Cynthia Myntti - Urban Laboratory Lecture Series

The Neighborhood Initiative at the American University of Beirut: Reflections on the first ten years

Founded at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 2007, the AUB Neighborhood Initiative encourages research and outreach by faculty and students on issues of concern to the university's neighbours in Ras Beirut. The neighbourhood, not a typical 'regeneration' site, juxtaposes affluence and deprivation, luxury and decay.

Cynthia Myntti served as the Initiative's director from its founding until 2016. She will reflect on the founding assumptions of the Neighborhood Initiative and the experience of its first decade. The Initiative's guiding principle was "mutual benefit" as opposed to the "noblesse oblige" typical of most community outreach projects organised by the university up to that point. In its first years, the Initiative actively engaged with potential partners in the community and in the university itself. This process of engagement on two fronts will be discussed.

• Prof Cynthia Myntti is currently a Visiting Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi and is conducting life history research in Beirut. She received her PhD in anthropology from the LSE (1983), an MPH from Johns Hopkins University (1986), and an MArch from Yale (2004).
• This lecture is chaired by Prof Camillo Boano (Bartlett Development Planning Unit / UCL Urban Laboratory)
  

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Urban Laboratory Lecture Series

The talk is part of our new autumn fortnightly lecture series, investigating the meaning and renewed relevance of the term 'urban laboratory'. The lectures are free and no booking is required. Please contact urbanlaboratory@ucl.ac.uk in advance if you require step free access to the room at 26 Bedford Way.

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