The American University of Beirut : Arab nationalism and liberal education / / Betty S. Anderson

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910781545703321
• Autore: Anderson Betty S (Betty Signe), <1965->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Austin : , : University of Texas Press, , 2011
• ISBN: 0-292-73498-0
• Edizione: [First edition.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (281 pages)
• Disciplina: 378.5692/5
• Soggetti: Education, Higher - Arab countries; Education, Humanistic - Arab countries; Nationalism - Arab countries
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1 ADMINISTRATORS AND STUDENTS. Agency and the Educational Process -- 2 THE UNITY OF TRUTH. Classical and Liberal Educational Systems -- 3 MAKING MEN. Religion, Education, and Character Building -- 4 MAKING WOMEN. The Goals of Coeducation -- 5 STUDENT ACTIVISM. The Struggle for Arab Nationalism -- 6 “GUERRILLA U”. The Contested Nature of Authority -- 7 REBUILDING AUB. Reaffirming Liberal Education -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Since the American University of Beirut opened its doors in 1866, the campus has stood at the intersection of a rapidly changing American educational project for the Middle East and an ongoing student quest for Arab national identity and empowerment. Betty S. Anderson provides a unique and comprehensive analysis of how the school shifted from a missionary institution providing a curriculum in Arabic to one offering an English-language American liberal education extolling freedom of speech and analytical discovery. Anderson discusses how generations of students demanded that they be considered legitimate voices of authority over their own education; increasingly, these students sought to introduce into their classrooms the real-life political issues raging in the Arab world. The Darwin Affair of 1882, the introduction of coeducation in the 1920s, the Arab nationalist protests ; of the late 1940s and early 1950s, and the even larger protests of the 1970s all challenged the Americans and Arabs to fashion an educational program relevant to a student body constantly bombarded with political and social change. Anderson reveals that the two groups chose to develop a program that combined American goals for liberal education with an Arab student demand that the educational experience remain relevant to their lives outside the school's walls. As a result, in eras of both cooperation and conflict, the American leaders and the students at the school have made this American institution of the Arab world and of Beirut.