For Suad Joseph, academia is the primary institution of hope in America. Joseph, who was born in Lebanon and moved to the U.S. with her family when she was a child, was inspired by her teachers to pursue a career in education.
“Our teachers taught us what America was about and what it meant to engage in this historical experiment of democracy,” said Joseph, now a distinguished research professor emerita of anthropology and gender, sexuality and women’s studies at the College of Letters and Science at UC Davis. “They believed in it. We believed in them.”
Initially wanting to be an elementary school teacher, Joseph eventually became a leading scholar of women and gender in the Middle East. She founded the Middle East/South Asia Studies Program at UC Davis, raised over $10 million in external awards and in 2021 established the Suad Joseph Undergraduate Student Research Award in Middle East/South Asia Studies and the Suad Joseph Graduate Student Research Award in Middle East/South Asia Studies, to name just a few of her accomplishments and philanthropic efforts.
And now, Joseph is bestowing her generosity on the university again with the establishment of the Suad Joseph Graduate Student Research Award in Lebanon and Palestine Studies. The award will support graduate students conducting research on Lebanon, Palestine and/or their diasporas.
Award timeline and eligibility for UC Davis graduate students
It’s expected that the first call for applicants for the new award will occur in Fall 2027, with the award being given during the 2027-2028 academic year. The award will be administered by the Middle East/South Asia Studies Program at UC Davis.
Extracts from: https://lettersandsciencemag.ucdavis.edu/graduate-research-award-lebanon-palestine-uc-davis