In an initiative to further facilitate quality research, Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) signed a Letter of Agreement with Gorgias Press, an accord that enables NDU to distribute staff and faculty members’ academic work, as well as all NDU Publications, in both digital and physical formats.
On the day of the agreement, Fr. Bechara Khoury, NDU President, met with representatives of Gorgias Press, Dr. Mario Kozah and Ms. Rachelle Kozah, at the Main Campus.
Key attendees during the signing were Dr. Michel El Hayek, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Antoine Farhat, Vice President for University Advancement, Dr. Simon Abou Jaoude, Assistant Vice President for Academic Support, Ms. Lydia Zgheib, Officer of NDU Publications, and Dr. Marguerite Eid, Interim University Librarian.
Established in 2001, Gorgias Press is an independent academic publisher, specializing in scholarly books and journals regarding history, language, and religious studies, including but not limited to Ancient Near East, Arabic, and Islamic Studies, Archaeology, Biblical Studies, Classics, Early Christianity, Jewish Studies, Linguistics, and Syriac.
The publishing house aims to empower scholars and authors, believing their philosophy, “publishing for the sake of knowledge,” to be the foundation necessary in the production and sharing of culture, a sentiment that was reiterated by R. Kozah: “We want to fight for literacy and for the indispensability of knowledge through our books.” M. Kozah similarly emphasized the fundamentality of the book in academic circles: “While the modern age adopts a multitude of media for sharing knowledge, the book still stands as the basis for continuity.”
Fr. Khoury agreed with these convictions, underlining NDU’s duty in contributing to the cultural scene: “We need to preserve our heritage, to introduce the general public to Lebanese roots, ideas, and philosophy.” He expressed then his gratitude towards the opportunities the agreement presents, seeing it as “a window of implementation, a chance to explore scholarly and intellectual horizons.”
With the conclusion of the signing, both NDU and Gorgias Press are well on their way to collaboratively yield and disseminate novel, innovative, and interdisciplinary research that will create a current in academic and scholarly circles.