Saab, assistant professor of Arabic studies and coordinator of the humanities department's Comparative Literature Program, shares the grant with the Silk Road Rising Theater in Chicago and Robert Myers, a professor of English and creative writing at the American University of Beirut (AUB). They will adapt the play Touqous Al-Isharat wal-Tahawulat (Metamorphosis: Rituals and Signs of Transformations) by the acclaimed Syrian playwright Saadallah Wannus. The grant, made by the MacArthur Foundation, will see the play performed in English for the first time for audiences in Beirut and Chicago.

"We are very happy to receive such a prestigious prize that is generally known to be very competitive," said Saab. "This is one of the most important plays in Arabic literature."

Wannus, who died of cancer in 1997, is generally acknowledged as one of the Arab world's most important contemporary playwrights. The play that Saab and Myers will adapt has been censored in the past because it addresses issues like sexuality, and political and religious hypocrisy.

The play, a French version of which is scheduled to be presented at the Comédie Française early next year, "is an appropriate fit in an era of globalization and in the midst of the Arab Spring," said Dr. Philippe Frossard, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. With characters who strive for transformative change and who criticize authoritarian rule, the play easily evokes the political and social tumult currently rippling across the Arab world. "The grant will give Lebanon and Arab culture the best possible exposure in the U.S. and the wider world," said Frossard. Saab added she hoped the performances "contribute to furthering dialogue between the Arab and American publics."

Actors will be cast from both AUB and LAU. Performances will be staged at LAU in 2013, while panel discussions on the play's themes will be held at AUB and at the Silk Road Rising Theater. The grant essentially allows for "a mini-Wannus festival," said Saab.

Wannus' play will be the third time that Myers and Saab have worked together. The professors previously translated and adapted Hamam Baghdadi (Baghdadi Bath) by the Iraqi playwright Jawad Al Assadi, and Al Diktator (The Dictator) by Lebanese playwright Issam Mahfouz.

In addition, Saab and Myers have authored an article about the play. "Sufism and Shakespeare: The Poetics of Personal and Political Transformation in Saadallah Wannous' Touqous Al-Isharat wal-Tahawulat will be published in February 2013 in Theater Research International.

"We live now in a world where academic institutions cannot progress in isolation," said Dr. Vahid Behmardi, chair of the Department of Humanities and who supported the grant proposal. "It was the collaboration between Dr. Saab and AUB Professor Robert Myers that resulted in this remarkable grant."

“The aim is to engage students in the topic and expose them to different dimensions of environmental issues,” explained Dr. Mohammad S. Al-Zein, professor of the Introduction to Environmental Science course and organizer of the event.

It is, according to Al-Zein, an opportunity to infuse creativity into the class through interactions with four individuals actively involved in environmental children’s literature.

Among the panelists was Anita Nassar, assistant director of LAU’s Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World, who stressed the importance of this particular genre of literature with respect to children’s education.

“The primary goal for environmental literacy is to develop citizens who are knowledgeable about the world around them and involved in working toward a more livable future,” said Nassar.

“The earlier you instill these values the more powerful the message becomes,” she continued.

A focal point of the panel was a discussion of the merits of subtle and understated messages instead of than dull, expository texts.

“I didn’t even know I was writing environmental children’s literature, until I was contacted by teachers telling me that they used my books to teach children about the importance of taking care of the environment,” said Fatima Sharafeddine, an LAU alumna and renowned Arabic children’s books writer.

The successful author revealed that the secret lies in subtly inducing emotions and ideas to children rather than bombarding them with explicit messages or lessons.

Writer and panelist Salpi Simitian reiterated this sentiment: “Creative non-fiction has the potential to influence the future.” Simitian presented her children’s book "The Little Cedar Tree" as a case study to illustrate the impact environmental literature may have on children.

The talk concluded with Dr. Salma N. Talhouk, faculty member of agricultural and food sciences at the American University of Beirut, who translated Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax — the book warns of the pitfalls of unchecked corporate greed at the expense of the environment.

“The bulk of my conservation work occurs in Lebanon’s villages and I found a lack of available resources to promote environmental literacy among the children in their own language,” she said.

As a consequence, she dedicated over a year to the challenging task of translating the book into Arabic. “It’s important to cross bridges and address children,” she explained.

Inspired by the panelists, fourth-year architecture student Carla Najjar said, “It is nice to see people doing something to introduce environmental issues to children.”

