2016

Nov 30, 2016

Arbeely family: Pioneers to America and founders of the first Arabic language newspaper

This article is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and Khayrallah Distinguished Professor of Lebanese Diaspora Studies, and Professor of History at NC State. This research would not have been possible without Ms. Martha Hess, Volunteer in the History Room, Maryville College Archives for her help in providing the…

Nov 16, 2016

Notes From the Field: Behind the Scenes at “The Lebanese in America” Exhibit

This article is written by Katie Schinabeck who is pursuing a PhD in Public History at NC State University. At the Khayrallah Center, she is currently creating educational programming for the traveling exhibit, The Lebanese in America. This is her first article. Currently on view in Johnston County, NC, the exhibit “The Lebanese in America” tells…

Oct 26, 2016

‘For God’s Sake Send Me Ten Lira,’: Women, Migration, and World War I in Mount Lebanon

This post is authored by Graham Auman Pitts, who is currently a post-doc in NC State’s International Studies department. He completed his dissertation at Georgetown University on the environmental history of Lebanon. The primary sources are letters from residents in Lebanon preserved in the US National Archives. You can browse these letters here. You can…

Oct 24, 2016

Dr. Lena Merhej: Visual storyteller living in two worlds

This post is written by Raja Abillama. He teaches anthropology and international studies at North Carolina State University. His research is focused on transnational secularism and the government of religion in Lebanon. Abillama is working on a series for the Center about Lebanese adoptive diaspora. You can read the first of three installments here. North…

Oct 5, 2016

Meet (even more of) the Center’s Interns

The Center is growing in its mission and scope everyday, which has allowed us to hire a few more interns. The interns you’ll meet in this post collaborate with the other Interns that came aboard earlier this year. Let’s meet the Interns:   Darby Hehl is an undergraduate student pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Spanish…

Sep 22, 2016

Dr. Waïl Hassan discusses Orientalist discourse in early Lebanese American writing

This article is written by Elizabeth Saylor, the 2016-2016 Khayrallah Center Post-Doctoral Fellow. Saylor’s book project examines the work of a neglected pioneer of the Arabic novel, the Lebanese immigrant writer, journalist, and translator, ‘Afīfa Karam (1883-1924), an important contributor to the nahḍa, or the Arabic cultural renaissance of the late 19th and early 20th…

Sep 7, 2016

The Chasm of Assimilation – My mother’s New Zealand cousins

This article is written by Cecile Yazbek who was born into a Lebanese family in East London, South Africa. She is the author of four books all related to the Lebanese diaspora. This is the first in a three-part series including Albinos and the Lagger and Transplanted Family Trees. All photos courtesy of author. New Zealand Rules In…

Aug 24, 2016

Michael Shadid: A Syrian Socialist

This blog post is co-authored by Dr. Akram Khater, Director, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and professor of History at NC State, and Sarah Soleim, a PhD student in Public History at NC State specializing in twentieth-century United States history. Sarah’s last posted on Migration and health. Akram last posted on teaching the history…

Jul 21, 2016

A Lebanese-American Rock Musician in Texas

This article is written by Matt Kadane. He has performed or written music on over two-dozen albums, mostly with the bands Bedhead and The New Year, which released its fourth full-length album in 2017. Matt is also a history professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York and the author of The Watchful…

Jul 5, 2016

Teaching the History of Lebanon

This article is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director, Khayrallah Center and Professor of History at North Carolina State University.  In 1989 a national committee was convened in Lebanon to write a singular history textbook to be used by all schools. In the intervening 25 years the committee has failed to reach a consensus and to…