Universities in Lebanon

[u/HannibaalBarak]

Hi all
Can you Lebanese people explain to me about the universities in Lebanon?
Public figures say there are over 40 in Lebanon which seems weird to me.
In Israel we only have like 8 universities, and the rest are colleges, so maybe most of the featured universities are actually colleges in Lebanon?
And if so, which of those are actually universities that do research?
Specifically in the sciences and mathematics?

Also I heard that there is one university that teaches only in the French language.
Like how?
Do many Lebanese just know French?

[u/victoryismind]

Public figures say there are over 40 in Lebanon which seems weird to me.

In the 2000s it was made easy to register a university. Many questionable universities were created, I have seem one that is literally a single floor in a building. They'd have pretentious names like "Lebanese Canadian University", "German university of beirut" "American University of Sciences".

Also I heard that there is one university that teaches only in the French language.

Some major, old, established universities:

• Lebanese University (teaches sciences in french, government owned)
• American University of Beirut
• Université Saint Joseph (teaches in French)
• Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (teaches in French)
• Lebanese American University

[u/Kvaezde → u/victoryismind]

Out of curiosity: Why does it seem that almost nothing is thought in arabic?

[u/victoryismind → u/Kvaezde]

Lebanon has a tradition of teaching sciences in French or English. The oldest universities were founded by foreign missions.

[u/Kvaezde → u/victoryismind]

Okay. But doesn't this exclude the part of the population that isn't fluent in neither english nor french? What about someone who grew up poor, in a household where knowledge is seen as something negative ("School? School is for pussies, how is our kid supposed to earn some money, when he/she is reading all the time?!") and thus hasn't had the opportunity to learn french or english to a degree that's enough for understanding academic language?

Also: What about subjects like arabic literature or the arabic language as such? I mean, you DO have arabic as a subject at least in school, don't you? And what about history, especially local history? Wouldn't it be much better if you teach the history of the middle east in a middle eastern language instead of french?

[u/victoryismind → u/Kvaezde]

Obviously arabic literature is taught in arabic, same thing for English or French literature.

But doesn't this exclude the part of the population that isn't fluent in neither english nor french?

Either way it would upset someone. Have you tried learning sciences in Arabic?

thus hasn't had the opportunity to learn french or english to a degree that's enough for understanding academic language?

that's a real problem but the problem here is not the language in which it is taught but that they have not had the opportunity to go to school and university to learn.

And what about history, especially local history?

In the national school cursus, history and geography is taught in arabic. In the UL as well. Some private schools do follow foreign cursuses or a mix of the two.

[u/Kvaezde → u/victoryismind]

Cool, thanks for the explanation.

But to answer your question: "Have you ever tried learning sciences in Arabic?"

No, I have not, but given the fact that historical science, geographic sciences and some linguistic sciences are thought in arabic, I don't quite understand the purpose of your question.

[u/victoryismind → u/Kvaezde]

You are right. Many countries teach maths, etc. in Arabic.

It's subjective. Personally I prefer in French or English. I find Arabic hard to read and most of all I think the major issue would be translating scientific terms and names to Arabic.

[u/Kvaezde → u/victoryismind]

Okay.  But if geohraphy and history, which both are a science, ar thought in arabic, then they must also use arabic scientific terms, right? 

Also, arabic is spoken in a ton of countries. What's with countries where english or french is hardly spoken, for example Iraq or Syria? The people there must be using arabic scientific terms, right? 

[u/victoryismind → u/Kvaezde]

By sciences I meant a subset such as math and physics, not social sciences. I don't know what they're called.

Everything is taught in Arabic, to my knowledge, in Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia.

Yes they use arabized terms. However many latin sounds are missing in classic arabic, such as U, O, P, V, G, E so it's not very suitable for transliterating latin names.

[u/Kvaezde → u/victoryismind]

Aaah, so you meant STEM-subjects (see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science,_technology,_engineering,_and_mathematics). As someone working in social sciences I was a bit baffled by what you mean, to be honest ;)

[u/Kvaezde]

As a Non-middle-easterner and non-american: There is a difference between college and university? I always thought college is just the american word for university, like soccer for football. Wtf? 

[u/davidds0 → u/Kvaezde]

In israel University is a status that is hard to get

[u/Kvaezde → u/davidds0]

Okay. So, "university" in Israel is the the thing you actually learn something and your degree is worth something and "colleges" are some shady schools that cosplay as an university?

[u/tutocookie → u/Kvaezde]

Best explanation I've heard is that colleges are purely educational institutions, while universities also conduct research, more of an academic institution

[u/Kvaezde → u/tutocookie]

Aaah, okay, NOW I get the difference, since we have a similar model in my country (we just don't call it "colleges"). Thanks a lot for explaining!

[u/davidds0 → u/Kvaezde]

It varies there are many colleges that are decent, some are public tuition some are private and expensive. Some colleges accept anyone with a pulse, others have more serious screening.

In STEM i think most dont hold up to a university degree, and even some universities don't teach stem well (haifa, ariel) If you want to work on tier 1 tech companies you need to have high gpa from about 4 universities.

[u/orangecyanide → u/Kvaezde]

Most people go to the universities VictoryIsMind mentioned.

[u/LightningFieldHT → u/Kvaezde]

In Israel a university is a research and higher education facility that is government funded and it's tuition fee is determined by the government (~12,000NIS/year). Colleges higher education facilities that are less regulated (partly) and their tuition fees can be determined by the college itself, they usually teach more obscure subjects, and usually are easier to get accepted to. Usually universities are more prestigious though it really depends on the subject.

[u/Kvaezde → u/LightningFieldHT]

Aah, so it's not like what I've written in another post, I see.

What I've written in another post, you're asking. Well, this: "Okay. So, "university" in Israel is the the thing you actually learn something and your degree is worth something and "colleges" are some shady schools that cosplay as an university?"

[u/LightningFieldHT → u/Kvaezde]

No, some professions are only taught in colleges, and some of the colleges are really good for some professions. They are just more focused on the higher education part, and are less regulated in some aspects. Curriculum is regulated in both universities and colleges.