“Focusing on children is a smart strategy to take,” said Marc Assaf, third-year banking and finance student, “After all, they are the future.”

When I first went to the village, I found that very few women over the age of thirty-four had any education at all, and most were illiterate. Few men in that age group had much education, either, and many of them were also illiterate.

A couple of years ago I spoke with an elderly mother and her middle-aged daughter. The mother had received no education, so she made sure that her daughters completed the brevet (all that was available locally); no matter what, she did not pull them out of school because she valued education so highly. The daughter added that so many of the other girls had left school to help at home that few of them can read or write today.

The reasons for the state of education in the 1970s were straightforward. Until the 1940s there was no school in the village, although the village priest instructed some of the boys in reading and writing. When the Lebanese government did open a school, at first only boys were allowed to study. However, during the 1940s, when the nuns took over the priest's school they admitted girls right away.

Opportunity, then, was an important factor. So were attitudes toward education. Many people in the older generations thought that girls didn't need any education because they would marry, keep house, and raise children. Boys needed a little, but not much, to work on the farm.

A third factor was financial. The private schools were expensive, and there were high costs associated even with the government schools. So poor families might not give their children much education because they couldn't afford to, or they'd just educate one or two of the boys. What was significant at the time of my early fieldwork, though, was that education rates for girls and women were improving.

The picture in the village had changed significantly by the early twenty-first century. The illiterate women were for the most part elderly, and there were few of them. Indeed, they were outnumbered by women university graduates, and there were high numbers of women with secondary or complementary diplomas.

What had caused these changes? One was that attitudes had changed considerably. I surveyed villagers in 1995 and 2000, and found that women and men alike, old and young, uniformly supported education for women. One person said, "A woman who doesn't have education is like a blind woman." People added that educated women would be better wives and mothers, that they wouldn’t have to put up with bad husbands, and that they could support themselves and their families no matter what happened.

Attitudes changed for many reasons. One was increasing influence from relatives who had emigrated to Canada and the United States. Another was the mass media, first radio, then television. More recently, the Internet in so many ways has made its mark.

Opportunity is another important factor. Today there are good schools all over the area, and it is easy to get to them. Right in the village the nuns now offer schooling up to the "terminal" (the last year of secondary school). There are also branches of the Lebanese University and Université Saint-Joseph in Zahlé.

Finally, affluence has made it possible for parents to educate their children, including their girls, to higher levels. Indeed, there is a higher percentage of female university graduates in the village compared to male university graduates.

About half of Lebanese university students today are girls. Since the mid-1990s, female university graduates have constituted the majority of economically active women in the country. For women in the central Biqa' Valley, however, the lack of suitable opportunities constitutes a significant barrier to employment.

Women's education has some important implications. Highly educated women marry later, and have fewer children. They can contribute economically to the family; they can support themselves. And, because they are educated, they understand more about the world. In short, women's education is important today not only for job-related reasons but because it widens the mind.

Dr. Nancy Jabbra is professor emerita of women's studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California.
 

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.

In front of the Safadi Fine Arts Building, each of the nine participating clubs set up a stand to promote its culture’s unique customs, food, national products, distinctive attire and other aspects of its heritage.

Dr. Tarek Na’was, associate professor of biology and pharmacy, opened the ceremony, which kicked off at 11 a.m. Na’was welcomed students, staff, faculty and guests, and introduced LAU president Dr. Joseph G. Jabbra.

Jabbra gave a historical overview of International Heritage Day, noting that its roots date back to the early 1980s.

“In an international community meeting in Tunisia on April 18, 1982, one of the decisions was to set a day on which humanity would celebrate its heritage,” Jabbra said.

“In 1983, UNESCO expressed concern that international heritage was vulnerable to the behavior of leaders and to the effects of war,” he added. “They thus mandated that states do what they can to protect the diversity and richness of international heritage.”

The president thanked the university’s cultural clubs and diverse student body for contributing to the ongoing success of the annual event since the 2003–2004 academic year.

“The event has been made vibrant by their energy and commitment,” he said.

The students were equally pleased with the event, saying it successfully represented their cultural identities.

“I think the Palestinian Cultural Club’s stand really reflected the cultural image of the Palestinians through their presentation and folk dance,” said Aya Ibrahim, a Palestinian student in her first year studying literature.

The USA Cultural Club’s booth, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, featured — among other things — a group from the embassy that distributed applications for exchange programs and Fulbright scholarships to student passers-by. The embassy representatives explained the experiences and benefits successful applicants could gain through these programs.

