Bobst Center-American University of Beirut Collaborative Initiative

The Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) are pleased to announce the continuation of their ongoing joint initiative. This initiative is supported by the generous funding of the Bobst Foundation, according to the wishes of philanthropist Mamdouha S. Bobst on projects designed to promote studies relating to the Middle East in order to advance the cause of peace, mutual understanding and justice.

This partnership takes on multiple forms, including research support, visiting Professorships, graduate student exchanges, joint workshops and conferences.

Director

Amaney A. Jamal
Director, Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative, Co-Director, Workshop on Arab Political Development
Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics

Program Staff

Christy Govantes
Program Manager, Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative and Workshop on Arab Political Development
Nisreen Salti
Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative Faculty Advisor
Associate Professor of Economics, American University of Beirut
Lara Kechichian
Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative Program Coordinator
American University of Beirut

Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative: Research Grants

In August 2020, the Bobst-AUB Collaborative Initiative launched a call for research collaboration at the American University of Beirut. The applicants had to submit a research proposal focusing on one of the following themes: A) The policy responses implemented in the Middle East and North Africa to mitigate socio-economic losses resulting from the pandemic or B) the political and socio-economic implications of COVID-19 in the region.

2023 Grant Recipients

  • Nadine Yamout, “Public Debt Sustainability and Fiscal Space in the Arab Region: A DSGE Approach”
  • Rima Majed, “Sectarian Neoliberalism and the Challenges of Revolutionary Change in Lebanon’s Consociational Democracies”
  • Tamer Amin and Rabih El Mouhayar, “Meeting the Language Challenge in Science and Mathematics Education in Lebanon”
  • Fatima Abu Salem and Shady Elbassuoni, “Quantifying Biases in Arabic Word Embeddings: Case studies in Gender Bias and Israeli-Arab Political Discourse Bias”
  • Rola Khishfe, “Promoting Environmental Literacy”
  • Joseph Bahout, “Developing a Lebanese Economics and Development Research Initiative at IFI”

2021 Grand Recipients

Bobst-AUB Faculty Exchanges

  • Muhammed Alp Tuncay “Delay Marriage and Marry Your Like: Did It Contribute to Income Inequality?”
  • Nadine Yamout, “Dutch Disease, Unemployment and Structural Change”
  • Mark Beissinger, “The Revolutionary City: Urbanization and the Global Transformation of Rebellion” Moderator, Jamil Mauawad Discussant, Mona Harb
  • Chris Achen “Democracy for Realists” Discussant and Moderator, Rima Rassi

Upcoming Events

Past Events

Bobst-AUB Research Day
Feb 20, 2024, 9:00 am
Democracy for Realists
Jun 26, 2023, 6:00 pm