As part of the Edna Saffy Lecture Series, the Center hosted Dr. Elise Salem, Vice President for Student Development and Enrollment Management at the Lebanese American University (LAU). A professor of literature, and author of Constructing Lebanon: A Century of Literary Narratives, she is an advocate for gender equity in Lebanon. She shared some of the challenges and opportunities of living and working in Lebanon, especially during this historic October 17 revolution. Her lecture, “Women on the Front Lines: Lebanon Today,” was well attended. She discussed gender equity in Lebanon and the LAU, the first College for Women early in the 20th century before turning co-ed with the oldest and most prestigious Arab Institute for Women.
Dr. Salem presented stories and images from the front lines of the current popular uprising in Lebanon, where the leadership and involvement of women has been instrumental and unprecedented.