Students were also delighted by the level of cooperation between the different clubs.

“The atmosphere is friendly and supportive. The clubs even share ideas about how to improve the appearance of each others' stands,” said Adnan Adam, a Greek-Cypriot student.

Program coordinator Riman Jurdak expressed pride in the students’ ideas and effort.

“They continue to surprise me, honestly — I’m so happy and proud of their work,” Jurdak said.

The show opened with a Lebanese folkloric dance, followed by each club performing its national dance.

The Armenian Club, Greek Group, Iraqi Group, Jordanian Cultural Club, Palestinian Cultural Club, Saudi Cultural Club, Syrian Cultural Club, UNESCO Club (presenting Lebanese culture), and USA Cultural Club participated in the event.

Hyphen Islam–Christianity’s team has traveled to more than 19 cities across the globe. The project includes a documentary by Nada Raphaël who is the project founder and head, as well as a 700-page collector’s book (winner of a Special Mention at the 2011 France–Lebanon Contest organized by the Association des Écrivains de Langue Française), and a photography exhibition — all depicting the thoughts and images of inhabitants of over 1,200 villages across Lebanon.

The interactive event opened in the Irwin Hall Auditorium with the Tripoli-based Fayha Choir singing the Lebanese National Anthem, followed by a short introductory speech by Dr. Elise Salem, vice president for Student Development and Enrollment Management at LAU.

“This should be a celebration of our differences, of our potential, and of our Lebanon,” said Salem.

Raphaël’s documentary stressed the need for Lebanese to look past their religious differences to find their similarities as citizens. “Hyphen Islam–Christianity is not about politics; it’s about how to live together,” Raphaël explained.

One interviewee in the documentary recalled a Christian man entering a mosque for the first time and asking, “What’s the difference? This is still the House of God.” Another mentioned evangelical schools in Tripoli, Lebanon, with a Muslim–Christian student ratio of roughly 3 to 1, where students are instructed by nuns.

After the film screening, Raphaël took questions from the audience.

The award-winning Fayha Choir, comprising 50 young women and men from various religious and cultural backgrounds, followed with a live performance conducted by maestro Barkev Taslakian. The choir has received many awards, including two by the Warsaw International Choir Festival.

The choir’s diversity was also reflected by eclectic musical selections ranging from Palestinian to Armenian and Egyptian. “Al Kassam,” dedicated to the late Gebran Tueni, perhaps most poignantly captured the unity and pluralism of Lebanon.

The event closed with a cocktail reception where the crowd mingled next to an enormous bowl of tabbouleh, a picture of which was also depicted on the cover of the event’s program booklet.

“One of the purposes of this very moving event was to get away from petty Lebanese politics and materialism, to get back to more profound issues, to the importance of what makes us Lebanese,” Salem reflected near the end of the evening.

The event was organized by the Safadi Foundation, LAU, and the Faculty of Religious Sciences – Institute of Islamic–Christian Studies of the Université Saint-Joseph, within the Islamo-Christian Dialogue Week in Lebanon. The following two days, it was also hosted at the Safadi Cultural Center in Tripoli and at USJ.
 

Organized by The Institute for Media Training and Research and the Department of Communication Arts at LAU, the three-day conference featured a number of panel sessions in which conference delegates presented papers linked to their research areas, inviting discussion among their peers.

“I believe this was the first conference on Arab pop culture done at a university,” says Dr. Ramez Maluf, chair of the Communication Arts Department, TIMTAR director, and conference organizer. “This is a subject that I believe is in great need of being studied because of the transformation in the Arab world and culture. I’m very happy that we were able to do this,” adds Maluf.

The research papers encompassed a broad scope of popular culture and media themes. Noteworthy sessions on the first day included “Popular TV Shows, Nostalgia and Political Correctness” by Abeer Al Najjar from the American University of Sharjah, “Youth-Generated Media, Notes on Arab Cultural Politics” by Joe F. Khalil from the University of Southern Illinois, and “Islam Online Guides Husbands and Wives Towards Marital Bliss Via Popular Culture,” by Mona Abdel Fadil from the University of Oslo.

The second day of the conference featured a cross-section of research topics that proved intriguing for attendees — including students — and invited considerable questions and dialogue in the Q&A sessions that followed.

