2015

Dec 9, 2015

The Noble Sentiments: A Community in Transition

This post is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of The Khayrallah Center and Professor of History at NC State University, a University Faculty Scholar, and the editor of the Mashriq and Mahjar: Journal of Middle East and North African Migration Studies. He has published extensively on Lebanese migration to the U.S..  On Saturday, April…

Nov 25, 2015

New resource in our Archive: The Syrian World

This post is written by Claire Kempa, a first year MA student in the NC State Public History program. She is in charge of managing the Center’s digital archive and has made major headway redesigning the archive’s appearance and enhancing its content. Learn more about the Center’s Interns. The latest addition to the Khayrallah Center’s…

Nov 4, 2015

My Mansour Family History: Stories, Traditions, and Recipes

This essay is written by Kimberly Haynes Robertson, a proud member of the Lebanese-American community. I have vivid memories of Sunday afternoons spent in my grandmother’s general store in McDonough, Georgia. As a small girl perched atop a stool behind the counter, I could observe most things happening in and through the vertical aisles holding…

Oct 28, 2015

Counting the Lebanese in the US: 1900-1930

This post is co-written by Marjorie Stevens and Peter Knepper. Marjorie is Senior Researcher for the Khayrallah Center with a primary focus on archival research and development. Peter Knepper is a PhD student in Sociology at NC State. He joined the Khayrallah Center in the Summer of 2015 to prepare preliminary analyses and create visual…

Oct 22, 2015

Humanities research shares national stage at Congressional reception

NC State’s purposeful work in the humanities was highlighted on the national stage Tuesday during a Congressional reception in Washington. Congressman David Price invited members of NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences to discuss their latest research at the event, held in honor of the 50th anniversary of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Oct 21, 2015

Scheherazade’s Diary: Screening and Q&A

More than 120 students and members of the general public crammed into Erdahl-Cloyd auditorium at North Carolina State University in Raleigh to watch the screening of Scheherazade’s Diary, a documentary about prison, patriarchy, and women in Lebanon. The film narrates the efforts of women prisoners–who are either convicted or awaiting trial–to reclaim their voices from a…

Oct 19, 2015

Adoptive Diaspora (1 of 3)

This post is written by Raja Abillama, former professor of anthropology and international studies at North Carolina State University. He currently teaches Fordham University. His research is focused on transnational secularism and the government of religion in Lebanon. This article is the first in a series of 3 articles on the topic of adoptive diaspora…

Sep 30, 2015

Latin America & the Arab World: One Hundred Years of Migration

This post is written by Lily Balloffet, the 2015-2016 Khayrallah Center Post-Doc Fellow. Read our interview with Lily from March where she discusses her dissertation topic of Arabic speaking immigrant communities in Argentina; her ideas of identity; and different ways that Arabic speakers assimilated into South American culture. Lily received her PhD from UC Davis and countless…

Sep 24, 2015

Friends and Staff gather to celebrate new Khayrallah Center

The Khayrallah Center’s opening reception on September 15th was a great success. The fragrance of cedar chips and Lebanese food filled the air as about 60 faculty and staff from six university departments (History, English, Foreign Language, Graduate Research, Religious Studies and Philosophy) socialized and enjoyed the flavors of Lebanese food. Students working for the center…

Sep 16, 2015

Reprint // The Myth and the Anti-Myth of the Syrian Immigrant

This article is written by Linda K. Jacobs. It was originally published on her website, Kalimah Press. Check out Jacobs’ other article, “Midwives int he 19th-century Syrian Colony of New York City,” published by The Khayrallah Center. In 2013, Jacobs was part of a project called “Little Syria:” Lower Manhattan Before the World Trade Center.…