Supporters and Contributors

Supporters

The Druze Studies Project is supported internally by the University of Kansas (KU).

As of November 2025, this support includes hosting the project’s website, providing financial support to undergraduate students who volunteered to work on the project, and providing financial support to the PI for summer pay and for travel to conferences to present the results of the initial stages of the project. Three students received a Research Scholarship ($250 each in Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022). Two students received the KU Undergraduate Research Award in the summer of 2022 and 2023 ($1,000 each), and one was a finalist for the Courtwright Award. The PI received a Humanities General Research fund in 2023 and travel grants in 2021 and 2022 to travel to conferences. 

Support has been provided by multiple KU departments, centers, and programs, especially for our biennial events- see the detailed list of supporters on the events page.

Additional continuous support from KU Libraries is given to develop, launch, and host the  Druze Studies Journal. The KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences supports the journal with funds to hire a copyeditor.

Contributors

The project is led by Dr. Rami Zeedan and has included a dedicated team of volunteer students at the University of Kansas. Since the fall of 2020, the following students have contributed to the project: 

1) Miles Luce- Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Focused on Druze women and gender issues; 

2) Abigail Vaughn- Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Focused on Druze genetics; 

3) Brooklynn Mainard- Spring 2021. Focused on Identity among the Druze; 

4) Charlie Johnson- from Fall 2021 to Spring 2025. Focused on Druze and Islam and on annual systematic reviews in 2024 and 2025, and supported the 2023 Druze symposium; 

5) Lucia Costello- Fall 2022. Focused on the Druze leadership in Lebanon.

6) Ali Mahdi, John Marshall, Bo Rinne, Ryan Sherry, and Emilie Thurman: supported the 2025 Druze Studies Conference.

7) Emilie Thurman: Fall 2025 and Spring 2026. Focused on the 2025 scoping review.