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Arab-American Studies Resources: Getting Started: Arab Americans

Selected Monographs, Films, Guides, etc.

Abraham, Sameer Y. and Nabeel Abraham.
Arabs in the New World : studies on Arab-American communities.
Detroit, Mich. : Wayne State University, Center for Urban Studies, c1983.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 A73 1983 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: A historical overview of Arabs in America / Alixa Naff -- Emigration from Syria / Najib E. Saliba -- Arab Christians in the United States / Philip M. Kayal -- Arab Muslims and Islamic institutions in America / Yvonne Haddad -- Detroit’s Arab-American community / Sameer Y. Abraham -- The Yemeni immigrant community of Detroit / Nabeel Abraham -- Detroit’s Iraqi-Chaldeans / Mary C. Sengstock -- The Lebanese Maronites / May Ahdab-Yehia -- The Southend / Sameer Y. Abraham, Nabeel Abraham, and Barbara Aswad -- A select bibliography on Arab-American immigration and settlement / Mohammed Sawaie, p. 187-199.
Ahmed, Yasmine M.
The New York Egyptians : voyages and dreams.
Cairo papers in social science ; v. 30, monograph 3.
Cairo ; New York: American University In Cairo Press, 2010.
Perkins/Bostock Library HD8085.N53 A36 2010 Check availability @ Duke
Ali, Wajahat and Zahra T. Suratwala.
All-American : 45 American men on being Muslim.
Ashland, Ore.:White Cloud Press, 2012.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.M88 A46 2012 Check availability @ Duke
Table of Contents: Foreword / Keith M. Ellison -- Introduction / Wajahat M. Ali -- The faith that faith produced / Haroon Moghul -- Pop culture matters / Svend White -- Disable your cloaking device / Jason Moy -- Lying to myself / Aman Ali -- In this city by the lake / Amer Ahmad -- re: Location - re: Definition / Mark Gonzales -- On baseball and Islam in America / Shahzad Husain Abbas -- The imam: American man, Muslim and gay / Daayiee Abdullah -- If all the trees of the world were pens / Hussein Rashid -- The day I left Islam / Adisa Banjoko -- Oh good, I thought you were Jew / Jason van Boom -- On my knees / Fares Alhassen -- Creating a new normal / Shahed Amanullah -- Memoirs of a mighty mite Muslim / Shakeer Abdullah -- Manhood / Baraka Blue -- Stepping across the gender divide / Tynan Power -- Integration, not assimilation / Aziz H. Poonawalla -- The war of art in the Muslim community / Kamran Pasha -- My political agnosticism / Davi Barker --^ Veering off the roadmap / Humza Ilyas -- From Islam to Islam / Michael Muhammed Knight -- Glossary -- Questions for discussion -- About the editors. Wading through the sea of contention / Dawud Walid -- All eyes on me / Hasan Minhaj -- Faith and politics at Obama for America / Mazen Asbahi -- Undefined / Aziz Hasan -- The exodus of fear: redefining patriotism through legacy / Sami H. Elmansoury -- Finding myself in tears / Justin Mashouf -- Coming home / Mohamed Geraldez -- Muslim after midnight / Obaid H. Siddiqui -- My Detroit surah / Khaled A. Beydoun -- So, how's it going? / Sameer Sarmast -- Touchdowns and taqwa / Ibrahim Abdul-Matin -- For God and country / Suhail A. Khan -- Stranger in a strange land / Aamer H. Jamali -- The good fight / Umair Khan -- The walk / Wahid Momand -- Searching for Ummah / Ehab Zahriyeh -- The trouble maker / Irfan Rydhan -- My moment of clarity / Kofi Rashid -- Yes, you can / Atif Moon -- A call to duty / Basim Elkarra -- Finding my purpose / Abid Husain -- Think greatness / Preacher Moss -- Parrot on my shoulder / Rashid Dar -- Towards a compassionate and accepting orthodoxy / Om! Omar Suleiman
Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS)
Arab American encyclopedia.
Detroit : U X L, c2000.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 A48 2000 Check availability @ Duke
Summary: Chapters arranged by subject present information about the history, immigration, economics, languages, religion, holidays, literature, education, jobs, politics, and other aspects of Arab Americans.
Salhi, Zahia Smail (ed.)
The Arab diaspora : voices of an anguished scream.
London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.
Perkins/Bostock New & Noteworthy DS36.8 .A59 2006 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Introduction : defining the Arab Diaspora / Zahia Smail Salhi -- The betweenness of identity : language in trans-national literature / Yasir Suleiman -- Gendering the imperial city : London in Tayeb Salih's Season of migration to the north / Zahia Smail Salhi -- Voices of exiles and the fictional works of Tayeb Salih / Ami Elad-Bouskila -- Voicing a culture "dispersed by time" : metropolitan location and identity in the literature and art of Sabiha al Khemir / Mohamed-Salah Omri -- Hédi Bouraoui : cross-cultural writing / Najib Redouane -- "When dwelling becomes impossible" : Arab-Jews in America and in Israel in the writings of Ahmad Susa and Shimon Ballas / Orit Bashkin -- Two trends of cutural activity among Palestinian-Americans / Nir Yehudai -- From ambiguity to abjection : Iraqi-Americans negotiating race in the United States / Evelyn Alsultany -- Beyond the Diaspora : letting Arab voices be heard / Ghalya F.T. Al-Said.
