Prof. Roula Abi Habib Khoury

Director, Training Academy for Citizenship (AFC-USJ)

Sociologist and professor at Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ), Roula Abi Habib Khoury serves as Director of the Training Academy for Citizenship (AFC-USJ), a unique space for reflection, dialogue, and civic action dedicated to supporting young people in their civic engagement. Under her leadership, the Academy develops innovative educational programs, participatory initiatives, and field-based projects designed to foster ethical awareness, critical thinking, and social responsibility within the university community. 

In parallel with her responsibilities at AFC-USJ, Prof. Khoury is also director of the Center for the Study of Modern Arab World (CEMAM), where she leads interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of social, cultural, and political studies. Her research focuses on the sociology of gift-giving, the memory of the Lebanese conflict, and contemporary developments in the Arab world, exploring the ways solidarity, transmission, and meaning are reconstructed in societies shaped by crisis.

Former head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (2008-2017), she has contributed to the education and mentorship of a generation of researchers and students engaged in the study of Lebanese society. She is the author and co-author of numerous articles and collective studies, including contributions to Proche-Orient Chrétien (POC), a peer-reviewed academic journal published by USJ and available on Cairn.info, as well as collective works such as Urgence Beyrouth (2022).