October

Oct 10, 2018

Annie Abdo: A Peddler . . . A Tulsa Woman

This post was researched and written by Randa Hakim, Claire Kempa, Marilyn Drath, and Marjorie Stevens.  Annie Coury Abdo was a first-wave Lebanese immigrant to the United States whose life both defies and exemplifies elements of the traditional cultural and historical narratives of Lebanese immigration. Annie rose from peddling to property ownership, a trajectory that…

Oct 31, 2017

Review of “A Curious Land: Stories from Home,” by Susan Muaddi Darraj

This book 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. Geha is the 2016 Khayrallah Prize winner for his novel, Lebanese Blonde. He has authored several book reviews including Rawi Hage’s, Cockroach and Rabih Alameddine’s, An Unnecessary Woman. In time, after many generations inhabit a single portion of land—build homes…

Oct 19, 2017

Interview with Charif Majdalani, winner of 2017 Khayrallah Prize

Dr. Akram Khater spoke with Dr. Charif Majdalani, the winner of the 2017 Khayrallah Prize, about his work and career as a Lebanese author writing about the Lebanese diaspora. Do you see yourself as a Lebanese, French, Franco-Lebanese or universal writer? I naturally define myself as a Lebanese author writing in French. But obviously, like…

Oct 4, 2017

Archive Spotlight: New Sources on Commerce and Business

The relationship between Lebanese immigrants and commerce is often shrouded in myth. As part of their efforts to gain acceptance into American society, scholars such as Kalil Bishara argued in the immigrant press that “Syrians” were descendants of sea-faring Phoenicians and thus had a unique talent for commerce.[1] Additionally, the rags-to-riches “Peddler Myth” has become…

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…

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…