February

Feb 26, 2020

The Second Jabbour Immigrant: Albert Jabbour and His Courtship Story

This blog was written by Folklorist, Sabra Webber. Webber is a professor emerita at The Ohio State University in the Department of Comparative Studies and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. She visited the Khayrallah Center in the Summer of 2018 while researching her former colleague and friend Alan Jabbour. This is the… 

Feb 22, 2017

Interview with Dr. Lena Merhej: Beirut-based illustrator and activist

This interview was conducted by Renée Michelle Ragin, a PhD student in Literature at Duke University where her research focuses on the negotiation of national identity in post-conflict Middle Eastern and Latin American states. Her previous articles focus on refugees and oral history and war, memory, and archiving. Lena Merhej is the co-founder of Samandal, a… 

Feb 1, 2017

Transplanted Family Trees – In search of Yazbek: What makes us who we are?

This article is the third and final installment 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. Her other installments include Albinos in the Laager and The Chasm of Assimilation. All photos courtesy of author.… 

Feb 18, 2016

Archive Spotlight: Basil M. Kerbawy, Early Lebanese American Historian and Advocate

This post is written by Claire Kempa,  a MA student of Public History at NC State University. At the Center, she works on the digital archive and on Mashriq & Mahjar: A Journal of Middle East Migration Studies. Read more about this archival resource and the community member who donated it after the article! One of the most exciting additions… 

Feb 10, 2016

Book Review: Karim Dimeschkie’s, Lifted by the Great Nothing

This review is written by Joseph Geha, professor emeritus at Iowa State University and author of two books; Through and Through: Toledo Stories and Lebanese Blonde. His other books reviews include Rawi Hage’s, Cockroach and Rabih Alameddine’s, An Unnecessary Woman.  Lifted by the Great Nothing, Karim Dimeschkie’s debut novel (Bloomsbury USA 2015, 305 pages) opens in 1996 in New Jersey, with two… 

Feb 4, 2016

Questioning Assumptions: Gender & Lebanese Immigration

This post is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center, and Marjorie Stevens, Senior Researcher at the Khayrallah Center. For similar posts, check out migration and health, and Lebanese in the US Census. At the entrance to the Port of Beirut there stands a statue of a man in 19th century village… 

Feb 27, 2015

Syrian-American Business Directory Project, 1908-1909

This article is written by Haley Vartanian, a student at NC State University majoring in International Studies and studying Arabic. For the past six months I have been working with Dr. Akram Khater, a history professor at NC State University and the director of the Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, to digitize the 1908-1909… 

Feb 19, 2015

Transforming Arabic: 20th century Lebanese authors in the U.S.

In the first three decades of the 20th century, Lebanese authors living in the United States revolutionized Arabic language and literature. In the words of Mikhail Nu’aymi, one of these authors, their purpose was: “To lift Arabic literature from the quagmire of stagnation and imitation, and to infuse a new life into its veins so… 

Feb 11, 2015

Meryl Murman: Lebanese-American Artist “addicted to questions without answers”

This post is written by Meryl Merman, a Lebanese-American interdisciplinary artist. Her newest work is a choreographic residency called The Lipstick. You can learn more about Meryl and her work here. When asked where my work stems from, I often reply that I am addicted to questions without answers. I tend to use the creative process as a… 

Feb 9, 2015

Dr. Jonathan Ocko: In Honor of his Compassion, Humor and Advocacy

This post is written by Caroline Muglia, Social Media Manager for the Center. She received her Masters in Public History from NC State University’s Department of History in 2011 and her Masters in Library Science from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2012. On January 22, 2015,  NC State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) announced…