FAS professorial-rank faculty members are invited to submit proposals for funding to organize a conference at AUB on topics in Anthropology, Economics, Education, Gender, Media Studies, Public Health, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or other related fields. The grant may potentially be used to invite speakers and discussants within and outside the AUB community. Bobst-AUB has limited funding for this opportunity, and applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Eligibility: FAS professorial-rank faculty members. Priority will be given to junior faculty and first-time applicants.
Budget: Up to $3,000
Application materials: Apply online. Please upload in PDF: 1. Proposal (1-2 pages) including abstract (no more than 200 words), the anticipated budget for air travel (if applicable), accommodation (if applicable), honoraria, and a meal event with the speaker; and 2. Information on funding source, status, and coverage amount if additional funds have been received or sought from other sources.
Application deadline: October 1; March 15
Contact: [email protected]
2025-26
Contemporary Arabic Philosophy: Mapping The Field
Emma Gannage, Department of Philosophy
Major political and cultural transformations in the Arab world have prompted philosophers and other intellectuals to develop rich and diverse conceptual frameworks to make sense of these transformations, yet their work is absent from both regional and international academic philosophical research. The main purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers who recognize this gap in the field of philosophy and are interested in shedding light on important philosophical work in the contemporary Arab world.
One of the main themes that pervades much of the philosophical thinking in the Arab world concerns the legitimacy or lack thereof of the methods, conceptual frameworks, and general philosophical problems that were inherited from the western world. On the one hand, these methods and frameworks seemed to be reliable and unique intellectual tools that were carefully developed and refined over the course of generations of European intellectuals, precisely to understand the philosophical foundations of major social transformations. On the other hand, since these tools were the product of a particular history in a particular part of the world, it was unclear whether they could be adopted and used uncritically by Arabic philosophers to understand the new challenges facing them in their part of the world. Thus, the theme that we propose to explore in the conference is the tension between the universality intrinsic to philosophy and its particular applications and methodologies in the Arab world.
Ottoman Political Economies Workshop at the American University of Beirut (May 2026)
Varak Ketsamanian, Department of History and Archaeology
The Ottoman Empire, spanning six centuries and vast territories, developed intricate systems for organizing production, labor, and resources while shaping distinctive legal and social frameworks of political economy. Yet, despite growing scholarly interest in global history, capitalism, and the post-Ottoman Middle East, the empire’s role in the making of global capitalism—and the ways Ottoman practices of law, labor, property, and exchange might enrich our conceptual vocabulary—remain insufficiently explored.
Founded in 2020, the Ottoman Political Economies (OPE) network brings together early-career scholars to examine these questions through sustained, interdisciplinary collaboration. Since its inception, OPE has organized fourteen virtual and four in-person workshops with over sixty participants, establishing itself as a global forum for innovative research in Ottoman economic and social history.
This upcoming workshop at the American University of Beirut marks a new stage in the network’s development, building on earlier meetings at NYU, Cambridge, Northumbria and Istanbul. It has two primary aims: to consolidate a community of junior scholars centering material and economic questions in Ottoman studies, and to introduce these approaches to a wider academic audience in Beirut, a historic hub of Ottoman commerce and finance. Through pre-circulated papers and thematic panels, the workshop will foster critical dialogue, collaboration, and new directions for the study of political economy and capitalism.
Public Talks and Graduate Seminar Series: “Ecologies/Economies of the Global South”
Ali Abboud, Department of Economics
This talk and seminar series will build on the successful legacy of similar events during spring/fall semester 2025 organized by AUB members of CELME (Critical Ecologies Lab in the Mediterranean East), a recently established experimental, collaborative, interdisciplinary research and education lab at the intersection of ecology, social sciences, and humanities.
The previous events were organized as a combination of public talks for a general audience and seminar/workshop for graduate students. They brought in speakers covering a wide range of topics in social sciences and humanities, aligned with CELME’s themes and foci.
In May 2025, CELME hosted an exchange meeting on “decolonial degrowth” between AUB students and faculty and the DEGROWTH research group, based at ICTA (Institute of Environmental Science and Technology) at Universidad Autonoma Barcelona.
In September 2025, CELME organized a public talk and a graduate workshop with Vijay Prashad, director of Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, based in Chile. The public talk drew a large audience from both within and beyond the AUB community.
The graduate student workshops with the Degrowth Research Group and with Dr. Prashad generated significant interest, with enrollments of 15 and 25 students, respectively. The lectures and workshop series introduced novel approaches and perspectives on topics of broad relevance, including decolonization, degrowth and development in the Global South. They focused on the intersection of social ecologies and political economies from a Global South perspective and experience. Many AUB students write their master’s theses on these topics and can profit immensely from the insights and mentorship provided in these events.
This seminar series fills a gap in the intellectual space at AUB. The strong turnout and enthusiastic engagement so far underscore the need for a dedicated intellectual and research space for students, scholars, educators, and civil society interested in environmental, social and economic justice from a Global South perspective.
The 27th Annual Science and Mathematics Educators Conference (SMEC 27)
Rabih El Mouhayar, Department of Education
The
Science and Mathematics Education Center (SMEC) Conference is an annual professional development event that gathers 400–500 participants, mainly school science and mathematics teachers, in addition to coordinators, researchers, and faculty. This year’s event will take place on March 28, 2026, returning to an in-person format after seven online editions. The conference provides teachers with research-based ideas and classroom resources, connects them with peers and university faculty, and promotes dialogue on current challenges in teaching and learning.
2024-25
- Master Peace: Lebanon's Violence and the Politics of Expertise - Book Launching Event at AUB
Nikolas Kosmatopoulos, Department of Political Studies and Public Administration
This proposal is for funding to organize a book launching event at AUB on a forthcoming book on peacemaking in Lebanon and the Middle East in spring 2025/Fall 2026. Related disciplines are: Anthropology, Media Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Peace Studies, and Middle East Studies. The book launching event will revolve around the forthcoming publication of Master Peace: Lebanon's Violence and the Politics of Expertise (University of Pennsylvania Press, December 2024). The event will include a presentation by the author and AUB faculty member Nikolas Kosmatopoulos (PSPA, SOAN, PPIA) followed by a panel discussion with renowned scholars from outside and inside the AUB community. The panel will examine the book’s themes in the context of broader conversations about war and violence, peace-making, and crisis resolution in the Middle East from a critical postcolonial perspective.