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[latigo]

Can anyone from non-middle-Eastern background tell me anything about working in Lebanon?  I've been thrown a job offer with only a few days to decide and am trying to contact the faculty of the school but have not been able to do so yet.  I know nothing about Lebanon, so ANY information would be helpful.  I'm an American who would be teaching English literature and language, with no knowledge of Arabic and no experience of living outside of the U.S. for any length of time.

(Also: what is the cost of living like in Lebanon?  I'm trying to determine whether the salary I've been offered is reasonable.)

[jackie_d]

If I were you, I wouldn't worry about the salary: life is inexpensive and working in an American university will make you rich (for Lebanese standards).

Anyway, I doubt now is the right moment to move to Lebanon.

[latigo]

It's not an American university, and the pay seems pretty low.  I know that Lebanon is not the greatest choice right now, but it's not North Korea.

[marcus_welby]

A friend of mine taught there several years ago.  From what he/she told me, the pay was fairly low but the position came with a rent free apartment on campus.  Both his/her home accommodations and the on campus facilities (library, classrooms, technology) were quite spartan.  He/she mostly stayed on campus and was able to save some money because the cost of living wasn't too high.  He/she stayed only the one year and was a single person.

[helpful]

How old are you? The party scene in Lebanon is supposed to be quite good.

[splinter]

It's not an American university, and the pay seems pretty low.  I know that Lebanon is not the greatest choice right now, but it's not North Korea.

That's not the right attitude. What was it in the first place that attracted you to it? What made you apply? You should contact them and have them respond to your concerns. I am sure they would understand, considering how big your move will be.

[latigo]

I'm young, but this university seems to be in a small town, so I'm not sure about any "party" scene.  As for my North Korea comment, I was only responding to the person who said that it wasn't a good time to go to Lebanon.  I would actually love to go to Lebanon, and my point is that it's not as dangerous as some other place are (and probably far less dangerous than we think it is).

[marcus_welby]

If this is not a large institution it probably would be prudent to try to find out a bit more about the school and details about its particular location before moving forward.

My recollection from what my friend told me was that people were friendly and he/she was often invited out for dinner and social events.

Accommodations, services and amenities, both on and off campus, were quite limited, however.  If you are young and single, without children, that may not be so important. 

However, the environment was a bit unsettled back then in terms of periodic problems in the region, etc.  For some people, teaching/working in a somewhat unsettled environment isn't an issue.  For others it is.  You sound fairly flexible.

It could potentially be a great cultural experience and a good starter job for a young academic but do find out a bit more about the specific situation and location -- particularly your accommodations and teaching arrangements. 

Living right on campus, where there is security and lots of pedestrian traffic, is normally preferable.

[latigo]

Excellent point.  Thank you: I will inqure about accommodations.  As I cannot even get any information about what courses I would be teaching, however, I wonder if I'll be able to get any information about housing, either.  I don't mean to be ______ [fill in the blank], but I applied to a number of universities in the Middle East and many of them seem to have a pattern of not responding to correspondence.  American-affiliated universities in the region, on the other hand, are quite communicative.  I'm not saying that this problem is exclusive Middle-Eastern universities, but they're asking a lot of me to make a decision on a position across the globe within 6 days, given that they haven't interviewed me or told me anything about the place or my job (I still don't know what my job would be!), and won't return my e-mails.  I'm flexible, but not THAT flexible.

[marcus_welby]

I may be mistaken but I think the common pause days there would be Friday and Saturday (whereas here they are Saturday and Sunday).

If you sent an email to a professor at this institution on Thursday it is possible that no one would read it until Sunday or Monday.

Sometimes there are power outages and other things that can affect computer systems and response times too.

So, the professor at this school may not be intentionally ignoring you.

Good luck with this and do let us know how it turns out.

[just_dave]

I worked at universities in the Gulf and when it came to hiring easily 6 months could pass between when we got in a CV and when we might contact that person.  Often even longer.  Frequently potential hires would have to be clear through a formal security check by the police before we could offer a position. 

[latigo]

Thanks, everyone: you've been (and are being) very helpful.  When I said that communication was poor, though, I didn't mean that there are delays of a few days: I mean, quite literally, that e-mails aren't answered at all.  To date, I've never had a single e-mail answered, period.  Part of the problem may be that the entire department/program seems to use a single e-mail address.  I'm not sure how that works, honestly, but I'm sure it cuts down on using work e-mail for personal purposes.

Dave, is it common for people to be hired in the Middle East without any interview?  That was what surprised me the most: that they hired me without even speaking to me or (in my mind) being able to judge who I am.  It goes the other way, too, because I have no idea who they are, either, or what they're expecting me to do once I get over there.

[just_dave]

Dave, is it common for people to be hired in the Middle East without any interview?  That was what surprised me the most: that they hired me without even speaking to me or (in my mind) being able to judge who I am.  It goes the other way, too, because I have no idea who they are, either, or what they're expecting me to do once I get over there.

In terms of MA level language teaching jobs many, maybe even most, people are hired on the strengh of their CV alone.  I would imagine this is also true of faculty posiitons at smaller less competetive universities (and virtually any university in the Levant falls into this category).  Many of the better (paying) Gulf universities send someone to the big conferences to do interviews.  For example, most send a repesentative to the TESOL conference where they arrange interviews on the spot.  I would imagine they also send people to MLA in terms of hiring or English lit/rhetoric positions.  But English lit/TESOL faculty positions are choice jobs and few and far between. 

The main advantage of a job in Lebanon would simply be as foot in the door showing your can handle an overseas assignment.  In my experience that is the number one worry for search committees in the Gulf.  They've had far too many prima donas who can't hack overseas living ("how come things are just like they are back home?") and people bailing halfway through a contract.  Once you've demonstrated that you can "do overseas" it becomes much easier to get into the next place.

The exception to this seems to be Saudi Arabia.  A year or so of "Saudi experience" is acceptable but stay "too long" and you risk being seen as an "undesireable" in the rest of the Gulf.

[just_dave]

mean, quite literally, that e-mails aren't answered at all. 

Virtually all important communication in the Arab world is face to face.  If your face isn't in someone else's face, things just don't happen.

[latigo]

Hmm.  So, basically, I won't get my questions answered about teaching subjects, teaching load, housing, or anything else.  I simply have to take a leap of faith.  I dunno, that's a lot to ask.