DeKane Nagel, Carol
Arab American reference library : cumulative index.
Detroit : U.X.L, c2000.
Perkins/Bostock Reference E184.A65 A68 2000 Check availability @ Duke
Includes indexes for: Arab American biography, Arab American encyclopedia, and Arab American voices
Ewing, Katherine Pratt.
Being and belonging : Muslims in the United States since 9/11.
New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation, 2008.
Divinity School Library E184.M88 B45 2008 Check availability @ Duke
Films for the Humanities
Muslims in America [videorecording] : Islam in exile.
Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences, c2003.
Lilly Library A-V DVD - DVD 2292 Check availability @ Duke
Notes: "Examines the surprisingly rapid growth of Islam in the heart of America's Bible Belt, a predominantly fundamentalist Christian locale. Yet for Muslims living in Appalachia, the daily challenge lies not so much in acceptance by their neighbors as with practicing their religion in a country whose overall culture is so often at odds with their own beliefs. Interviews with refugees living in the region and with experts in American Islam reveal the resiliency of a faith that can thrive in exile. The history of Islam, Islamic contributions to the arts and sciences, and common ground between Muslims and Christians are also highlighted."
Gualtieri, Sarah M. A.
Between Arab and White : race and ethnicity in the early Syrian American diaspora.
Berkeley : University of California Press, c2009.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.S98 G835 2009
Check availability @ Duke
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck
Not quite American? : the shaping of Arab and Muslim identity in the United States.
Waco, TX : Baylor University Press, c2004.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 H33 2004 Check availability @ Duke
Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck (ed.)
Muslim communities in North America.
Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, c1994.
Perkins/Bostock BP67.U6 M86 1994 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: A minority within a minority : the case of the Shi’a in North America / Abdulaziz Sachedina -- The sun of Islam will rise in the west : Minister Farrakhan and the nation of Islam in the latter days / Mattias Gardell -- Urban Muslims : the formation of the Dar ul-Islam movement / R. M. Mukhtar Curtis -- Tradition and innovation in contemporary American Islamic spirituality : the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship / Gisela Webb -- The five percenters : a teenage nation of gods and earths / Yusuf Nuruddin -- Muslims in Los Angeles / Ron Kelley -- The Muslims of San Diego / M. K. Hermansen -- Muslims of Seattle / Miriam Adeney, Kathryn De Master -- To "achieve the pleasure of Allah" : immigrant Muslim communities in New York City 1893-1991 / Marc Ferris -- Activities of the immigrant Muslim communities in Chicago / Asad Husain, Harold Vogelaar -- The Muslims of Indianapolis / Steve A. Johnson -- Diversity in Rochester’s Islamic community / Tamara Sonn -- The Islamic center of New England / Mary Lahaj -- Muslims of Montreal / Sheila McDonough. The Shi’a Mosques and their congregations in Dearborn / Linda S. Walbridge -- Bektashi Tekke and the Sunni Mosque of Albanian Muslims in America / Frances Trix -- Voluntary associations in the old Turkish community of metropolitan Detroit / Barbara Bilge -- Elderly Muslim immigrants : needs and challenges / Fariyal Ross-Sheriff -- The Yemenis of Delano : a profile of a rural Islamic community / Jonathan Friedlander -- Secular immigrants : religiosity and ethnicity among Iranian Muslims in Los Angeles / George Sabagh, Mehdi Bozorgmehr -- Masjid ul-Mutkabir : the portrait of an African American Orthodox Muslim community / Christine Kolars -- Attitudes of immigrant women and men in the Dearborn area toward women’s employment and welfare / Barbara Aswad.
Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies. Summer Institute (17th : 1996)
Middle Eastern diaspora communities in America: proceedings of the 17th Annual Summer Institute of the Joint Center for Near Eastern Studies of New York University and Princeton University; edited by Mehdi Bozorgmehr & Alison Feldman.
[New York] : Published by the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York Univ., c1996.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.M52 H348 1996 Check availability @ Duke
