Rana B. Khoury
@rbkhoury.bsky.social
assistant prof of political science at Illinois researching wartime activism, displacement, humanitarianism, and all things Syria. mama to the greatest second grader. www.ranakhoury.com
Pinned
Rana B. Khoury
@rbkhoury.bsky.social
· Sep 17
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...
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
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
January 16, 2026 at 5:08 PM
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
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.
January 14, 2026 at 8:21 PM
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.
Marc as always knows so much about the topic; it's a real privilege (if intimidating) to be in conversation with him.
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...
Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War (S. 15, Ep. 1) - Project on Middle East Political Science
Welcome to Season 15 of the POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast! On this week’s episode of the podcast, Rana Khoury of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign joins Marc Lynch to discu...
pomeps.org
January 13, 2026 at 2:32 PM
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.
Marc as always knows so much about the topic; it's a real privilege (if intimidating) to be in conversation with him.
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...
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
December 22, 2025 at 11:35 AM
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...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/best-of-2025...
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
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...
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
December 8, 2025 at 7:31 PM
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...
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...
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...
@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
December 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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...
@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...
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...
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.....
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 PM
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...
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...
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...
Come for the 95%!
calendars.illinois.edu/detail/779/3...
Book Talk: "Civilizing Contention: International Aid in Syria's War." Dr. Rana Khoury
calendars.illinois.edu
November 4, 2025 at 4:27 PM
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...
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...
zenodo.org/records/1745...
MENA Politics, Fall 2025
zenodo.org
November 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
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...
zenodo.org/records/1745...
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
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
October 29, 2025 at 7:58 PM
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
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
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...
October 29, 2025 at 7:58 PM
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!
October 27, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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!
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
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...
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.....
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
October 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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...
If you’re a grad student who’d like a copy, reply or DM me!
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
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...
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.....
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
October 17, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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...
If you’re a grad student who’d like a copy, reply or DM me!
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
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?
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?
October 15, 2025 at 2:43 PM
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?
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...
September 17, 2025 at 1:28 PM
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...
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
Excellent dive into the possible future of the new Syria.
From "The People, Power, Politics" podcast in cooperation with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
From "The People, Power, Politics" podcast in cooperation with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
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...
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
September 9, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Excellent dive into the possible future of the new Syria.
From "The People, Power, Politics" podcast in cooperation with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
From "The People, Power, Politics" podcast in cooperation with @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
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.
So.... that's disturbing.
September 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
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.
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...
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
August 29, 2025 at 1:01 PM
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...
open.spotify.com/episode/3yIo...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
Reposted by Rana B. Khoury
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!
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!
August 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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!
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!
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!
August 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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!
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:
July 24, 2025 at 4:42 PM
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...
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.
www.chronicle.com
July 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
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...
A feature for creating "flashcards for students to review," e.g., ignores that making flashcards *is* the learning.
www.chronicle.com/article/inst...
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: 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.....
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu
July 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
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: International Aid in Syria's War is coming out later this year 🤓
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
👇call for Syria papers
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...
Call for Papers: Syria after Assad Workshop - Project on Middle East Political Science
The stunning collapse of the Assad regime in December 2024 has thrown up crucial questions about the future of Syria and the Syrian people. For example, is Syria transitioning mainly from fourteen yea...
pomeps.org
June 25, 2025 at 2:09 PM
👇call for Syria papers