The Arab Institute for Women

News & Events

2022-2023 Mary Turner Lane Award

The Audience
Dr. Mawad handing the certificates
Group Photo of the Winners
Photo of one of the Special Mention Winners

Since 2012, The Arab Institute for Women (AiW) has been organizing the Mary Turner Lane (MTL) Award - Student Competition. This award was established by Dr. Mary Ellen Lane in honor of her late mother, Mary Turner Lane, who founded the women’s studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The primary purpose of this award is to encourage students to pursue research in the field of gender and women’s studies and to advance gender-related knowledge across the LAU community.

The AiW, four years after it last hosted the Award ceremony in 2019 – on account of the Covid-19 pandemic and the many compounded crises affecting Lebanon and LAU – warmly gathered students, again, in the honorable presence of LAU President, Dr. Michel Mawad, to celebrate the young scholars’ hard work and achievements. This ceremony, a cherished and living tradition staunchly supported and endorsed by Dr. Mawad, indeed represented an excellent opportunity to recognize outstanding achievements, encourage excellence, and promote a culture of success.  

This year, four students received the MTL award. Two students were announced winners and two students received a special mention.

The winners of the best two papers were each awarded a certificate and a monetary prize.  

Winners

Ms. Aya Catherina Elias was the recipient of the Award for the “Best Undergraduate Research Paper on Women and Gender”. Her paper was entitled: “A Woman’s Curse: Menopause in the Workplace”.

Ms. Yasmine Mehio was the recipient of the Award for the “Best Graduate Research Paper on Women and Gender”. Her paper was entitled: “Female Participation in the Production of Ottoman Devotional Objects: A Study of the Hilye-i Şerif”.

Special Mentions

Ms. Balkis Chaabane was the recipient of the Award as “Special Mention for the Paper on: Between Africa and America: A Journey to an Intersectional Transnational Discovery”.

Ms. Maysaa Al Ajjan was the recipient of the Award as “Special Mention for the Paper on: The Suicide of Egyptian Gay Activist Sarah Hegazi in the News: An Analysis of the Media Frames in Regional and International Print Media”.