One Morning at the Lebanese University : the Essence of Smiles

Festooned with scars, dirty walls, silence and drillers, on the side of the corridor, a happy cockroach that’d died with a smile on his moustache, a hallway, a room, then a hallway then another room… We went, my friend and I, she a professor of religious studies, I a professor of philosophy, festooned with curriculum […]

Thinking of joining the Lebanese University’s teaching force? Think again!!

This is what my colleague and I were told this morning, while trying to apply for teaching positions at the Lebanese University, proud of our respective 20+ pages CVs and countless publications. The secretary in charge of receiving the applications looked at us, laughing, cynically: “Why do you want to apply to this university? Professors […]

Why am I still Reading Fairy Tales to my Daughter?

I thought of it a while ago while reading fairy tales to my five year old daughter. Wolves, witches, monsters, princes and princesses living happily ever after, having 10 kids and more… I found myself twisting theses stories in order to be closer to our reality and context: 21st century C.E., Lebanon (Western Asia). Old […]

Etre Académicienne en Sciences Humaines au Liban: un Défi en Soi

Dans un pays – alias le Liban – où l’être humain est dispensable, où la compétence, le sens critique et la créativité sont remplacés par la ‘poche pleine’ et les services rendus aux ‘zaims’ (pseudo-leaders)  ou par les zaims, que dire du regard posé sur les académiciens, notamment en sciences humaines et domaines afférents? Croyez-moi, […]