Study in one of the world’s most beautiful campuses, the American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB)
is an exceptional research and teaching university in the Middle East,
with a diverse student population, all of whom enjoy full free speech
rights, which is unique in the Arab world. AUB offers 141 academic programs
across all major disciplines, from the hard sciences to the humanities
to the arts, as well as specialized courses in Arabic language,
agriculture, and archaeology, in which course material is drawn from the
local Lebanese and wider Middle Eastern contexts.
The AUB campus is located at the tip of the Ras Beirut peninsula, overlooking the Mediterranean, and is consistently ranked as one of the world's most beautiful university campuses.
There is a private beach on campus, as well as a world-class fitness center, an athletic track and field team, and a museum. With their red-tiled roofs, triple archways, and sandstone facades, many of the buildings combine Ottoman, French, and local Levantine architecture.
Beyond the campus's walls lies Lebanon and the wider Middle East, a historic crossroads rich in ethnic and cultural diversity, and a study in contrasts, furiously globalized while still bound to ancient traditions and customs, with nightclubs and mosques only blocks apart.
Lebanon's people have been through a lot in the last half-century: a 15-year civil war, foreign occupation, political assassinations, sporadic wars and bombings, and now a terrible financial crisis, in which the local currency has lost more than 90% of its value. Nonetheless, while the current situation has instilled cynicism in the Lebanese, the warmth and social bonds that have allowed the Lebanese to survive successive disasters remain.
You will find it difficult to avoid conversation in the local café or sandwich shop, whether you are a foreigner or a local. After a few visits, you'll feel like a regular, a colleague rather than a customer. You can quickly learn about the family and history of the man serving you on the corner, Maneesh. He has a cousin studying in Canada, or he intends to visit, or he simply adores Lebanon and its warm chaos despite everything. Get to know him, and Lebanon will feel like home before you know it.
