One of the central goals of the LSE Middle East Centre is to develop strong working relations with academic institutions in the Middle East. AUS has strong expertise in the field of Middle East Studies. Building on connections established in the autumn of 2011, this programme fostered collaborative academic links between the two institutions. As well as strengthening knowledge transfer between the universities, it also encouraged high calibre research by LSE and AUS faculty members.

This project forms part of the Academic Collaboration with Arab Universities Programme, funded by the Emirates Foundation.

Activities

AUS Visiting Faculty Fellowship at LSE

This programme allowed four faculty members from AUS to be hosted at the Middle East Centre at LSE for a period of six weeks. The programme was open to all members of faculty at AUS who wished to conduct social sciences research within the field of Middle East Studies.

Workshop: Challenges to Citizenship in the Middle East and North Africa

This workshop took place in January 2014 and aimed at exploring the theme of citizenship as a relationship between state and society, as a legal construct, and as a site of transfer of social and cultural memory.

Outcomes and Impact

• Established meaningful cooperative ties between LSE and AUS
• Generated original and rigorous research by high calibre faculty researchers
• Expanded interaction between LSE and AUS scholars on significant research questions

Research Team

Fawaz Gerges | Principal Investigator

Fawaz is Professor of International Relations at LSE and Emirates Chair of the Contemporary Middle East.

Mark Rush | Co-Principal Investigator

Mark is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at American University of Sharjah.

Robert Lowe | Project Manager

Robert is Deputy Director of the LSE Middle East Centre.