All in the - American University of Beirut

Beyond Bliss Streetr e f l e c t i o n sDo you have anything you wouldlike to say to your former students?Yes. Call me if you happen to be in ornear Austin, Texas (Luba Sinclair in theAustin Directory), or email lubasinclair@hotmail.com. I would love to see youagain.When did you leave AUB? Haveyou been back?I left AUB in 1976. Yes, I have beenback to Beirut many times. My oldhome on Bliss Street has been torndown to give way to another highrise,but I now have a daughter atBalamand and three siblings in Beirut,Jounieh, and Balamand.day’s lecture. Then that polemical spiritwas carried back to the students in theclassrooms and beyond.I remember having students followme after class to my apartmentacross the street where we would allcontinue debating. It was almost asthough the fifth century Athenian agorahad been transposed into the Beirut ofthe 1960s. I hope my students wereimprinted by what Isidore Ducassecalls a ferociousness and boldness ofthe spirit that a true reading of greattexts instills.Are you still in touch with any ofyour former students?So many of my former students havemoved on to illustrious careers. Twoin English literature I was fortunateenough to teach were Nabil Matar,PhD, Cambridge University, currentlyat the University of Minnesota,and Elise Salem, PhD, University ofNorth Carolina, formerly at FairleighDickinson University, and now vicepresident at LAU. Another greatstudent is American playwright, filmmaker, and actor Michael Cristofer,who won a Pulitzer Prize for his play,The Shadow Box, in 1977. I still seethese former students and hope toremain in touch with them for a longtime, inshallah. In fact, Michael haspromised to introduce me to AngelinaJolie. I can’t wait.What impact has AUB had onyour life?At the risk of using a well-wornHemingway cliché, I can say that AUBand the Beirut of the 1960s will alwaysremain “a moveable feast” in our lives.Those of us fortunate enough to havelived through that period have beenmarked forever with the joy that trueintellectual camaraderie induces whenexperienced in a situation of liberal opennessand creativity. Not to mention thewild parties we used to throw. A largenumber of faculty members would gatherfor great food, drink, and conversationin each other’s homes on a regular basis.We would also all share the latest LP ofthe Beatles, “Hair,” the Rolling Stones,and every single new release availablein Beirut and, of course, we danceduntil the early hours of the morning. Wethought those days would never end.Yet by 1977 many of us were dispersedall over the world, but the Beirut of the1960s remains forever to enrichour memory.—J.M.C.www.aub.edu.lb/maingate |MainGate Fall 201147