AUB Press

​These are the findings of a ten-year follow-up study to the “1984 Beirut." This book provides a rich array of statistics and information as well as comparative data on the population of Beirut at two different points in time. Changes in demographics and health statuses, use of health services, and the prevalence of chronic and acute diseases are assessed. In addition to providing data unique to a city that had recently experienced fifteen years of civil war, the book describes approaches useful to students of survey methodology. In a country that has lacked reliable health information systems for much of its existence, these surveys present a valuable alternative for the development of future health care services. Lists of figures and tables, chapter abstracts, and questionnaires are presented in both English and Arabic.

​​This book incorporates the descriptive findings of a survey conducted by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut as part of its efforts to establish a population laboratory in the city of Beirut. The Lebanese Civil War led to the disintegration of the crude health information system available prior to that time; thus this survey generates a unique dataset about a city and its population at a midpoint in the war. By recording the methodological and organizational issues faced during the war, the book serves as a reference source for courses and other training activities in health research. Its findings will interest public health workers, ministries of health, and the staffs of a variety of international agencies.

These are the proceedings of a January 1983 symposium organized by the American University of Beirut and the Goethe Institute at a midpoint in the Lebanese Civil War when the Beirut city center was being cleared of the destructive effects of the war in preparation for reconstruction. The ten papers address the damage sustained during the first part of the civil war, and make recommendations for reconstruction. Lessons from the post-World War II reconstruction of Europe and an overview of Beirut's previous history are included. This publication contains thirteen illustrations, four maps, and twenty-one photos.​

​The Profile of a Neighborhood presents an overview of the findings of the Ras Beirut Well-Being Survey, conducted in 2009–2010 by members of AUB's Faculty of Health Sciences. It represents the efforts of a multidisciplinary team drawn from across the American University of Beirut, and provides the first systematic portrait of Ras Beirut in the last forty years. The survey's goal was to provide up-to-date sociological, demographic, and health information about neighborhood residents, a valuable snapshot of life in Ras Beirut shortly before the conflict in Syria brought an influx of Syrian citizens to the neighborhood. The book presents a wide variety of statistical details about the residents of Ras Beirut, including marital status, nationality, household structure, religiosity, income and household wealth, education, and quality of life. Its findings suggest that even in Ras Beirut, which is considered an affluent neighborhood of which AUB is a part, it is possible to find extremes existing side by side—wealth and poverty, social and economic inequality, and the corresponding effects on well-being.

This is a critical essay describing and evaluating the poetry of the end of the nineteenth century and its importance in the development of the modern aesthetic. To quote the Times Literary Supplement, this book “has the merit of hitting most of the nails involved firmly on their proper heads."

In Islam, the concept that the Word was revealed to man in its highest and final form in the Qurʾan has made it the foundation of all Muslim artistic expression. The authors of this study present a collection of published transcriptions of Qurʾanic inscriptions on Islamic monuments from Jerusalem, Cairo, and Damascus in order to determine how the inscriptions were used and what patterns, if any, might contribute to an appreciation of the religious content of a work of art. The study is limited to the world of medieval Islam when religious foundations were at their greatest strength and vitality, and found their most integrated expression. Volume I presents the texts and photographs of the inscriptions, while Volume II gives three indexes of the verses: in order of the suras, used geographically, and according to their locations within buildings.