Some of the noteworthy research papers included: “Popularising Psychoanalysis: Representations of the Therapeutic in Arab Literature” by Julia Borossa from Middlesex University, and “Fragments of Identity: Perceptions and Visual Popular Culture in the Arab Region” by Tina Sleiman from Zayed University, Dubai, as well as “New Information Technology as a Major Aspect of Arab Popular Culture” by Mahboub Hashem from the American University of Sharjah, and “Palestinian Hip Hop: Youth, Identity and Nation” by Sunaina Maira and Magid Shihade, from the University of California-Davis, and Lahore University of Management Sciences. Kay Dickinson from Goldsmiths College, University of London, also shared a fascinating paper on “Fueling the Palestinian Road (Block) Movie: An International Deployment of ‘The Popular.’ ”

On the final day of the conference, some fascinating papers included “Arab Popular Culture in University Outside the Arab World: A Canadian Viewpoint,” by Daniela Firanescu from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, “Arabs in the Media in Australia: News Values and Negative Coverage,” by Lauren Rosewarne from the University of Melbourne, and “Pushing Boundaries of Imagination: Arabs and the Bombay Cinema,” by JM Ilias from the India-Arab Cultural Center, New Delhi.

“The conference was very interesting. … Of course the sessions were uneven, some papers were groundbreaking others were not, but all in all the feedback I’m getting from people is great,” says Maluf. He adds, “We are hoping to produce a book on Arab pop culture, a collection of essays. It is in the process of being put together right now.”

Besides the panel sessions, conference delegates took part in some social activities. They wrapped up their first day of the conference by attending a performance of the LAU student theater production Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza, at the Gulbenkian Theatre, before heading to Dbayeh for dinner. On the second evening of the conference, delegates were taken to Byblos for a tour of the city and dinner, and on the last day, they were given a tour of Beirut’s downtown, by Maluf himself.

Posted April 12, 2010—

LAU to host international conference on Arab popular culture

Numerous leading international scholars and academics in the field of Arab media, arts and the humanities will descend upon Beirut to speak at LAU’s first-ever conference on “Arab Popular Culture and the Media” from April 21–23.

Organized by The Institute for Media Training and Research and the Department of Communication Arts, the conference will feature 15 sessions in which over 50 scholars and academics will present papers exploring various topics and themes relating to Arab popular culture in the world, including TV shows and films, music, revered artists, literature, IT and social media, use of language, and socio-cultural trends. Each session will be moderated by an LAU faculty or staff member.

International participants in the conference are representing a huge range of renowned universities from around the world, including: Cambridge University, Goldsmiths College – University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, The American University in Cairo, The University of Sydney, University of Aleppo, University of Berlin, University of California-Davis, University of Gothenburg, University of Kent, University of Oslo, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rome 3, University of Southern Illinois, and Zayed University in Dubai.

A number of academics and scholars from LAU will give presentations at the conference over three days of sessions.

On April 21, Dr. Ahmad Oueini, associate professor and chair of LAU’s Department of Education, will present a paper on “Sunset Boulevard By Way of Wadi Shahrour: A Psychological Profile of Sabah,” and Zeina Meskaoui, an instructor at the School of Architecture and Design, will give a presentation on “Performing the Body; Haifa Wehbi in the Becoming.”

On April 22, Saba Haider, MarCom associate director, will present a paper on “The Challenges of Palestinian Film Production in the Palestinian New Wave.” On April 23, the final day of the conference, Ayman Itani, an instructor in the Department of Communication Arts, will talk about “The Internet as Popular Culture,” and Dr. Ramez Maluf, chair of LAU’s Department of Communication Arts, TIMTAR director, and organizer of the conference, will present a paper on “Dubbing into Arabic and the Popularization of Hollywood.”

Members of the public are welcome to attend the panel sessions to which entry is free of charge. To find out more, or to register for the entire conference, contact the conference director, Dr. Ramez Maluf, by email at: rzmaluf@lau.edu.lb, or by phone at: 01-786456, extension 1401.

Check out the program of the three-day conference.

The LAU community celebrated its annual International Heritage Day on March 24 in front of the Safadi Fine Arts Building, Beirut campus. Nine student cultural club set up a stand dedicated to informing passers-by about their heritage.

The Armenian Club, Greek Group, Iraqi Group, Jordanian Cultural Club, Kuwaiti Cultural Club, Palestinian Cultural Club, Saudi Cultural Club, Syrian Cultural Club, and UNESCO Club (presenting Lebanese culture) participated in the event.

An opening ceremony at 11:00 a.m. welcomed students, faculty, staff and guests. A dance show organized by the various LAU dance clubs followed in the evening.

