This talk is cosponsored by the Workshop on Arab Political Development (WAPD), the Qualitative Research Colloquium (QRC), The Democracy and Development Research Initiative and the Comparative Politics Colloquium at Princeton University.Book Presentation: We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria What can personal stories teach us about the conflict in Syria? Since 2012, Professor Wendy Pearlman has carried out open-ended interviews with more than 300 displaced Syrians across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Her new book, We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria (HarperCollins, June 2017) uses these interviews to chronicle the origins and evolution of the Syrian war solely through the words of ordinary people who have lived it its unfolding. It explores how Syrians¿ individual narratives coalesce into a collective narrative whose arc paints a portrait of silence and intimidation under an oppressive regime before 2011, expresses the transformative experience of participation in protest against that regime, conveys the resilience of communities enduring unspeakable violence thereafter, and offers a window into the challenge of becoming and being a refugee. Upon sharing selections from the book, Pearlman will conclude with lessons about how storytelling can enrich the study of politics, and vice versa.Purchase We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria from Labyrinth Books online or 122 Nassau Street, Princeton NJ.