The American University of Beirut was awarded a three-year Mellon Foundation grant in 2012 to integrate faculty development with curricular innovation in the arts and humanities through the Arts and Humanities Initiative. Upon the successful completion of this initial phase, the Center for Arts and Humanities (CAH) was established at AUB in 2015 with the generous support of a subsequent Mellon Foundation grant.
CAH developed into a space for interdisciplinary research and teaching in the arts and humanities, especially through its faculty and postdoctoral fellowships, artist/writer in residency program, and affiliates program which offer academics, writers, artists, and students a physical and intellectual space to work on their projects, meet, share ideas, and collectively develop new initiatives. CAH has organized – and co-organized in collaboration with other academic units across AUB and beyond – numerous academic events, ranging from international conferences to workshops, lectures, book talks, literary salons, exhibitions, performances, and film screenings. CAH is also developing training programs and opportunities for academic development in the arts and humanities.