The Dean of Students in Beirut, Dr. Tarek Na’was (right), cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony in the morning, along with guests that included Abdel Aal El Kinaei (Ambassador of Kuwait), Feryal Abdel Nabi (Deputy Head of the Iraqi Mission), Emmanuel Kakavelakis (Deputy Head of the Greek Mission), Ghassan Anjarini (Deputy Head of the Syrian Mission), Dr. Ayman El Maghrabi (Saudi Arabian Embassy’s Cultural Attaché), Dr. Inaam El Sadek (Iraqi Embassy’s Cultural Attaché), Wael Al Smadi (Jordanian Embassy’s Cultural Attaché), Maher Mcheiel (Palestinian Embassy’s Cultural Attaché), Salwa Saniora Baassiri (Secretary-General of the Lebanese National Commission of the UNESCO), and Christiane Jeitani (National Coordinator of associated schools–UNESCO clubs).

Na’was quoted William Sloane Coffin, Jr. in his opening speech, saying “diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”

The guests visited each stand at the event and conversed with students about their cultures.

Various cultural items were on display at the stands.

Passers-by were served national foods at the stands.

Dr. Elise Salem, vice president for Student Development and Enrollment Management, explained that 19 percent of LAU students are international, representing 85 countries.

“This day highlights our diversity and celebrates our cultural heritages. It’s an inclusive non-political event that brings different customs, food, music, dance to campus in a fun and positive atmosphere. You could tell by the huge attendance that students responded to the food, the dabke, and the colorful tents,” said Salem of the event.

The members of the Greek Group, which was launched this year, performed a traditional dance in front of their stand. They also served foods like tyropita, kaftedes and tzatziki, that members cooked themselves.
 

Organized by LAU’s Alumni Relations Office, the event celebrated Marthiyat Taer Al Qata, the newest book published by Rifka, who taught philosophy and cultural studies at LAU for over 30 years.

“I am proud to stand on this platform as graduate of this university to honor my teacher,” said LAU alum Sleiman Bakhti, publisher of Rifka’s new book.

“Fuad Rifka is one of the most important contemporary poets and innovators,” he added. “He knows how to mix poetry and philosophy.”

LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra said that “Rifka is breaking the boundaries of the country,” before going on to list some of his most notable achievements.

Despite the wide praise Rifka received, he insisted that the event was held to honor not him, but rather poetry itself.

“What is this evening honoring?” Rifka asked the audience. “No bravery was achieved by me … nor have I fulfilled anything supernatural,” he added. “The evening is dedicated to honoring poetry.”

Following the remarks, a three-member ensemble, which included Bakhti, actor Refaat Torbey, and singer and actress Yvonne El Hashem, took the stage to read, sing and act out passages from the book.

In her opening remarks, by Dr. Samira Aghacy, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in Beirut, explained Haydar’s deep passion for the environment.

“Haydar’s attachment to nature should not be considered as an escapist attempt to shy away from contemporary issues,” she said. “In his poetry, he’s explicit about his aversion and anger at the abuses of the Earth’s natural resources that have polluted the world and caused irrecoverable and irreversible change.”

Dr. John Monroe, former professor of English literature at AUB, traveled from Cyprus to speak at the event. Monroe described meeting Haydar for the first time in 1984 when the poet visited his AUB office unannounced.

Monroe, who had also been working as a journalist at the time, said that he began to question Haydar about the political situation and role of the Amal Movement in Haydar’s hometown of Baalbeck, causing the poet to grow visibly annoyed.

“Jawdat gave me a dismissive wave of the hand and said, ‘these things will pass,’” Monroe recalled. “He wanted to show me his poetry.”

“Why would you want to discuss something so serious when you have such a beautiful view from your window?” Monroe added, paraphrasing Haydar’s response when he attempted to continue discussing politics.

Dr. May Maluf, associate professor of English literature at the Lebanese University, was next to take the stage where she presented a close examination of several of Haydar’s poems.

During his career, Haydar published numerous works in Arabic and four volumes of poetry in English: Voices (1980), Echoes (1989), Shadows (1998) and 101 Selected Poems (2006), shortly before his death at the age of 101.

Because of the poet’s habit of weaving through various literary styles and touching on a broad range of issues, Maluf explained that Haydar’s readers have trouble understanding from which lens to view his work.

