Lebanon Dissertation Summer Institute

,This doctoral dissertation summer workshop aims to provide a framework for facilitating and advancing critical doctoral dissertation research on Lebanon. By bringing together PhD students of various disciplinary training and topical foci, this workshop creates a space to interrogate modify, and develop critical approaches to the study of Lebanon. Central to this process will be increasing students’ familiarity with the contours of knowledge production as well as of field research in Lebanon. A group of 10 doctoral students working on Lebanon, spanning a range of institutions and disciplines, make up the first inaugural group. The workshop is co-convened by Ziad Abu-Rish and Nadya Sbaiti.

2016 Workshop Program

Speaker and Lecture Topics
  • Professor Ilham Khuri-Makdisi (Northeastern University),
    "Historical Writing on Ottoman Lebanon" 
  • Professor Nadya Sbaiti (American University of Beirut),
    "Historical Writing on Mandate/Colonial Lebanon"
  • Professor Ziad Abu-Rish (Ohio University),
    "Historical Writing on Post-Colonial Lebanon"
  • Professor Irene Gendzier (Boston University),
    "Researching US Policy in Lebanon"
  • Professor Nisreen Salti (American University of Beirut),
    "Economics on Lebanon"
  • Professor Lara Deeb (Scripps College),
    "The Anthropology of Lebanon"
  • Professor Mona Harb (American University of Beirut),
    "Urban Studies in Lebanon"
  • Professor Syrine al-Hout (American University of Beirut),
    "Lebanese Literature"
  • Closed Panel on "Researching Refugees Communities in Lebanon" [TBC]
  • Public Panel on “Research and Public Engagement” [TBC]
 
Guided site visits include:
National Museum, Nami Jafet Library of the American University of Beirut, Library of the Holy Spirit University in Kaslik, Orient Institute of Beirut, Arab Image Foundation, Sursuq Museum, Beirut Coast (with Dictaphone Group), and the city of Tyre.
2016 Workshop Participants
The inaugural (2016) program features the participation of the following PhD students:
  • Tory Brykalski, Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of California, Davis
  • Joan Chaker, Department of History at Harvard University
  • Susanna Ferguson, Department of History at Columbia University
  • Kyle Gamble, Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at University of Toronto
  • Bradley Hutchison, Department of History at State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton
  • Anne Irfan, Department of International History at the London School of Economics
  • Sean Lee, Department of Political Science at Northwestern University
  • Lama Mourad, Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto
  • Adriana Qubaia, Department of Gender Studies at Central European University
  • Rossana Tufaro, Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University

Concept Note

Over the past several years, academic scholarship in general and doctoral dissertation projects in particular have increasingly sought to focus on Lebanon as a primary case study and arena of academic inquiry. This includes researchers based in the Middle East, the United States, and Europe, and spans several disciplines including history, anthropology, political science, and economics. One impetus for this increasing emphasis on researching Lebanon within Middle East studies has been the real or perceived inaccessibility of other regional states for research purposes in the wake of intensifying foreign intervention, domestic repression, and other forms of violence. Another impetus has been the substantial development of the scholarly literature on Lebanon over the past two decades, coupled with a number of important research-advancing initiatives that have been inaugurated in the country over the past five years. Consequently, the number of PhD students and aspiring scholars seeking to conduct fieldwork in and academic research on Lebanon continues to increase.
 
At the same time, literature on Lebanon is seldom fully integrated into the graduate coursework of PhD students. Such students very rarely find themselves at institutions with access to a scholar of Lebanon to fulfill the role of course professor, academic advisor, field examiner, or dissertation committee member. These dynamics are particularly important given the frequent and problematic ways that historical and contemporary political, economic, social, and cultural dynamics in Lebanon are exceptionalized vis-à-vis the comparative study of societies in general and the Middle East in particular.
 
By bringing together PhD students of various disciplinary training and topical foci, this workshop creates a space to interrogate, modify, and develop critical approaches to the study of Lebanon. Central to this process will be increasing students’ familiarity with the contours of knowledge production as well as of field research in Lebanon.

Goals of the Doctoral Dissertation Workshop

  • Facilitate logistical preparation for archival and other forms of research fieldwork.
  • Deepen participants’ theoretical and empirical foundations for the study of Lebanon.
  • Introduce applicants to the main questions and methods of various discipline re Lebanon.
  • Contribute to the development of a doctoral dissertation research and writing community.
  • Expand critical knowledge production on Lebanon.
 
A group of 10-15 PhD students, representing an array of disciplines, research agendas, and institutional affiliations will come together to participate in the summer workshop each year. In doing so, they will both advance their academic training and initiate (or build on) their fieldwork.

Workshop Syllabus

Each working day will begin at 9am and conclude by approximately 5:30pm, with coffee, lunch, and other breaks included. Each working day will be comprised of three components: a site visit to research institutions or a public tour, a state-of-the-field lecture, and a seminar discussion. The order will vary depending on the day.
 
Please note that workshop activities are closed to the public due to space limitations. Some of the information shared and developed in the course of the workshop will be made available to the public with the consent of relevant participants and presenters. There will also be a workshop-sponsored public event on "Research and Public Engagement" featuring local researchers working on different projects.
 
State-of-the-Field Lectures are designed to highlight the current state of academic literature on Lebanon in a given discipline or topic. The confirmed speakers represent an array of renowned scholars and researchers who have actively contributed to shaping the academic literature on Lebanon.
 
Site Visits will include archives, libraries, and research centers, as well as walking tours and public events. They are designed to enhance students’ understanding of institutional resources for researching Lebanon, as well as complicate complicate neighborhoods, towns, cities, and the country as a lived experience. 
 
Seminar Discussions will meet once a day, facilitated by Ziad Abu-Rish and Nadya Sbaiti. The aim here is to discuss specific texts from the workshop reader, debrief on the day’s events, and/or participate in other reflective exercises.
 
A Workshop Reader forms a central component of the program. The reading list is meant to both deepen participants' collective knowledge of the history of Lebanon, but also to expose them to some of the major works/approaches/questions in the interdisciplinary study of Lebanon. This reader is not meant to be a definitive bibliography for the study of Lebanon, but rather one that will enhance the collective experience, and deepen conversations, during the workshop. Some readings will be discussed during lectures, others will be discussed during the seminar portion.