A Brief Overview of CBR’s Activities

1995-2005

• Seven international conferences were hosted on topics such as: “Science Technology and Society,” “Building City and Nation,” “Arab Provincial Capitals in Late Ottoman Empire,” “Tribute to Edward Said,” “Sexuality in the Arab World.”  They brought together over three hundred scholars, many of them for the first time to Lebanon.  Virtually all conferences were organized jointly or in collaboration with other centers, hence drawing support from supplementary and alternative sources of funding (IDRC of Canada, Ford, Chiha Foundation, Oxford, Columbia, Orient Institute etc…).
• A total of fifty eight Visiting Research Fellows and Associates, mostly pre-doctoral candidates from US, European, Australian, Canadian, Asian and other universities had residences of various duration in our modest premises.  The presence of such a core of driven and hard-working young scholars (in the process of conducting field work and research for their Ph.D. dissertations), served as a contagious role model for our graduate students.
• Forty five graduate students received full graduate assistantship.  Many, as a result, were able to finish their MA requirements in the optimal time span of two years.  Twelve of those students are currently completing their Ph.D’s in leading US and European universities; some are recipients of highly competitive 5-year fellowships.  Hopefully, this is a potential pool of recruits we can draw upon the near future.
• Perhaps the most visible events were the 6-8 public lectures we hosted every year.  Not all, naturally, were of the rock-star quality of Edward Said.  We did though attract altogether about fifty eight notable speakers of the likes of: Rashid Khalidi, Peter Rowe, Miguel Morationos, Johan Galtung, John Waterbury, Tony Tanner, Adonis, Mary Ann Glendon, Hrant Khatchadorian, Anthony King, Lucette Valensi, Georgi Mirsky, Mary Wilson, Walter Wallace, Augustus Norton, Saud Joseph, Ghassan Hage, Eugene Rogan, Fawaz Gerges, Brain Street, Frank Wisner, John Keane, Peter Johnson, Fadlou Shehadi, Yasir Suleiman etc…  Many attracted large turnouts and press coverage.
• Twenty four scholars, normally with fresh Ph.D’s, enjoyed the privilege of a full-year of uninterrupted research and writing.  In addition to preparing their manuscripts for publication some were able to offer seminars on special topics related to their research.  Others assisted graduate students and generated interest in new areas of study and exploration.  Many of those are already on tenure-track appointments in the US and elsewhere.  We continue to receive acknowledgments for publications which emanated from their residency at CBR.
• The success of our “Brown Bag” bi-weekly sessions, largely the outcome of the initiative generated by visiting fellows and graduate students, have gone beyond our initial expectations.  After a modest beginning they started to attract a devoted audience of participants.  Thus far, we have had a total of about one hundred sessions.  They have been particularly effective in at least two ways: graduate students were exposed to presentations and discussions of work-in-progress; they also extended the contacts of the Center to other comparable groups (i.e. CERMOC, Goethe, USJ & LAU).
• The most compelling byproduct has been the Faculty Research Awards.  Thus far twenty five of our colleagues have benefited from the opportunity of devoting their summer break to research and writing in lieu of teaching.  A substantial number of those who were the beneficiaries of such stipends appear to have made judicious and creative use of such privileges.  This is apparent in their enhanced scholarly output and greater opportunities to participate in international meetings.  This has doubtedly expedited their coveted promotions.  The number of publications generated by such activities is very promising.  Such output has, naturally, enhanced AUB’s stature as the foremost scholarly and research institution in the region.
• During the past four years the Center has been involved in a collaborative Euromed Heritage Project, supported by the European Commission and the University of North London.  Beirut is one of fourteen other Mediterranean cities being explored with special focus on oral history, visual and intangible culture.  This joint project has been invaluable in exposing our graduate students and research assistants to novel cross-cultural research strategies and professional skills in producing inventive products such as CDRoms, documentary films, websites, audio images and roving exhibitions.