“Intrigued by the prolific stylistic modes of Haydar’s poetry, readers often find difficulty in categorizing his poetic imagery — they have difficulty placing him in a literary canon,” Maluf said. “Solution: Let’s refer to him as a great poet.”
 

“Where does a sense of belonging come from?” the author asked, before revealing that, for her, feelings of belonging to a particular place, or with certain people, are rooted in childhood experiences and relationships.

“As a child,” she said, “I made these journeys growing up in Ras Beirut unaware that they would have such a huge impact on my life once I had lost them as a result of the civil war and of my family’s displacement.”

Awar Jarrar is a recipient of the Commonwealth Foundation’s Best First Book award for Southeast Asia and the South Pacific in 2004 for her first book, Somewhere, Home, which tells a story of three Lebanese women who had been taken from Lebanon under different circumstances and, later in their lives, were on a journey to rediscover their homes, or their places of belonging.

Awar Jarrar was born in Beirut to a Lebanese father and an Australian mother of Lebanese descent. She has lived in London, Paris, Sydney and Washington D.C., but returned to Beirut which she says she has no intention of leaving.

Each of the four novels Awar Jarrar has published manages to capture some sense or aspect of Lebanon.

“I keep hoping that every time I start something new, [aspects of] Lebanon as a whole or in part — Beirut, the mountains, the Mediterranean — will not impose themselves on the narrative,” she said. “But somehow, they always manage to make themselves felt, even when the characters are thousands of miles away.”

LAU Byblos held a commemorative event on November 25 to mark the 66th anniversary of Lebanon's independence from France. Famous Lebanese singer Sami Clark performed the Lebanese national anthem, and a military orchestra played a variety of patriotic songs. The event was organized by the Guidance Office-Byblos in collaboration with four student clubs: the Offre de Joie Club, the Scout Club, the Pulse Club, and the Civic Engagement Club.

Mabele Abi Ramia, president of the Scout Club, raised the Lebanese flag atop a wooden structure constructed by club members.

The military orchestra performed a number of patriotic songs.

LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra planted a cedar tree near the Byblos-campus fountain. Three cedars were planted that day.

Jabbra handed awards to Lebanese Army Lieutenant Antoine Tohmeh who conducted the military orchestra, and singer Sami Clark (center).

Members from the Civic Engagement Club released 12 white pigeons over the campus symbolizing peace.

Cutting of the ceremonial cake at the end of the event.
 

Independence Day show at LAU Beirut

Posted November 20, 2009--

On November 17, five days before Lebanon celebrates its 66th anniversary of independence, soldiers from the Lebanese army's airborne unit put on a show for LAU community members on the Beirut campus. The soldiers performed stunts, crawling down the sides of buildings with ropes and demonstrating fighting techniques. The event drew well over 1,000 spectators who cheered on the soldiers during their performances.

An army band played the national anthem and other patriotic songs before raising the Lebanese flag at the beginning of the ceremony near the upper gate.

The army assembled cables attached from a tank to the roof of Nicol Hall from where soldiers made daring escapes.

A soldier slides down from Nicol Hall.

Soldiers make their way down from Nicol Hall as spectators hang out from windows to observe.

The Safadi Fine Arts Building was one of three buildings that soldiers used to perform stunts.

After climbing down from the Fine Arts Building, the soldiers form a defensive position.

A soldier performs "the spider" move by crawling down the Irwin Hall from one window into the one below.

Soldiers demonstrate different fighting techniques.

Soldiers show how to take on an opponent without using a gun.

 Independence Day will be celebrated on the Byblos campus on November 25.

Nearly 80 years after his death, Gibran’s works continue to be studied, cherished and revered around the world.

“Until this day, Gibran still exists in all cultures from East to West,” said Antoine Tawk, president of the Gibran National Committee, speaking at the conference held at the Bristol Hotel. “He represents a message from Lebanon to the world about diversity, forgiveness and the values of freedom,” Tawk added.

The conference was divided into three sessions and focused on Gibran’s “presence in different cultures and societies.” Each session featured three speakers and a moderator representing Lebanon, Japan, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Germany and France.

Dr. Djelal Kadir, a professor of comparative literature from Pennsylvania State University, characterized Gibran, who emigrated to the United States when he was a child, as a paradigm of America’s paradoxical culture, describing Gibran’s rejection of American naturalization and refusal to pursue American citizenship as “distinctly American gestures.”

“The magnitude of Gibran’s paradoxical status in America is no less immense when one considers ... [that] his work has sold more than 10 million copies in English, with translations in more than 20 languages,” Kadir said.

