U-M Dearborn Now Offers Arab-American Minor

posted on: Feb 4, 2012

The University of Michigan-Dearborn is offering a minor in Arab-American studies, believed to be the first such program in the nation.

The 15-credit program, announced this week, allows students in any major to explore the historical, political, economic, literary, artistic, cultural and psychological forces that have shaped Arab-Americans. It started this semester.

This is important, leaders say, because most universities offer studies of African-Americans, Latinos and Asians. Many of those programs were started during the civil rights era, when it became clear academic offerings didn’t include the traditions of American minorities, and movements began to bring them into the curriculum, said Sally Howell, an assistant professor of history and Arab-American studies at U-M Dearborn.

“We’re a part of that,” Howell said. “This is a smaller population, but it certainly is important. Quite a bit of media attention, and other attention, has been focused on (Arab-Americans) in particular since 9/11. So we’re trying to make sure people have an understanding of who these populations are and that people within these populations can explore their culture.”

Many universities offer minors in Arabic language, including U-M Dearborn. But this is the first institution in the nation to establish such a study course, said Ismael Ahmed, associate provost for Integrated Learning and Community Partnerships.

“The university has a metropolitan mission to assure that people who graduate are creative thinkers, can work in a diverse work force and know the world,” Ahmed said.

U-M Dearborn has 8,885 students. It is a fitting place to launch a minor because Dearborn is home to one of the largest concentrations of Arabs outside the Middle East.

“But this is not a program made for Arab-American students,” Ahmed said. “This is for any person studying in business, engineering or any field where they are going to need to be able to function with diverse populations, Arab-Americans being one of them.”

Many students at the school are excited about the minor and hope it will attract students, said Mahde Abdallah, president of the Arab Student Union.

“It offers many people outside the state to come and learn about the Arab-American culture and also people within the area to come and learn about diverse culture that’s offered in the Metro Detroit area,” Abdallah said.

Kim Kozlowski
The Detroit News