LAU and AUB Economics Departments Collaborate to Advance Academic Exchange in Beirut
Recognizing the need to enhance academic exchange, the LAU Economics Department and the AUB Economics Department launched the Beirut Economics Research Seminar Series in February 2025, a collaborative initiative that brought together economics researchers from diverse universities in Canada, Germany, Lebanon, Switzerland, and the US.
Held biweekly throughout the spring semester and alternating between the LAU and AUB campuses, the series created a vibrant platform for Beirut’s economics research community—including economics faculty members, researchers, graduate students, and professionals—to deliberate with other scholars on recent research works in economics.
The series, organized by LAU’s Adnan Kassar School of Business Department of Economics and the Department of Economics at AUB’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, featured seminar talks on economic topics by Ishac Diwan from AUB and the Finance for Development Lab, Theocharis Grigriadis from Freie Universität Berlin, Branco Milanovic from the City University of New York, Hicham Safieddine from the University of British Columbia, Ugo Panizza from the Geneva Graduate Institute, and Myra Yazbeck from the University of Ottawa.
The seminar speakers provided valuable insights into global and regional economic issues, including development finance, global economic inequality, central banking, political economy, public investment quality, sovereign risk, and debt sustainability. Sessions included discussions, which allowed the audience interested in knowledge creation to exchange ideas directly and critically with the speakers on frontier economics research topics.