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Fall 2007 Vol. VI, No. 1
Inside the Gate
Reviews
An Invitation to Laughter
(University of Chicago Press: 2007). By Fuad I. Khuri; edited
by Sonia Jalbout Khuri.
An Invitation to Laughter, by the late Professor Fuad Khuri is "three
in one.” In introducing the book Khuri suggests that it is a professional
autobiography, yet it is also a superb prologue to the structure of interaction
in the Arab world, as well as a salient introduction to anthropological
research.
Through reporting about his “personal observations and daily interactions”
Khuri takes the reader on a stimulating tour of his life, injecting sharp
observations about Arab culture and anthropological research methods along
the way. The book was in draft form when Professor Khuri passed away in
2003; his wife completed its editing.
Khuri’s personal memoirs introduce the reader to a Lebanese villager from
Akkar who struggles to finance his education in his village, in a high
school in Tripoli, at AUB, and then at the University of Oregon. He discusses
collecting his PhD data through surveys and participant observations in
West Africa, joining the AUB faculty for more than 20 years, conducting
field work in Bahrain and Yemen, heading a philanthropic institution in
Lebanon, and living in England. His account is full of insights about
cultural practices in places he visited. What made Fuad Khuri a great
Arab anthropologist was his probing mind and his skill at combining observations
with pointed insights that assist one in understanding changes taking
place in the Arab world today.
He suggests that “freedom of selfexpression is not a ‘public right’ in
the Arab world. The ‘free’ stands in opposition to the ‘bound’ or the
‘enslaved’—it refers, that is, to freedom from domination.” According
to Khuri, “if democracy is to establish roots in Arab countries, it will
have to be linked to the concept of justice more than to the confusing
ideology of freedom.” Freedom in Arab culture, he contends, “like honor,
women, and family, is a confidential matter; it belongs to the private
domain. When a person wants to speak his mind on a pressing issue, that
is, to exercise his freedom, he looks over his shoulder and introduces
his speech with the catchphrase: 'between you and me'.”
Explaining the tendency of the Arab press to be guarded, Khuri observes
that “matters that we talk about, we do not publish.” He explains that
the written form in the Arab world is tightly constrained while the flow
of oral information is unrestricted. “In consequence, as far as the daily
press is concerned, the Middle East is a scandal-free society. Even when
widely known, events that would elsewhere be deemed scandalous may not
be regarded as scandals in Arab society.” “…the Lebanese were fighting
a deadly sectarian war, but writing about sects was taboo.”
In his concluding chapter Fuad Khuri states that “the people we love never
die, they survive in our memory. To me, that is eternity.” How true: Fuad
Khuri is loved by his colleagues at AUB and is surviving in their memory.
More Online
Fuad Khuri was a professor of anthropology at AUB, 1964-87.
By Nabil Dajani
The Reconstruction of Haret Hreik: Design Options for Improving the
Livability of the Neighborhood.
(Published by the AUB Reconstruction Unit: 2007) Edited by Mona Fawaz
and Marwan Ghandour. The Haret Hreik Task Team of the Reconstruction Unit
(RU) in the Department of Architecture and Design organized a three-day
design charrette in January 2006. The charrette brought together 20 professionals
(primarily part-time and full-time faculty in the Department of Architecture
and Design as well as a few recent graduates) who explored ways in which
the reconstruction of the severely demolished neighborhoods of the southern
suburbs of Beirut could take place, improving their livability by addressing
some of the most salient problems confronting these neighborhoods in the
pre-war era. Based on an analysis of the neighborhoods, these problems
were identified as lack of open spaces, severe traffic congestion, insufficient
parking areas, and poor quality of natural lighting and ventilation in
internal and external spaces.
The investigation of alternative design options was considered a tool
that could provide the basis for a public debate among stakeholders and
policymakers over the best possible reconstruction options, in light of
the set objectives. The members of the Haret Hreik RU believe that this
debate is an essential part of the reconstruction process and provides
an opportunity for neighborhood dwellers and other interested actors to
participate in shaping the future of Haret Hreik. The outcomes of the
charrette were developed and published in a small volume, which includes
a number of analytic maps (e.g. historical production, land uses, quality
of natural lighting and ventilation), proposed intervention maps (e.g.
public spaces, parking options, traffic circulation, potential landscaping
and reorganization, etc.), and suggestions for the institutional framework
in which reconstruction could take place.
The booklet, which was published in June 2007, was distributed to local
stakeholders, professionals in the planning and architecture fields, and
the media. It has been widely read and discussed in the local press and
reviews have appeared in all the major newspapers in Lebanon. As a result,
a number of questions have already been raised about the current reconstruction
scenario and, more specifically, its ability to address the most pressing
issues related to the lack of open spaces and the poor quality of the
living conditions in the neighborhoods being reconstructed.
The booklet is available at the Department of Architecture and Design
for anyone who is interested. Copies can also be obtained by emailing
Mona Fawaz at mf05@aub.edu.lb.
The Haret Hreik Task Team includes Souheir Assi Mabsout, Mona Fawaz (task-team
leader), Mona Harb, and Mona Kheshen.
