The American University of Beirut

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Title Page

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Copyright

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Contents

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Acknowledgments

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pp. ix-xii

I first visited the American University of Beirut (AUB) in June 2000; in that short visit, both Beirut and the school tantalized me sufficiently that I knew I had to return to learn more about them. I made it back in summer 2004, via a Fulbright Hays Faculty Research Abroad Grant; I have continued to return every year since. Whenever I walk through the Main Gate, I still get the same catch in my throat I did that first time. ...

1. ADMINISTRATORS AND STUDENTS: Agency and the Educational Process

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pp. 1-24

"The great value of education does not consist in the accepting this and that to be true but it consists in proving this and that to be true," declared Daniel Bliss, founder of Syrian Protestant College (SPC; 1866-1920) and its president from 1866 to 1902, in his farewell address.¹ President Howard Bliss (president, 1902-1920) said in his baccalaureate sermon in 1911, "In a word, the purpose of the College is not to produce singly or chiefly men ...

2. THE UNITY OF TRUTH: Classical and Liberal Educational Systems

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pp. 25-55

The first prospectus written for the future Syrian Protestant College (SPC) declared that the school would be "conducted on strictly christian [sic] and evangelical principles"; its 1871 catalogue confirmed, "This college was established in order to provide for Syria and its surrounding areas higher education in the mathematical and literary sciences and that it would be in their language."¹ The school's leaders registered the program with the state ...

3. MAKING MEN: Religion, Education, and Character Building

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pp. 56-89

At the 1904 inauguration of a statue sculpted in his likeness and commissioned by Egyptian and Sudanese graduates of Syrian Protestant College, Daniel Bliss (1866-1902) declared, "No block of marble was brought to us to be worked upon, but living boys and living men came to us from the East, from the West, from the North and from the South, to be influenced for good. They were all human and consequently imperfect; they were all ...

4. MAKING WOMEN: The Goals of Coeducation [Includes Image Plates]

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pp. 90-118

Coeducation began at the American University of Beirut in the fall 1921 semester, but as late as the 1950s, administrators and students on campus continued to question the validity and purpose of it. A reporter for Outlook could still see the need to ask of her fellow students in 1957, "Do you think women should be kept outside the campus?"¹ The answers reflect strong support for coeducation, with slight differences of opinion as to its purpose. ...

5. STUDENT ACTIVISM: The Struggle for Arab Nationalism

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pp. 119-150

The 1952 April Fool's Day issue of Outlook (called "Lookout" on that day) satirized the proliferation of student protests that had dominated campus life for the previous few years. In the paper's lead article, the author declared, "A School of Revolutionary Government, designed to equip AUB students with a wide knowledge of modern techniques of conspiracy ...

6. "GUERRILLA U": The Contested Nature of Authority

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pp. 151-182

In fact, the student movement after the 1967 war was characterized by demonstrations, strikes, and student occupations of campus buildings. Its message was student empowerment as a tool for breaking the power of the establishment. ...

7. REBUILDING AUB: Reaffirming Liberal Education

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pp. 183-192

In 2004, AUB gained accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a voluntary, nongovernmental membership association. "Middle States accreditation instills public confidence in institutional mission, goals, performance, and resources through its rigorous accreditation standards and their enforcement"; the commission has accepted that AUB and the other accredited institutions in its roster ...

Notes

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pp. 193-230

Bibliography

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pp. 231-240

Index

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pp. 241-254