Germany and Lebanon have more in common than meets the eye. The Middle Eastern Sociology and History (MESH), is a bi-national German-Lebanese MA study program, which was established at the Universität Erfurt in 2011 to bring students, researchers, and professors from both countries together. According to Prof. Dr. Birgit Schäbler, founder of MESH and currently Director of the Orient Institute in Beirut, this program was the first German-Lebanese double degree. It strengthens academic and cultural ties between both countries. Using an intertwined approach, it brings together not only different disciplines, but also different world regions and cultures, so that graduates will be qualified to enter international careers in diverse fields of expertise.
Building on this role model of exchange, Professor Eugene Sensenig at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU), taught a full MA course at the History Department for West Asia in January 2019, titled: “Comparing Displacement in the Middle East and Mitteleuropa: The German and Lebanese Experience.” The course surveyed internal displacement, forced migration, refugees, and various concepts related to integration and assimilation in Central Europe and the Middle East, based on the German and Lebanese experience in the 20th and 21st centuries. The program organizers in Erfurt confirmed that NDU’s contribution was a great success in bringing Lebanese and German students together, along with other international students from European countries studying in Erfurt. It not only focused on dialogue between the Middle East and Central Europe, but also highlighted issues related to the migration and refugee experience in the West and the countries of the former Soviet Bloc in the Eastern part of the continent. The MESH cohort in 2018-2019 included German, Dutch, and Lebanese students from the Universität Erfurt and NDU respectively.
MESH is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD in order to encourage interdisciplinary and intercultural studies between Central Europe and the Middle East (West Asia). Students study one semester in Erfurt and one semester at a university in Lebanon. Courses include Arabic and German language acquisition, topics related to the cultural, social, and political systems in both countries, and the history and current situation in the MENA region. Furthermore, professors from both countries teach specialized courses (Block seminar) to provide an in-depth understanding using a bi-cultural approach. All courses, as well as the entire program, are part of the MA program in the respective countries. The program coordinator Dr. Mara Albrecht stated, “NDU students, who participated for the first time, were very bright and hard-working, kind and polite, always attended the classes and actively contributed to each session. We are very much looking forward to a further exchange of students.”