Summer Semester 2012
Prof. Paul Tabar, (Lebanese American University, Beirut), Institute for Migration Studies
Prof. Tabar completed his academic education in Sydney, Australia. After teaching and researching at Western Sydney University, he was appointed to the Lebanese American University in Beirut in 2004, where he founded the Institute for Migration Studies in 2007 and for which he has since acted as director. Prof. Tabar’s research interests are in the area of (Lebanese) diaspora, Lebanese politics with a focus on immigration politics and immigration ties, and immigration to Australia, but he has also established a name for himself with his oft-cited publications on youth criminality and Bin Laden, making him a sought-after media and institutional expert on questions of the development of the Arab states and its diasporas.
In 2010, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between ZIS (the Center for Intercultural Studies) at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and the IMS (Institute for Migration Studies) at the Lebanese American University, Beirut, by the university presidents of both universities. The cooperation took on concreter form in August 2011 with plans for extended scholarly collaboration and an academic exchange for both faculty and students. Two jointly held international high-ranking conferences have already taken place to initiate this project: In May 2011, the international conference “Palastinian, Lebanese and Syrian Communities in the World: Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Studies” was hosted by the Dept. of Geography at the University of Mainz, and in February 2012, the international conference “Relationships between Diasporas and Their ‘Homelands’ and Their Impact on the State, National Identities, and Peace and Conflict” took place at the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University, Beirut.
Curriculum vitae (This is a short reading of the curriculum vitae.)
Lectures
"Diaspora and nation-building"
June 2012
"The benefit of studying diaspora as a process, the case of Lebanon"
May 2012
Host: Prof. Dr. Anton Escher / Geographic Institute of the University of Mainz