in the works. Dr. Houri said that although the database allows people to find information about the flowers anytime and anywhere, the books are still necessary. "They are addressed to those who love to walk in nature and learn about the flowers on their own," he said.

The couple is planning to publish a third volume as well as an expanded second edition of the first one. The latter will provide additional types of information available in Volume II such as symbols showing if each plant is medicinal, aromatic, or endangered.

The Houris are also setting their sights on adding Middle Eastern flowers to the database. "This will be a whole different amount of work which cannot be done personally," said Dr. Houri, commenting on the scale of that plan.

"I very much enjoy teaching, being with people and sharing my experience," said Khazaka. "I ... [answer] all questions honestly and tell people the tricks as much as I know," he added.

During his travels as an economist, Khazaka became increasingly interested in capturing images of buildings and interiors. In 2000, he shifted his career completely to professional photography. Today he specializes in residential and commercial projects for many international clients and magazines, spending time in Beirut, Munich and the UAE.

Although he admitted it was not easy to drop everything and switch careers, he did not regret his decision. "Photography is my passion. For me, it is a dream that came true," he said.

At the event organized by the Byblos Graphic Design Department, the German-Lebanese artist described different kinds of cameras and other equipment, as well as his views on creativity and inspiration. "Sometimes it is just a little detail or some light that really changes the whole image," he said.

Creatively decorated private homes in Batroun, spacious German museum halls, and captivating portraits of LUMI (a Lebanese electro-rock band) members were some of the photos Khazaka showcased.

During a demo photo shoot following the presentation, some students modeled for Khazaka who later showed how to change the colors of the images and use various computer programs.

"We do not want only teachers to talk to students but also people from the industry ... who have work experience," said Dr. Melissa Plourde, assistant professor of graphic design in Byblos, who took the initiative of inviting Khazaka. "We want the students to open their eyes to the outside world," she added.

The event was part of a series of lectures that will feature other Lebanese artists, especially--but not only--for students in Graphic Design Seminar and Animation Concepts courses.

An LAU comparative literature graduate student, Abdulsater, 25, displayed some of her photographs at a two-week art exhibition organized by Case Western Reserve University last month in Cleveland, Ohio.

The event, entitled "Créer Pour Résister: Two Generations of Arab Women," featured lectures, dance performances, concerts, theater, and art exhibits, produced by two groups of Arab artists and activists ages 20–30 and 50–60.

Abdulsater was chosen to participate addressing "Women and Poverty." Coming from a disadvantaged southern suburb of Beirut, she had no trouble preparing for the project.

Abdulsater did not restrict herself to her topic, however, as she is intrigued by the human condition as a whole, especially human suffering. "This is the theme that I have been working on since I first took up photography about two years ago," she said. "What draws me most to people is their body language and their facial expressions, especially their wrinkles, that appear with age," she said.

"Hope and despair, grudges and contentment, faith and distrust, all draw maps on their faces," she added. And her photographs reflect that with bone-chilling incision.

It's hard to imagine that Abdulsater, who started by taking random pictures with her cell phone camera, has never had any formal photography training.

She focuses less on technique and more on her intuition. She does not like her subjects to pose, but instead enjoys capturing natural and fleeting—yet meaningful—moments. "My camera comes to freeze the moment and reawaken it in an artistic context," she said.

"People loved Zoha's work!" said Dr. Cheryl Toman, the artist's former teacher-turned-friend, who invited her to Case, where Toman teaches French, ethnic studies, and women's studies.

Two years ago, Toman spent a semester at LAU as a Fulbright foreign exchange professor of comparative literature, and made it her mission to bring all her Lebanese students to the U.S. to foster their artistic interests.

Abdulsater had previously exhibited her work at various Beirut events, but she was astonished when she learned that Case professors had their students analyze her pictures and relate them to courses in literature, art, art history, communications, anthropology and sociology.

"I had three classes view the exhibit and the students overwhelmingly chose themes in Zoha's work to analyze," said Toman.

Indeed, Toman thinks that her American students, who believe it is hard for them to make a difference in the world, need some encouragement in that respect. Seeing "powerful Arab women and what they can do creatively ... made an impact on them," she said.

Similarly, the experience gave Abdulsater the energy to continue pursuing her passion. "I had never imagined, or even dreamed of such a thing happening," she said.

Now that she's back, what will she do next? "Try to experiment more with color," she said, for a change from her preferred black-and-white prints that mesh with the theme of suffering.

Assistant Professor in the Beirut School of Business John McGill, who won the first prize, presented portraits of people from several Middle Eastern countries that showed differences in clothing, age, and culture.

"I mostly take photographs of people. For me, it's a way of meeting people here in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East. It helps me to understand them as individuals," he explained.

Though always keen on arts in general, McGill felt particularly interested in this form of artistic expression when he took a photography class as an undergraduate.

"To take good photos, you need to involve three things: your head (choice of subject), your hand (knowledge of technique), and your heart," McGill said. "Of the three, photographing from the heart is the most important. Anyone can learn which f stop to set. I put my heart into my photography--that's my advantage," he added.

Graphic design student Christian Abou Assaly came second, followed by Rita Saad, who graduated in the spring and is currently in New York specializing in photography.

Abou Assaly said, "The first things that came to my mind were religion, war and difference." He found contrasts within the capital, Beirut, as well as the old market of Jounieh by focusing on architecture and people.

