The American University of Beirut (AUB) has become one of only a handful of universities worldwide to launch a dedicated channel on YouTube, the enormously popular video-sharing Web site, a statement issued by the university on Wednesday.

According to the statement, YouTube is an ideal venue to introduce potential students, donors, and partners to AUB.
"According to the latest survey by eMarketer.com, YouTube, which permits users to view, critique and upload videos, is one of the top three Web sites favored by US college students," the statement added.

Since the AUB at Lebanon channel was created on YouTube in February 2008, the university has posted 25 videos organized into five playlists. Over half of the videos are short, promotional pieces that familiarize prospective students and their parents with AUB and its facilities.  "Films like these are a form of direct communication between AUB and young people living abroad who increasingly depend on the internet for information when choosing universities," said Rosangela Silva, director the univesity's Academic Computing Center, which created the channel.

Another AUB offering is a seven-minute video on its "Campaign for Excellence," which attracted over $171 million to be used to upgrade facilities, recruit faculty, strengthen programs, and increase financial assistance to students. Narrated by university president John Waterbury, the video provides alumni and other friends of AUB with an open window on the transformations taking place on campus.

Three university research centers have set up their own playlists on AUB's channel. The Initiative for Biodiversity Studies in Arid Regions (IBSAR) is an open academic platform for research on the conservation and sustainable development of regional biodiversity. By posting videos that present some of IBSAR's community-related projects, the center's director, Professor Salma Talhouk, said she hopes to increase public awareness of biodiversity issues and attract research partners and funding.

Most YouTube videos cannot exceed 10 minutes in length, but those posted on dedicated channels face no such restrictions. As a consequence, both the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdel-Aziz al-Saoud Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR) and the Issam Fares Institute (IFI) for Public Policy and International Affairs have taken the opportunity to upload entire lectures by guest speakers on topics relevant to AUB's regional environment.

"We live in a globalized moment," explained Professor Patrick McGreevy, the director of CASAR, "when we can use technology to broaden our reach and communicate with a wider audience." CASAR videos are the newest additions to AUB's YouTube channel and include Professor Lawrence Hatab's lecture on "Democracy and Conflict" and Professor Hisham Ahmad's discussion of "American Foreign Policy toward Palestine before 1948."

They join four IFI videos largely drawn from its "Ambassador in the Academy" series, which has hosted Norwegian charge d'affairs in Lebanon Aud Lise Norheim, British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy and Commissioner General Karen AbuZayd of theUN Relief and Works Agency, as well as the "Bill and Sally Hambrecht Distinguished Peacemaker" series.  "We hope to find ways to involve students - perhaps through competitions that allow them to share their impressions of campus life," Silva said.

Similarly, the videos generated by other universities with YouTube channels can bring diverse viewpoints into the classroom from across the globe.  "It only takes seconds," Silva explained, "to embed one or more open-source lectures into Moodle learning management platforms. By exposing students to different approaches to fundamental questions, faculty can stimulate discussion and deepen understanding."

The first university to create a branded YouTube channel was the University of California at Berkeley, which began posting videos of full courses and events in October 2007. UC Berkeley's offerings range from an introductory "Physics for Future Presidents" course, which stresses the concepts behind important problems in physics and applies them to current events, to "General Human Anatomy," the course that made Professor Marian Diamond into an overnight video star after 40 years spent teaching her subject in the classroom.

University of California at Berkeley's YouTube debut was quickly followed by the University of Southern California, the University of New South Wales in Australia and Vanderbilt University. Currently, about 20 universities have established branded channels, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, another well-known leader in open-source video in higher education, which has made most of its curriculum public on its Web site. AUB's channel can be viewed at www.youtube.com/aubatlebanon. - The Daily Star