Hall, Loretta.
Arab American biography.
Detroit : U.X.L., c1999.
Perkins/Bostock Reference E184.A65 H35 1999 Check availability @ Duke
Hall, Loretta.
Arab American voices.
Detroit : U X L, c2000.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 H36 2000 Check availability @ Duke
Summary: Twenty primary source documents from speeches, memoirs, poems, novels, and autobiographies present the words of Americans with roots in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, and other Arab nations.
Humphrey, Michael.
Islam, multiculturalism and transnationalism : from the Lebanese diaspora.
London ; New York: The Centre for Lebanese Studies in association with I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1998.
Perkins/Bostock Library DS80.6 .H86 1998 Check availability @ Duke
Islamic Resource Institute.
Directory of Masjids and Muslim organizations of North America, 1994/1415.
Fountain Valley, CA : Islamic Resource Institute, 1994.
Divinity School Library Reference Quarto BP67.A1 D57 1994 Check availability @ Duke
Jamal, Amaney and Nadine Naber (eds.).
Race and Arab Americans before and after 9/11 : from invisible citizens to visible subjects.
Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2008.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.A65 R33 2008 Check availability @ Duke
Khater, Akram Fouad.
"Back to the Mountain: Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon." in:
American dreaming, global realities : rethinking U.S. immigration history.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006.
Perkins/Bostock Library JV6450 .A585 2006 Check availability @ Duke
Malek, Alia.
A country called Amreeka : Arab roots, American stories.
New York : Free Press, 2009.
Perkins/Bostock New & Noteworthy E184.A65 M35 2009 Check availability @ Duke
Marvasti, Amir B., 1966-
Middle Eastern lives in America.
Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c2004.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 M37 2004 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Foreword by Joe Feagin; Introduction; Part I: The History, Present Status, and Public Portrayals ch. 1: How They Came to America and Where They Are Today; ch. 2: Stereotypes of Islam and the Dubious Link with Terrorism; ch. 3: "Us" Versus "Them"; Part II: Everyday Experiences with Discrimination; ch. 4; The Stigma of Brown Skin and "Foreign" Names; ch. 5: The "Thin Veneer of Civility": Relearning the American Dream; ch. 6: Living with Discrimination; ch. 7: "I Am a Middle Eastern American!": Ethnic Self-Identification; ch. 8: "Whining" for Social Justice?
Mehdi, Beverlee Turner
The Arabs in America, 1492-1977 : a chronology & fact book.
Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. : Oceana Publications, 1978.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 M44 1978 Check availability @ Duke
Summary: A history of Arabs in the United States with illustrative documents, appendices, and bibliography.
Naber, Nadine Christine.
Arab America : gender, cultural politics, and activism.
New York: New York University Press, 2012.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.A65 N335 2012 Check availability @ Duke
Table of Contents: Introduction : articulating arabness -- From model minority to problem minority -- The politics of cultural authenticity -- Muslim first, Arab second -- Dirty laundry -- Diasporic feminist anti-imperialism -- Conclusion : toward a diasporic feminist critique.
Nimer, Mohamed.
The North American Muslim resource guide : Muslim community life in the United States and Canada.
New York : Routledge, 2002.
Divinity School Library Reference BP67.A1 N57 2002
Perkins/Bostock Library Reference BP67.A1 N57 2002 Check availability @ Duke
Orfalea, Gregory
The Arab Americans : a history.
Northampton, Mass. : Olive Branch Press, 2006.
Perkins/Bostock E184.A65 O738 2006 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Generations reunite in Arbeen, Syria -- Seeds to the wind: the first wave of Arab immigration (1878-1924) -- Transplanting the fig tree: the first generation on American soil (1924-1947) -- The Palestine debacle: the second wave of Arab immigration (1948-1966) -- The third wave: west bank captured, Lebanon torn Asunder, Iraq wars with Iran, Kuwait, and the US (1967-2005) -- The political awakening (1972-1981) -- Back to Lebanon (1982-1983) -- Stumbling toward peace (1984-2000) -- After the flames: Arab Americans and American fear (2001-2005) -- A celebration of community.
Orfalea, Gregory.
Before the flames : a quest for the history of Arab Americans.
Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1988.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.A65 O74 1988 Check availability @ Duke
Oweis, Fayeq.
Encyclopedia of Arab-American artists.
Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2008.
