I am honored and thrilled to have received APSA MENA Section's Book Award for a junior scholar! It means a lot for this community to see fit to award Civilizing Contention, especially as there were some excellent books published last year. So many thanks to the committee and section 🙏

APSA MENA Politics Section@apsamena.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Announcing 2026 APSA MENA Book Awards! Best Junior Scholar Book: Rana Khoury @rbkhoury.bsky.social Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War (Cornell Press) Huge congrats!

I'm teaching undergrad course on Forced Migration & Refugees next year, and am interested in reading recs on U.S. asylum policies and practices. I want to meet student interest but can use more orientation to this scholarship. Preference is for political science. Thanks!

Not at ISA? Or, like me, not there yet? Cornell has a "virtual booth" with 40% off and free shipping--the same deal enjoyed by folks (already) there in person 🤓https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/our-isa-2026-books-on-display/

ISA 2026 Books on Display

In coordination with the International Studies Association annual convention in Columbus, Ohio we’ve created this online portal so you can take advantage of the book deals normally only given to physi...

cornellpress.cornell.edu

This is one of the best podcasts I've listened to lately, a deep dive into a community and conflict with rich, granular insights.

Middle East Research and Information Project@merip.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW PODCAST: Iman Ali joins the podcast with co-hosts James Ryan and Najib Hourani to discuss her recent article on reconstruction efforts the Dahiyeh -- Beirut's Shi'i neighborhoods that have been wracked by Israeli attacks since the Fall of 2024. LISTEN NOW buff.ly/izKKobW

I'm heading to two beloved alma maters for book talks! Feb 23: Northwestern MENA Monday talk @ noon 💜https://planitpurple.northwestern.edu/event/638111 April 1: Georgetown CCAS @ 2pm 💙https://events.georgetown.edu/.../36741-book-talk... More soon on events at GWU and UW!

Angst over AI and student writing has been roiling me at an increasing strength lately. Because I haven't stopped assigning essays. I just got student evals for last semester, and I can breathe. Maybe I'm just so overwhelmed by their positive input, but... 1/6

The regimes that fight imperialism by fighting the people have lost the plot.

Kind of surreal to be discussing my new book on my favorite podcast for learning about new books. Marc as always knows so much about the topic; it's a real privilege (if intimidating) to be in conversation with him.

POMEPS@pomeps.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Welcome to Season 15 of the POMEPS Podcast! On this week's episode, Rana Khoury joins POMEPS Director Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War. Also, Marc shares additional academic research on Syria. pomeps.org/civilizing-c...

I'm honored that Civilizing Contention is on @abuaardvark.bsky.social's list of best books of 2025, and among such a stellar group. abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/best-of-2025...

Best of 2025

I've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Denmark and Norway, where I gave four book talks – a million thanks to the University of Copenhagen and DIIS, Aarhus University, NUPI and the University of ...

abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io

One year after toppling of Bashar Assad's regime, we've got a variety of insights on prospects for Syria's future. Check out the 7-piece symposium on Syria co-edited by @rbkhoury.bsky.social and Sefa Seçen in our latest APSA MENA Politics Newsletter. apsamena.org/mena-politic...

MENA Politics Newsletter 8(2) – Fall 2025 - APSA MENA POLITICS

Welcome to the APSA MENA Politics Newsletter, Volume 8, Issue 2, Fall 2025. Download the Newsletter Here

apsamena.org

On this first anniversary of the stunning fall, I'm proud to be in @pomeps.bsky.social just-released collection on Syria with an essay on The Question of Return. Despite its liberatory potential, the regime’s end also exposes the deep vulnerability of Syrian refugees pomeps.org/the-question...

The Question of Return - Project on Middle East Political Science

Rana B. Khoury, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign [1]   For more than a decade, most Syrian refugees have not reached a “durable solution” to their displacement: neither resettlement in a third ...

pomeps.org

Cornell's got a winter sale, 44% all books! Code: 09WINTER Great time to give loved ones, and yourself, a title or two from their excellent selection for the holidays. Perhaps even mine! (Their publications in conflict studies are top notch.) www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Civilizing Contention by Rana B. Khoury | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When.....

cornellpress.cornell.edu

Excited/nervous to be giving a book talk tomorrow at Illinois. My 2nd grader anticipates it will be about 5% boring. Come for the 95%! calendars.illinois.edu/detail/779/3...

