We Are in This Together: An Oral History of Ras Beirut is the first systematic oral history of one of Beirut’s most storied neighborhoods.
Based on sixty-three in-depth interviews conducted between 2013 and 2014 with members of Ras Beirut’s oldest generation, the book documents a community long celebrated for its coexistence, diversity, and intellectual life—and how those qualities have been remembered, reimagined, and transformed over time.
In its close association with the American University of Beirut (AUB), Ras Beirut has always occupied a special space in Lebanon’s urban imagination. For generations, the university drew people from across the country and region, shaping a neighborhood defined by a spirit of openness and cultural exchange. Through deeply personal narratives from shopkeepers, teachers, homemakers, and scholars, this book traces how people recall home, school, work, love, loss, and belonging, weaving personal memory into a shared history of place. More than a record of the past, We Are in This Together explores oral history as an act of meaning-making, showing how memory shapes identity and sustains a sense of community across time and space.
Maria Bashshur Abunnasr is a historian of the modern Middle East specializing in public and oral history. She holds a PhD from UMass Amherst (2013) focused on the shared memory and spatial history of the American University of Beirut and Ras Beirut. She has consulted on local history projects for AUB, the N.E.S.T., LAU, and various NGOs. Her publications include 46 Streets: AUB’s Imprint on the Streets of Ras Beirut (2017) and We Are in This Together: The Ras Beirut Oral History Project.
Author: Maria Bashshur ABunnasr
Language: English
Subject: History
Series: Lebanon Series
Publication Date: 2026
Number of Pages: 424
Book Dimensions: 20.5 x 27.5 cm
Cover Type: Hardcover
Shipping Weight: 1.5 kg
ISBN: 9789953586663
