About the project

The Druze Studies project was started in July 2020 by Dr. Rami Zeedan. The project will produce tools and reference resources to overcome some of the access and discovery problems that impede scholarly research on Druze culture, literature, and history. The principal objectives are:

  1. to compile and organize core data related to the study of Druze sources;
  2. to create digital tools for widely disseminating this data and facilitating further research; and
  3. to create an online hub to assist future research in the field of Druze studies.

While accomplishing these goals, we aim to engage undergraduate and graduate students in researching the Druze.

The project will have two major components. First, the project will publish exhaustive surveys on various scholarship topics and create a comprehensive bibliographic database. By identifying the existing scholarship and the gaps in the literature, it aims to serve students and scholars as the springboard for new research projects. The project strives to expand and enrich knowledge about Druze communities by promoting new research initiatives.

The second part of the project aims to create a database of the Druze that will document Druze places, persons, prophets and sages, authors, and literature. The primary function of this database is to be a reference hub for digitally linking research findings and primary sources in the relevant languages.

This website was created to support these goals. It will act as a gateway for the academic journal and will serve as a source and a database of Druze Studies, including academic articles, books, dissertations, movies, videos, and websites. This database of bibliographies on the subject will be available to all researchers interested in studying the Druze in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the diaspora.

The project is planned for additional five years (until 2027), with the aim to apply for a grant that will support the following:

  • mini-grants for students and scholars to research the Druze;
  • publishing research outcomes on the Druze in an open-access format;
  • field research among Druze communities in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and elsewhere;
  • collaborations with other scholars and universities about Druze studies;
  • the development of the project as a Digital Humanities initiative.

Interested researchers and students are welcome to contribute to these efforts. Please contact Dr. Rami Zeedan with your inquiry.

Website last updated – June 4, 2023.