In this symposium on Syria contributors paint nuanced, grim, but clear-eyed pictures of multiple transitional challenges. Comparisons to other cases and situation in poli sci lit remind us Syria's not terribly unique. Amazingly, they all suggest ways through the obstacles. zenodo.org/records/1745...

3) A symposium on Syria's transition co-edited by @rbkhoury.bsky.social and Sefa Secen, featuring thought-provoking interventions from Tiina Hyyppä, Sumaya Malas, Salam Said, Emily K. M. Scott, Sefa Secen, and Ammar Shamaileh; and

I am delighted to share the fall issue of the APSA MENA section newsletter, co-edited by @sebnemgumuscu.bsky.social, @samershehata.bsky.social, and me, available for download here: zenodo.org/records/1745...

Can folks suggest books or writings by Moroccan or Egyptian activists involved in social movements? For an undergraduate thesis student who is eager to learn how the people on the ground understood their own undertakings. English or Arabic. Thanks!

To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, and to support emerging scholars, I'd like to buy and mail copies to ten graduate students. If you’re a grad student who’d like a copy, reply or DM me! www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Civilizing Contention by Rana B. Khoury | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When.....

cornellpress.cornell.edu

To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, and to support emerging scholars, I'd like to buy and mail copies to ten graduate students. If you’re a grad student who’d like a copy, reply or DM me! www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Civilizing Contention by Rana B. Khoury | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When.....

cornellpress.cornell.edu

I often encounter the idea that interviews are qualitative analysis, akin to comparative method or process tracing. But I understand interviews as a method of data collection, for data to be used in comparative, within-case, or interpretive analyses. What do you all think?

So excited to hold my book! You can do so too in November! Leila Khoury's cover art captures the story of a contentious movement becoming something like a civil society in the depths of Syria's war. @cornellupress.bsky.social designed it beautifully. www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Excellent dive into the possible future of the new Syria. From "The People, Power, Politics" podcast in cooperation with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

Rana B. Khoury@rbkhoury.bsky.social · 11mo ago

A conversation that grew out of work w @wendy-pearlman.bsky.social alongside Daniel Neep, hosted by @emilykmscott.bsky.social. Recorded 2 months ago, but holds up and helps think about roles of state and society in Syria's future. open.spotify.com/episode/3yIo... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

A published paper in a journal has cited a real chapter of mine, but in a hallucinatory way: a parenthetical citation is repeatedly used for content that is completely off the mark. Completely. So.... that's disturbing.

A conversation that grew out of work w @wendy-pearlman.bsky.social alongside Daniel Neep, hosted by @emilykmscott.bsky.social. Recorded 2 months ago, but holds up and helps think about roles of state and society in Syria's future. open.spotify.com/episode/3yIo... podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Syria After Assad

Podcast Episode · New Books in Political Science · 08/29/2025 · 41m

podcasts.apple.com

I would love for someone who has experience in a social movement to zoom into my undergrad class this fall and share. Minimal prep: orient us 5-10 min, then Q&A. In past, we learned about participation in uprisings in Syria and Hong Kong, and US labor (during a strike!). Thanks!

I would love for someone who has experience in a social movement to zoom into my undergrad class this fall and share. Minimal prep: orient us 5-10 min, then Q&A. In past, we learned about participation in uprisings in Syria and Hong Kong, and US labor (during a strike!). Thanks!

Folks, are you using or have you considered using AI for transcription of interviews? I haven't seen much discussion or info re how one protects the data through the many apps/sites/clouds. Like this is from OpenAI's transcribe to text privacy policy:

The adoption of AI into Canvas is framed here as reducing faculty workload and making students' lives easier. Not about student learning. A feature for creating "flashcards for students to review," e.g., ignores that making flashcards *is* the learning. www.chronicle.com/article/inst...

Instructors Will Now See AI Throughout a Widely Used Course Software

New features integrated into Canvas include a grading assistant, a discussion-post summarizer, and even a way to pair assignments with generative AI tools.

chronicle.com

The proofs are in. It has a website. It has blurbs from amazing scholars. So I guess my book is real, and @cornellupress.bsky.social must agree! Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War is coming out later this year 🤓 www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Civilizing Contention by Rana B. Khoury | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When.....

cornellpress.cornell.edu

👇call for Syria papers

POMEPS@pomeps.bsky.social · last yr.

POMEPS Call for Papers: Syria after Assad Workshop. We seek papers on topics related to understanding Syria today that will be discussed at a virtual workshop on Sept. 19th. The deadline to apply is July 21st. For more info on how to apply: pomeps.org/call-for-pap...