Emily O’Dell in Beirut
A man has perished,
and his corpse has become dust,
but writing causes him to be remembered
in the mouth of the story-teller…
— Papyrus Chester Beatty IV
As I walked to my first class of the semester this morning, cupping my latte in my hands as helicopters hovered above, I felt incredibly humbled and grateful for the opportunity to explore life’s big questions with my students in Beirut during this tense time of turmoil. From Gilgamesh to Thucydides, my students and I will be spending this semester pondering–through reading ancient texts–the meaning of existence, the origins of justice, the basis of human knowledge, the emergence of ethics, and the nature of heroism. Today, our teaching contributions to Lebanon feel more important than ever–as we professors become more aware each day of the urgency and necessity of cultivating the critical thinking and leadership skills of the future leaders of the Middle East–just as AUB has done for 147 years. This is just one of the many reasons why I think AUB is one of the coolest places in the world. So, long live the humanities–and long live Lebanon…