He added that Gibran’s most famous book The Prophet, published in 1923, sold more copies than any other book aside from the Bible in the United States during the 20th century.

“All of this made Gibran not only an American phenomenon, but also a transnational one,” Kadir said.

“Kahlil Gibran was the one who drove me into the Arab world and world of Arab literature,” said Dr. Akiko Sumi, associate professor of Arabic language and literature at Kyoto Notre Dame University in Japan.

She said that while Gibran is less known in Japan than he is in the Middle East and the United States, his work is beginning to catch on, especially inside academic circles, as more of Gibran’s books are being translated into Japanese.

Eka Budianta, a member of the Indonesian Heritage Trust, a civil society organization, said that traces of Gibran’s influence are found not only in Indonesian literature, but also in education, popular contemporary Indonesian music, and religious activities, to name a few. Gibran has even become a popular name among Indonesians, Budianta said.

“We come from a country where Kahlil Gibran is deeply admired, fairly appreciated, and sometimes misunderstood,” Budianta said. “Lebanon is blessed to have been given the birth of Kahlil Gibran, the fighter of peace, the guru of humanity.”

Visitors trickled in and out of the conference throughout the day. Short opening remarks were presented by LAU President Joseph G. Jabbra and Dr. Samira Aghacy, the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in Beirut.

According to Dr. Vahid Behmardi, LAU Arabic literature professor and conference coordinator, the idea to hold the event originated two years ago when the Gibran National Committee contacted LAU seeking to collaborate on a project to mark the 125th anniversary of Gibran’s birth. An agreement was made and a committee formed to select speakers.

“The purpose of this conference is to show that Gibran is not limited to the Middle East and to the West,” Behmardi said. “Gibran is universal.”
 

The study of these trends was the focus of a two-day colloquium that gathered prominent scholars, UN representatives and civil society members on the Byblos campus last week.

A multitude of issues related to the Arab family and the changes it is undergoing were addressed through 24 papers, with topics ranging from migration, war and conflict management, demographic changes, governance, business, education and child rights to psychological aspects, family relations, gender norms and values, eating disorders and social care.

Keynote speaker Dr. Saad Eddine Ibrahim, professor of Political Sociology at the American University in Cairo and distinguished visiting professor at Istanbul Kültür University, explained that the grounds of the traditional Arab family have been shaken by the "hyphenated families" (e.g., Lebanese-American), the high divorce rates of around 40% in the Gulf, the separation of families, the femininization of the Arab world, and the numerous civil or externally motivated wars in the region. Keeping an optimistic tone, he said, "Whether we like it or not... [globalization] is going to be with us... Let us understand it, learn how to deal with it, and be active participants in it; otherwise, we will become [its] victims..."

Dr. Josiane Sreih, associate professor and director of the Institute of Family and Entrepreneurial Business at LAU, said, "The Arab family is quite a complex entity, bound with its set of traditions and cultural ties on the one side, and its willingness to adapt to the advancement, openness and independence of the West [on the other], and finds itself in a triggering position and a difficult stage of adaptability."

The institute hosted the colloquium, funded by the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development, in an effort to spearhead discourse and research on the pressures and opportunities facing the Arab family and society. The initiative is particularly important, since "the issues of the family in the Arab world have been neglected at the level of serious empirical and theoretical work," said one of the presenters, Dr. Suad Joseph, professor of Anthropology and Women and Gender Studies, and director of Middle East/South Asia Studies at UC Davis.

The colloquium--the first of its kind in Lebanon--took about eight months to prepare. A scientific committee made up of LAU faculty screened all the papers received, adopting a 50% rejection rate to maintain quality.

Dean of the LAU School of Arts and Sciences Samira Aghacy said the conference "is an indication of the level of commitment our university has to interdisciplinary research and in particular to family studies in Lebanon and the Arab world."

Founded in 2000 by the School of Business, IFEB aims at becoming a forum to generate and exchange knowledge about family businesses, and enhancing their continuity and growth.

Seven clubs set up outdoor stands to showcase the cultural heritage of their countries. Students dressed in folkloric costumes, served traditional food to their guests, played songs in their languages or dialects, and displayed photos and artistic works.

"Those who deny their roots, are rootless, and those who deny their heritage, have no heritage," said LAU President Joseph Jabbra, urging students and visitors to preserve their cultures. He also highlighted the importance of building bridges between people from various backgrounds so that diversity does not become a source of conflict.

