May Tamimova
May Tamimova
QUALIFICATIONS
2023 DPhil., Anthropology, University of Oxford
2016 MPhil., Modern Middle East Studies, University of Oxford
2014 B.A., Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies, American University of Beirut
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Political Anthropology, Anthropology of Violence, Clientelism, Lebanon, Securitization, Migration, Diaspora Politics, Protest Movements
RESEARCH PROFILE
I am a political anthropologist specializing in Lebanon where I explore hope-making in the aftermath of violence, and within oppressive political systems. I also research the practices that sustain the sectarian status-quo that include the roles of kinship and emotions in politics and the centring of the moral self in political decision-making. More recently, my research has expanded to Europe, where I focus on the impacts of securitization on religious and racialized minorities, as well as the impact of migration on political participation.
Journal Articles
2025 Concrete Memories: Revisiting the Lebanese Civil War through Beirut’s Material Remains. Ethnography 26(2): 217-233.
2018 The Black Saturday Massacre of 1975: The Discomfort of Assembling the Lebanese Civil War Narrative. Contemporary Levant 3(2): 123-136.
Ongoing Projects and Grants
2025 – 2028 Operační Program Jan Amos Komenský (OP JAK). Junior Researcher.
Public Outreach:
2021 Waiting in Darkness: The Lebanese Economic Crisis as one of the third worst globally since 1850. Voxpot.
2020 Snap Back to Reality: Saad Hariri Returns as Lebanese PM. MEDirections Blog.
2020 The Birth of a Revolutionary Symbol: A Brutalist Egg at the Center of the Lebanese Protests. A2larm.
Consultancy and Expert Advice:
2024 Protecting Places of Worship in Europe: Between Inclusivity, Integration, and Religious Freedom. Protone Project. (co-author Abbas, Tahir)
2023 Protecting Places of Worship in Europe: A Review of Literature and Future Research Trends. Protone Project. (co-author Abbas, Tahir)
2022 Tripoli Amidst Lebanon’s Parliamentary Elections: New Faces, Elite Reshuffling, and Public Disinterest.” The Policy Initiative. (co-author Helou, Zeina)
2020 – 2021 Research Associate at Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute
2019 Sectarian Politics, Human Security, and the Quest to Prevent Violent Extremism in Lebanon.ˮ West Asia-North Africa Institute. (co-authors Bondokji, Neven – El-Helou, Zeina – Zoughaib, Sami)
2019 Preventing Violent Extremism in Lebanon.” The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies. 41.
2016 – 2019 Researcher at Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
External Reviewing
Book Proposal and Manuscript Evaluation: Routledge.
Journal Articles Manuscript Review: Ethnopolitics
Teaching Experience
2022 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague.
2020 Guest Lecturer, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Arts, Charles University Prague.
Invited Talks, Public Lectures or Roundtables
2024 April, 11. Roundtable On the Edge - Post-Conflict Political Generations of Women and Youth Activists in the ‘Second Wave’ of the Arab Spring. CMES, Lund University
2023 September, 9. Lecture on Participant Observation. Governance and Local Development Institute, University of Gothenburg
2023 November, 23. Guest Lecture on Overcoming Fieldwork Discomforts. Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Helsinki
2021 April, 19. Roundtable Talking Lebanese Crisis: Is There a Way Out This Time?. CEVRO, Prague
2018 November, 7. Public Talk Reaching Out to the Other: Overcoming Intercultural Conflicts, Institute of International Relations and Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prague
Conference and Workshop Organisation
2024 April, 16. Protecting Places of Worship in Europe. Workshop, Nuthuis (on behalf of Leiden University), The Hague. (main organiser)
