Cynthia Kreichati

Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a sociocultural anthropologist who studies infrastructural development, visual methods, and the political anthropology of the Middle East. My work engages the creative ways communities respond to social and environmental change, and reimagine political practice, in contexts where crisis has become a condition of life. I am currently completing my first book, a historical ethnography of the Litani River dam and power plants in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley (1954–2022).

Alongside my scholarly work, I am committed to supporting and participating in community-led and associative projects at the intersection of knowledge production and the politics of well-being. Trained as a pharmacist, I previously worked with Médecins Sans Frontières in Lebanon. Over the years, I also collaborated with refugee oral history collectives and local civil society groups working on health promotion, and contributed to independent Arabic-language magazines that promote critical research and thought from the region. I join Carleton University as a postdoctoral Fellow (2025-2027). My fellowship is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ), secteur Société et Culture. During my time at Carleton, I will be working with Jean-Michel Landry to develop a new research project on the anthropology of home and reconstruction in Lebanon.