Dean of Student Affairs in Beirut Tarek Na'was said, "Our university hosts students from 73 different nationalities...This is a source of pride and enrichment for us."

The Algerian, Armenian, Kuwaiti, Lebanese-UNESCO, Palestinian, Saudi, and Syrian student clubs had worked for days to prepare attractive stands decorated with flags, photos, maps, posters, garments, foods, beverages, crafts, brochures, books, and CDs.

The event was more than an exhibition of promotional materials. It was an opportunity for students to engage in activities such as dancing and singing. "The aim...was to make students interact and enjoy the day, and not only pass by and see the stand," said Lebanese-UNESCO Club President Abbas Sibai.

PLO Representative Abbas Zaki, Kuwaiti Cultural Attaché Youssef Shemlan Al Roumi, Saudi Cultural Attaché Ayman Al Maghrebi, and Algerian Cultural Attaché Laouj Wannas were among the diplomatic officials that attended the event.

Read a previous story about this annual activity.

"Justice and preserving human dignity for all" were Ghoussoub's main concerns, according to IWSAW Director Dima Dabbous-Sensenig.

Cris O'Connor, speaking on behalf of the UK Ambassador, said we should "seek to emulate something of her ability to reach out to those we can't easily understand; to invest our emotional energies in learning to empathize; and above all to recognize the essential importance of humanity."

The event drew diplomats, writers, colleagues and friends who share their admiration for the daring and often controversial Lebanese figure. The speeches, a ten-minute excerpt of a taped interview with Ghoussoub, and the exhibit of some of her sculptures, books and belongings all highlighted her multiple talents.

Ghoussoub's human side was described by her close friend, Roseanne Khalaf, who recalled numerous anecdotes. As a young woman, Ghoussoub refused to participate in fighting during the Lebanese war; she established a non-sectarian pharmacy that provided services to whoever needed them; and she lost an eye and sustained shrapnel wounds when a shell hit her car as she drove a man to hospital.

Her love of Lebanon was shown through the full-of-agony personal emails Khalaf received from Ghoussoub during the summer 2006 war in Lebanon. In one of them, she wished she were there. "It's awful to witness this hell from the screens and realize that one is helpless, unable to do anything to alleviate the pain," she wrote. Less than a year later, Ghoussoub died suddenly in London.

O'Connor stressed Ghoussoub's role "as a Middle Eastern feminist," praising her "courage to open up debates on issues stifled by powerful taboos."

He also commended her writing talent saying that "she encouraged us to see human beings as human beings ... all flawed, yet all deserving of respect."

Along the same lines, Khalaf, assistant professor of English and creative writing at the American University of Beirut, said that "her startlingly original writing" reflected "her desire to move hidden or taboo subjects out of the shadows to radically challenge and reshape inflexible mainstream notions."

Ghoussoub's work as a publisher was specially acknowledged by Maggie Gee, a novelist whose book on racism was published by Ghoussoub's Al-Saqi Books, after being rejected by many others in London. "Mai was against censorship and not easily shocked, and she was able to look the truth in the eye," she said.

O'Connor said Al-Saqi Books gave Londoners "a window into Middle Eastern literature, culture, politics and sociology. [It] brought to people in Britain a better understanding of the complexities of Middle Eastern society" and allowed many Middle Eastern writers to reach audiences previously unavailable to them.

Every year on International Women's Day, IWSAW takes the opportunity to highlight Arab women's issues by paying tribute to prominent figures in Lebanon and internationally.

The daylong outdoor activity on March 22, 2006 caused a buzz on campus as passersby stopped to visit stands set up by the Armenian, Palestinian, Algerian, Saudi, Jordanian, Syrian and Lebanese student clubs.

With local music and national songs playing in the background, the stands displayed booklets, brochures, country photos and folkloric wear. Visitors were invited to sample traditional foods, beverages and sweets.

LAU President Dr. Joseph Jabbra saluted the students for their efforts. "I see in you incredible altruism, idealism and a will to change the world for the better," Dr. Jabbra said. "I read on your faces a bright future not only for Lebanon but also for the entire region," he added.

Dr. Jabbra hoped that differences between countries and peoples would become a source of enrichment and reconciliation, conducive to acceptance rather than rejection and optimism rather than despair.

Saudi Ambassador Abdel Aziz Khouja and Jordanian Charge d'Affairs Mohammed Al Kayed along with other diplomatic officials were on hand for the event.

More pictures on the Student Affairs photo gallery.