Third-year architecture student Raghad Gaood chose to present the contrast between classical and modern architecture, because it "reflects the inner beauty of the city of Beirut" and relates to her major. Gaood came sixth after another LAU student, Rayan Keyrouz.

A panel of experts, which included photography professors from various universities in Lebanon, judged the participants without knowing their names based on their entire portfolio--between three and five photos--rather than an individual photograph.

Photography instructor at the LAU Byblos campus Bassam Lahoud, who helped the participating students by discussing the theme with them and giving them essential instructions, said "the contest helps people discover and explore their society."

Wild Discovery Travel and Tourism organizes the event annually. Usually more than 200 contestants participate in the competition, but this year the turnout was low--between 70 and 80 professional and amateur photographers--due to the political situation at the time of the portfolio-submission deadline.

McGill received a ticket for two to Oman, including airfare and hotel fees. He plans to make the trip in October. In 2004, he had also won the first prize, tickets to Paris, which he had given to a newly wed couple from LAU as a present.

Students from Photography I and II and Architecture Photography courses displayed around 200 photos that were part of different projects: technical, depth of field, action, architecture-detail portrait, campus atmosphere and self-portrait.

Because photography courses are taught in the Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering & Architecture, Bassam Lahoud, photography instructor, organized the exhibition on behalf of both schools.

Lahoud chose, digitized and developed the pictures--a minimum of one from each student--that were to be exhibited, recorded the names of the students and the campus they belong to, and managed the artistic work. The students assisted him in displaying the pictures to the public.

Malek Hobeiche, a student who exhibited his work, said that preparing the photos entailed a combination of working hard, having fun and interacting with people and the environment. He most liked the photos he took of freezing action, where water was being thrown on a girl.

The self-portrait project helped students realize what it was like being on the other end of the camera and experiencing the impact of the camera on themselves. Lahoud advised students "to feel the camera, because it is a device that aggresses people."

The photography exhibition occurs twice a year at the beginning of the fall and end of the spring semesters. The first photography exhibition took place in the Byblos cafeteria in June 2007.

In fact, many alumni of Photography classes at LAU, such as Hayat Karanouh, Hady Halabi and Tony Abou Jawde, ended up being professionals in the field.

The university has also been present in many photography contests in Lebanon; for example, students will participate in the Beirut Photo Contest on "Orient: Land of Contrasts" in early July.

The initial result was The Photographic Guide to the Wild Flowers of Lebanon (2001), a book featuring 240 wildflowers of Lebanon. This year, to complement the book and make their data accessible to all, the Houris launched a fully searchable online version of their guide. In an interview, the Houris explained how the project got started and what the couple has planned for the future.

Nisrine and Ahmad Houri on a recent fieldtrip.

Q. Why did you undertake to capture all of Lebanon's wild flowers on film?

A. This project started from a true love of nature. When we used to go on hiking trips in some of the more remote areas of Lebanon, we were constantly faced with the question "What is this flower?" and whether it has something interesting about it. This project started from a very small collection of some of the most beautiful flowers that I and my wife simply wanted to know the names of. Having limited resources and no local field guides meant that this was going to be a difficult task. Accordingly, we took it upon ourselves to identify the flowers and put them in a guide format so that any nature lover can have it in their pocket as they walk around. Once that idea was firmly established, the collection quickly expanded. My wife developed a fascination in flower identification and later followed it up with formal study and obtained a postgraduate diploma in biodiversity conservation and management from the University of London. I, on the other hand, worked on improving my photography techniques and obtained a certification from the New York Institute of Photography.

Q. When did you begin photographing and how long has it taken so far? And, are you finished or are there still wildflowers yet to be photographed?

A. I began photographing wild flowers in 1998 and have been active since. My collection has now thousands of pictures for hundreds of species. With more than 4,000 different species of plants in Lebanon, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to say that they have been able to capture them all on film. A project aiming at photographing all of the wild flowers of Lebanon is a very expensive and time-consuming undertaking.

Q. What can readers learn from your book?

A. The main objective of the book is the proper identification of flowers. Knowing the scientific name, one can learn all about the plant on their own. However, I have made it a point to mention a couple of lines on medicinal or toxic uses in addition to identifying the location and month when the picture was taken so that anyone who wishes to find the plant again may be able to do so with relative ease. On a more general objective, I have always been faced with the question: Do we have all those flowers in Lebanon? And the answer is that we actually have in Lebanon 20 times those flowers, but it is always a good introduction for people to start with this book or web site. This makes people more aware of the diversity of flora in Lebanon and maybe encourages them to put in some effort for the protection of nature. In order to partially cover this information gap, I am planning to publish another volume of my book with around 400 new flowers included, after which I plan to undertake building up a comprehensive web-based database of wildflowers of Lebanon. I am still looking for potential sponsors of both projects.

Q. Is there a national flower for Lebanon? If so, which one is it and why was it chosen?

A. As far as I know, Lebanon does not have a national flower, although we do have a national tree (the cedar). There are several flowers that may be nominated for that classification: Iris Sofrana (the Iris of Sawfar); Geranium Libani, the endangered Cyclamen species, Silene makmeliana (named after Makmel mountain) and several others that have been named after famous Lebanese locations or figures. Some of these plants are endemic to Lebanon and cannot be found anywhere else.

The Dianthus libanotis is one of the species Houri proposes as the national flower of Lebanon.

Q. What's next?

A. I have been getting some very encouraging feedback on the website that has motivated me to develop a full-scale database that might include more than 3,000 plants!