Lilly Library N6538.A73 O94 2008 Check availability @ Duke
Arab-American artists are much like other Americans. Some were born in the States, others are immigrants, and some have one parent of another ethnicity. In this biographical encyclopedia readers can find information on Arab-American artists working in a wide range of media. Most entries have photos of the artists along with a list of articles about them. While only a few pieces of art are shown in a color insert, every entry contains a list of websites where one can find examples of the artists' work.
Qazwini, Hassan.
American crescent : A Muslim cleric on the power of his faith, the struggle against prejudice, and the future of Islam and America.
New York : Random House, 2007.
Divinity School Library BP80.A5296 A68 2007 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Husayn vs. Hussein -- Struggle in Iran -- Sacred journey -- The idea of America -- Bridge building -- The Muslim capital of the West -- Paranoid America and 'Islamofascists' -- Carrying the mission to the halls of power -- Our American Bin Ladens -- Lines in the sand -- Return to the cradle -- The Islamic frontier.
Read, Jennan Ghazal.
Culture, class, and work among Arab-American women.
New York : LFB Scholarly Pub. LLC, 2004.
Perkins/Bostock Library | Duke Authors Display Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Statement of the problem -- Origins of diversity: Arab-American immigration -- Research objectives -- Organization of the study -- Theoretical significance of women's labor force participation -- Structural and cultural explanations of ethnic diversity -- The evolution of ethnic and gender studies: recognizing intraethnic diversity -- Summary -- The case for Arab Americans -- Determinants of Arab-American women's labor force activity -- Hypotheses -- Data and methods -- Arab-American women in comparative perspective -- U.S. census data -- Arab-American survey data -- Immigrant selectivity and Arab-American women's success -- Cultural and class diversity -- The impact of nativity: variations in cultural assimilation -- Challenging myths of U.S. Muslim women -- Portrait of an achieving ethnic population -- Determinants of Arab-American women's economic achievements -- Ties that bind: ethnic homogamy, religiosity, and women's employment -- Cultural influences on labor force commitment -- Gender traditionalism's cultural underpinnings -- Education, occupation, and women's earnings -- Summary -- Conclusion -- Women's achievements and the universal sisterhood -- The gendered consequences of culture -- Summary and future research.
Rouchdy, Aleya.
The Arabic language in America = [al-Lughah al-`Arabiyah fi Amrika]
Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1992
Perkins/Bostock PJ6068.U5 A89 1992 Check availability @ Duke
Contents: Introduction / Aleya Rouchdy -- A Lebanese dialect in Cleveland : language attrition in progress / Nazih Y. Daher -- Borrowing in Arab-American speech / Aleya Rouchdy -- Directionality in Arabic-English code-switching / Mushira Eid -- Functions of code-switching : Saudi Arabic in the United States / Sabah Safi -- Arabic in the melting pot : will it survive? / Mohammed Sawaie -- Lebanese Christians in Buffalo : language maintenance and language shift / Bader S. Dweik -- Arab-American learning Arabic : motivation and attitudes / Dallas Kenny -- Arab-American media : past and present / Fahad Abdullah Tayash and Kenneth Kahtan Ayouby -- Arabic in the Dearborn mosques / Linda S. Walbridge -- History of Arabic study in the United States / Ernest McCarus -- Teaching Arabic in the United States : past, present, and future / Roger Allen -- Designing a proficiency-oriented syllabus for modern standard Arabic as a foreign language / M. Mahdi Alosh -- Diglossia proficiency : the need for an alternative approach to teaching / Mahmoud Al-Batal -- Computers for Arabic teaching : the promise and the reality / Dilworth B. Parkinson.
United States Census Bureau
The Arab Population: 2000 : Census 2000 Brief
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-23.pdf
United States Census Bureau
We the People of Arab Ancestry in the United States
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/censr-21.pdf
United States Census Bureau
PCT18. ANCESTRY (TOTAL CATEGORIES TALLIED) FOR PEOPLE WITH ONE OR MORE ANCESTRY CATEGORIES REPORTED (by State)
United States Census Bureau
QT-P13. Ancestry: 2000 (Total United States)
United States. Dept. of Homeland Security
Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, 2004-
http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/yearbook.shtm
For 1996-2003, see here.
For 2002-2003 in hard copy, see here.
Old title: Statistical yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1978-2001.
See here for availability at Duke.

