January

Feb 6, 2019

“Like a wolf who fell upon sheep”: Early Lebanese Immigrants and Religion in America

For some early Lebanese immigrants, religion was a source of comfort. Its rituals, language and congregations provided a sense of home in an alien environment, and stability amid the fast-paced changes they experienced in their new lives. For others, it was an oppressive reminder of a past they left behind, and a source of discord…

Jan 10, 2018

Archive Spotlight: Historic Arabic Newspaper Digitization Project

In addition to our family collections, one of the Khayrallah Center Archive’s core collections is our growing trove of historic Arabic newspapers, literary journals, and magazines. Between 1890 and 1950, migrants from Greater Syria established a remarkably active and diverse immigrant press. Khayrallah Center researchers have identified over 140 newspapers, literary journals, and magazines published…

Jan 4, 2017

The Desire for Progress in The Syrian World: Education

This article is authored by Dr. Akram Khater, Director of the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and Khayrallah Distinguished Professor of Lebanese Diaspora Studies, and Professor of History at NC State, and Nicole Coscolluela, a second year MA student in Public History and completing the Digital Humanities Certificate at NC State. The Syrian World was…

Jan 19, 2016

Two Poems from Jacobo the Turko, a work-in-progress

This post is written by Phillip Bannowsky, an Instructor of English at University of Delaware. He served as secondary English Chair at both Academia Cotopaxi in Quito, Ecuador (1992-95) and at International College in Beirut, Lebanon (2002-05). Phillip has published a novel, The Mother Earth Inn (2007), and two volumes of poetry, The Milk of Human Kindness…

Jan 7, 2016

How did migration affect the health of the early Lebanese American community?

This post is co-written by Sarah Soleim, a PhD in Public History at NC State University specializing in twentieth-century United States history, and Marjorie Stevens, Senior Researcher for the Center. For more articles on this topic, check out Counting the Lebanese in the US, our 3-part series on language and identity among immigrants, and our…

Jan 7, 2016

Meet the Center’s Interns!

This post is written by Marjorie Stevens, Senior Research at the Khayrallah Center. The Khayrallah […]

Jan 28, 2015

Lebanese in the Brazilian National Market

This article is written by John Tofik Karam who was a core faculty member in the Latin American and Latino Studies program at DePaul University in Chicago at the time of this writing. He now works as Director of the Lemann Center for Brazilian Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research and teaching…

Jan 27, 2015

Philippe Aractinji’s ‘Mirath’ at NC State

This post is written by Dr. Akram Khater, Director, Moise A. Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies and a Professor of Middle East Studies at North Carolina State University. Miss the event? You can watch the Q&A on the Center’s YouTube channel! The Lebanese have been leaving their villages and cities for over 160 years. More…

Jan 22, 2015

Bridging the Divide in Andrews, North Carolina

This article originally appeared on Arab American Institute’s website on January 20, 2015. The author, Joan Hanna, granted the Center permission to republish. A Note from the Center: In 2010, when we established  the first iteration of this endeavor, we focused on the diverse community of Lebanese living in North Carolina. We interviewed families about immigration,…

Jan 14, 2015

Anthony Mansoor: An Unlikely Profile of a Lebanese living in Mississippi

On January 6, The Atlantic featured an article “How White Flight Ravaged the Mississippi Delta.” Focused on the town of Tchula located about 70 miles north of Jackson, the town is “currently listed as the fifth-poorest town in the nation with a population of more than 1,000.” Focused on unsurprising economic struggle of a small farming town,…