Grants

American University of Beirut

Project Title

As a final grant for a scholars network on economic and urban development studies in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 12, 2024

Duration

36 months

Description

The Middle East is a hub for international development interventions, yet lacking in academic programs to train and connect regional expertise in this field. In light of this gap, the Corporation awarded the American University of Beirut (AUB) a grant in 2020 to expand and advance the field of development studies in the region and to establish an academic degree. The network has grown to incorporate 80 international scholars engaged in curriculum development, op-ed writing, and mentoring of graduate students and junior scholars in the region. A final grant supports work on urban development together with the project’s annual training institute, which offers thirty graduate students mentorship and an opportunity to workshop their writing for publication. 

Project Title

For a project on building the field of critical development studies in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 15, 2022

Duration

27 months

Description

In the past decade the Arab region has experienced major mobilizations, political transformations, and prolonged conflicts. Scholars point to economic challenges and inequality as critical drivers of sustained uprisings. The area is a hub for international development interventions, yet it lacks academic programs to train and connect regional expertise. In light of the magnitude of economic and social challenges, the Corporation awarded the American University of Beirut (AUB) a grant in 2020 to expand and advance the field of critical development studies in the region. Renewed Corporation funding will build upon the dynamic first phase of that effort. Working with the Center for Lebanese Studies (CLS) it will bridge studies on development, political economy, and social contention with labor, migration, and conflict issues. Corporation funds will support staff costs, a summer school for early-career scholars, an op-ed and seminar series, data analyses and audiovisual productions.

Project Title

For general support

Date

Sep. 02, 2021

Duration

12 months

Description

Lebanon faces multiple crises in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and financial collapse, creating hardship for the country’s population, academic institutions, and scholarly communities. Corporation support to the American University of Beirut (AUB) is longstanding. AUB anticipates using these funds for pandemic response led by AUB’s Medical Center. 

Project Title

For a project to build a field of critical development studies in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 10, 2020

Duration

24 months

Description

In the past decade the Arab region has experienced major mobilizations, political transformations, and prolonged conflicts. Scholars point to economic challenges and inequality as critical drivers of sustained uprisings. The area is a hub for international development interventions, yet lacks academic programs to train and connect expertise in the region. In light of the magnitude of the economic and social challenges, the American University of Beirut (AUB) will launch a scholars network and a diploma program to build the field of critical development studies in the Arab region. In collaboration with the School for African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), the project will examine how development is conceptualized and implemented in the Arab region and beyond. This initiative accompanies the introduction of a new Diploma in Development Studies at AUB to offer students and scholars the opportunity to participate in policy development and debates through local and regionally-anchored perspectives. Corporation funds will support workshops, publications, a development studies summer institute, and other start-up costs for the initiative.

Project Title

For support to Athar portal and dissemination training for researchers in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 10, 2020

Duration

73 months

Description

Scholars have long contended with the challenge of disseminating their research to public and policy audiences. With Corporation support, the American University of Beirut (AUB) launched the online Portal for Social Impact of Scientific Research in the Arab World (Athar) in 2017. The project has successfully created a globally accessible archive providing researchers with an additional means of conveying their findings to the public in Arabic as well as other languages. With renewed support, Athar will widen the geographical scope of its contributors and audiences with the Arab region by working with universities and institutions, including the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO).The project will also conduct capacity-building activities on policy writing, and content production for broad public consumption.

Project Title

For a project on Arab states and civil societies in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic

Date

Sep. 10, 2020

Duration

83 months

Description

COVID-19 appears to be exacerbating pre-existing conditions both in the Arab region and globally, including functionality of governance and services, economic degradation, repression and surveillance, and drivers of state-backed conflict. The Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship based at the American University of Beirut (AUB) will build a multidisciplinary team of researchers to generate empirical knowledge on state-society relations in the Arab region in the wake of COVID-19. In collaboration with partners in the Global South, this project will contribute to policy development and knowledge production on governance, access to public healthcare, social protections, employment and labor regulations, and taxation in countries across the region. Corporation funds will support research, publications, an online database, workshops, and conferences. 

Project Title

For assessing the impact of social movements in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 07, 2017

Duration

36 months

Description

Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB) will bring together policy experts and practitioners who are working to build civil society solutions where governance and social services are lacking. Researchers will document social movements that are playing vital roles in five countries, share successful practices, and develop education materials. Secondly, a project led by an AUB sociologist will work with religious studies departments, which are part of the structure of numerous universities in the region, and connect these departments with their peers in the social sciences. The project will conduct workshops, research and publications jointly between religious scholars and social scientists on issues of shared interest.

Project Title

For connecting the social sciences with religious knowledge in the Arab region

Date

Sep. 07, 2017

Duration

36 months

Description

Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut (AUB) will bring together policy experts and practitioners who are working to build civil society solutions where governance and social services are lacking. Researchers will document social movements that are playing vital roles in five countries, share successful practices, and develop education materials. Secondly, a project led by an AUB sociologist will work with religious studies departments, which are part of the structure of numerous universities in the region, and connect these departments with their peers in the social sciences. The project will conduct workshops, research and publications jointly between religious scholars and social scientists on issues of shared interest.

Project Title

As a final grant for a think tank consortium and partnerships in policy research

Date

Sep. 11, 2014

Duration

89 months

Project Title

For a think tank consortium and partnerships in policy research

Date

Sep. 22, 2011

Duration

36 months

Project Title

For research and writing on Lebanese Modernist thinkers

Date

Jun. 11, 2009

Duration

16 months

Project Title

Toward educating American journalists in issues of contemporary political Islam

Date

Jun. 08, 2006

Duration

3 months