Quick Links: Books

To see an up-to-date selection of works on relevant topics available at Duke Libraries, click on the links below:
> Arab Americans
> Arab-American Women

Noteworthy Title

Naber, Nadine Christine.
Arab America : gender, cultural politics, and activism.
New York: New York University Press, 2012.
Perkins/Bostock Library E184.A65 N335 2012 Check availability @ Duke
Table of Contents: Introduction : articulating arabness -- From model minority to problem minority -- The politics of cultural authenticity -- Muslim first, Arab second -- Dirty laundry -- Diasporic feminist anti-imperialism -- Conclusion : toward a diasporic feminist critique.

Reports

U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project in affiliation with the Search for Common Ground (SFCG) organization released a report entitled Changing Course: A New Direction for U.S. Relations with the Muslim World.

The report "represents the consensus of an exceptionally diverse, senior, bipartisan and inter-faith group of 34 American leaders who have worked together over the last 18 months. Their work was supported by Search for Common Ground and CBI, two organizations that specialize in building consensus on controversial public issues."

Survey

The first section of the report analyzes how people in predominantly Muslim countries and non-Muslim countries view each other. This section examines the positive and negative characteristics Muslims associate with Westerners - including Muslim minorities in four Western European countries - and the traits that non-Muslims associate with Muslims. Section II focuses on opinions about the state of relations between the West and Muslims. It also explores reasons people give for Muslim nations' lack of prosperity, attitudes to the recent controversy over cartoon depictions of Muhammad, and Muslim opinions on whether Arabs carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.