Late Ottoman Bilad al-Sham and Mandate Lebanon were characterized by an exceptionally dense concentration of diverse educational institutions. Research on education in this region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries has hitherto focused on individual institutions or movements. This volume challenges the established narrative and emphasizes the entanglements of individuals, concepts, and practices. Stemming from an international workshop held at the Orient-Institut Beirut in April 2012, the studies on local and foreign schools collected in this volume illuminate the manifold debates that entwined students, teachers, and the public over how to create a modern Arab society and the role education could play within that endeavor.