News

Jul 1, 2015

Being Lebanese = Speaking Arabic?

This post is written by Amanda Eads, a Sociolinguistics graduate student at NC State University. It is Part 2 of 3 in a series that describes the survey she conducted and her analysis. You can read Part I and Part III.  Studies of identity are complex due to its multi-layered and dynamic social nature. Exploring the relationship…

Jun 17, 2015

What does it mean to be Lebanese in America?

This post is written by Amanda Eads, a Sociolinguistics student at NC State University. It is Part 1 of 3 in a series that describes the survey she conducted and her analysis. You can read Part II and Part III.  I’ve had the opportunity to ask this question several times over the past year while conducting…

Jun 3, 2015

Lest we forget: Australian Lebanese and the Great War (1914-1918)

This article is written by Anne Monsour. She has a PhD in history from the University of Queensland. This article is the third and final installment in her series. Read the first installment: Uninvited and unwelcome: a brief introduction to early Lebanese migration to Australia and the second installment: Lebanese in Australia and the Politics of…

May 27, 2015

Sneak Peek: Mapping Syrian-American businesses

In 1908 Salloum Mokarzel (the brother of Naoum Mokarzel, the publisher of Al-Huda, one of the earliest Arabic newspapers in the US)  and H.F. Otash published an Arabic/English directory of the businesses owned by “Syrians” (as all early immigrants from the Eastern Mediterranean were called) in the US. The Syrian-American Business Directories cataloged the businesses of the…

May 7, 2015

Akram Khater @ Radio SAWA

Last week, Dr. Akram Khater, Professor of Middle East Studies at NC State University and the Center’s Director, spoke with Raina Abou Hassan of Radio SAWA based in Virginia. Launched in 2002, Radio SAWA is an Arabic-language radio network that broadcasts news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with more than 370 newscasts per week.…

May 6, 2015

Lebanese in Australia and the politics of whiteness

This article is written by Anne Monsour. She has a PhD in history from the University of Queensland. View her full bio after the article. This article is the second in a three part series. Read the first installment: Uninvited and unwelcome: a brief introduction to early Lebanese migration to Australia. Perhaps because I had accepted the stereotype…

Apr 28, 2015

InfoGraphic: Lebanese Americans

No matter who you are or where you come from, it is difficult to quantify a lifetime of experiences and choices. How do we put numbers against all the decisions we make in our lives? Part of the mission of the Center is to be able to tell the stories of the Lebanese-Arab diaspora, so…

Apr 27, 2015

Reprint // Michigan in Color: Go Home

This article is reprinted with permission from The Michigan Daily, edited and managed by the students of University of Michigan. You can read the original article here written by Rachelle Mehdi. Last week, amid the campus-wide “American Sniper” outrage, I was told to go back to my country, twice. These comments came from online strangers. Strangers who…

Apr 22, 2015

From Pageant Queen to U.N. Worker: The Rosemary Hakim Collection

This article is written by Matthew Jaber Stiffler and Elyssa Bisoski of the Arab American National Museum, first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture. AANM is located in Dearborn, Michigan.  The Arab American National Museum (AANM) was built to share the stories of our community. Our walls are lined with family photos and…

Apr 15, 2015

Review of Rawi Hage’s Novel, Cockroach

This article is written by Joseph Geha, professor emeritus at Iowa State University and author of two books; Through and Through: Toledo Stories and Lebanese Blonde. In October 2014, the Center invited Geha to lecture entitled “Is there an Us?” centering on immigration, ethnicity and identity. You can view his lecture here. Geha last reviewed Rabih Alameddine’s An…