Lybarger

Loren D. Lybarger is a religious studies specialist (Islam; comparative religions) with more than 20 years of experience in ethnographic field study methods. His research and teaching have focused on how religion, nationalism, war, mass displacement, and state violence shape identities and demands for justice across generations in the Middle East and Latin America. He has published two monographs examining these questions in relation to Palestinian experience. The first one, Identity and Religion in Palestine: The Struggle between Islamism and Secularism in the Occupied Territories, draws on extensive on-the-ground-experience during the first Intifada (1987-1993) and formal fieldwork carried out at the end of 1990s. His second single-author book, Palestinian Chicago: Identity in Exile, shifts the angle of vision to examine questions of nationalism, religion, and identity among Palestinians within the US diaspora. Dr. Lybarger has also worked collaboratively on research addressing religion, memory, and demands for justice in Argentina. This project has resulted in a short film (https://vimeo.com/285268494/d832f08f1b) and a co-authored book titled, Commemorative Literacies and Labors of Justice: Resistance, Reconciliation, and Recovery in Buenos Aires and Beyond. He has since launched new work on religion and climate change in rural regions such as Northern California, Southern Indiana, and Southeastern Ohio. He is also developing a new project on Palestinian communities in Europe.