Focus on… ibsar
Saving Lebanon’s Wild Orchids
Artists and ibsar conserve a fragile national treasure
It was in the pages of Middle East Airline’s Cedar Wings magazine that
Carole Choucair Oueijan first saw one of Khaled Sleem’s photographs of
Lebanon’s wild orchids. An artist who lives and works in California, Oueijan
was visiting Lebanon with her family when she was evacuated because of
the July 2006 war. This “unforgettable experience” strengthened her attachment
to Lebanon. “I wanted to do something to help,” she remembers. Oueijan
decided to use Sleem’s photographs as the inspiration for a collection
of mosaics, sculptures, watercolors, and oil paintings that she calls
“Wild Lebanese Orchids.” She has already completed one mosaic, which you
can find on her web site (www.FineArtbyCarole.com), and has plans to complete many more. “My goal is to show
people how beautiful these Lebanese orchids are and to encourage them
to learn about biodiversity, ibsar (Initiative for Biodiversity Studies
in Arid Regions), and the need for conservation.”
Oueijan is not the only artist to take advantage of ibsar’s expertise.
Elger Esser, who recently curated an exhibit at the Sfeir-Semler Gallery
in Beirut, contacted ibsar several years ago. Sleem escorted him to particular
sites related to the French era and to nature reserves in Mount Lebanon,
south Lebanon, and the Beqa’a.
In addition to being a gifted photographer, Khaled Sleem is also the field
coordinator for ibsar, a recently established interfaculty center at AUB
which includes faculty members, students, and alumni working to promote,
explore, and develop approaches to nature conservation and sustainable
futures. Its project to conserve Lebanon’s native species fits nicely
into one of its five programmatic themes.
ibsar began its multi-pronged project to conserve Lebanon’s native orchid
species in 2005. In addition to cooperating with Oueijan on her Wild Lebanese
Orchids series, it is working closely with international scientists on
this project. They have consulted on a regular basis with Jeffrey Wood,
a taxonomist at the Orchid Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the
United Kingdom to verify the identity of the orchid species that they
have collected so far.
The center has also produced printed materials (including a very popular
2005 calendar that featured Sleem’s photographs) to increase awareness
and appreciation of Lebanon’s orchids, and has conducted workshops for
people who live and work in the areas where Lebanon’s orchids are found,
which is primarily in Mount Lebanon and south Lebanon.
Why are orchids important? It turns out that they are the largest and
most diverse plant family on earth. Orchids are also extremely sensitive
to environmental changes, which may be one of the reasons that they are
at risk, not just in Lebanon but around the world. Orchids are also at
risk because of neglect and ignorance. There are many people in Lebanon,
for example, who do not know that Lebanon has such a rich and diverse
collection of orchids. Ibsar is hoping to change that.
Khaled Hamdan (MS ’07), who completed his master’s thesis (“Evaluation
of the Orchid Species Distribution in the Al-shouf Biosphere and their
in Vitro Germination Potential”) in spring 2007 and is now a doctoral
student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, conducted a workshop
in May 2007 for 25 volunteers at the Al-Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve, Lebanon’s
largest nature reserve and home to more than 500 plant species. “Our goal,”
explains Hamdan, “was to inform local communities about Lebanon’s wild
orchids and explain to them their way of life and alert them to the fact
that Lebanon’s orchids are endangered.” During the workshop, Hamdan and
Sleem taught the group of primarily high school students and NGO volunteers
how to locate and preserve particular orchids.
“This project is a wonderful example of how ibsar works,” says Salma Talhouk,
a professor of horticulture and director of ibsar. “We cooperate with
local stakeholders, which is so important and absolutely critical to the
success of any of our projects. We also work at many levels: we conduct
scientific research, look for opportunities to engage the public, and
involve local communities whenever we can.”
In addition to its field activities ibsar has initiated laboratory experiments
to produce Lebanese orchids that do not reproduce easily in nature. “We
have already succeeded in propagating three species out of around 20 by
using sterile micro-propagation techniques,” says Hamdan. By sharing its
results with the local landscape nursery industry and environmental NGOs,
ibsar hopes to encourage the planting of native orchids in private gardens
and to reintroduce them to their natural habitats. This will take time
but Talhouk is not worried. “Through their active engagement in ibsar,
AUB faculty, students, and alumni have demonstrated their longterm commitment
to biodiversity conservation in Lebanon and the region. “We are here to
stay,” she says. This is good news for Lebanon’s wild orchids. You can
learn more about ibsar by visiting their website at www.ibsar.org.
IBSAR has identified five priorities that guide its work:
• Identification, Characterization, and Monitoring of Biodiversity:
committing to trans-disciplinary research to help identify and promote
local conservation measures in parallel with scientific assessment of
species and habitats to ensure that nature and the public are part of
all scientific activities.
• Traditional Knowledge and Biotechnology: using biotechnology
and conducting clinical research to investigate ancestral Arab knowledge
in medicine to validate the beneficial effects of plants and other organisms
and to explore opportunities for their safe use and marketability.
• Landscape Approach to Biodiversity Conservation: integrating
cultural heritage and focusing on local practices as part of a holistic
approach to biodiversity conservation that ensures responsiveness to the
natural, semi-natural, rural, and urban context with a focus on ecotourism
and recreation.
• Sustainable Use of Biodiversity: partnering with the private
sector and NGOs to conduct research on botanicals to generate pioneering
ideas leading to the introduction of new products and job creation through
new industries.
• Knowledge Sharing: planning projects and establishing partnerships
to expand interest in biodiversity beyond conservationists and nature
lovers.
Other current ibsar initiatives include
• Establishment of a native tree and plant nursery at AUB’s Agricultural
Research and Education Center (AREC) in the Beqa’a Valley.
• Support for a campaign to promote dietary diversity in Lebanon through
the sustainable use of wild edible plants.
• A collaborative effort with the Armenia Tree Project to establish tree
nurseries and plant community trees in the village of Aanjar.