Amer Zahr Named Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Detroit-Mercy

posted on: Mar 9, 2015

Dearborn, MI – Classes at the University of Detroit-Mercy Law School are about to get a lot of more interesting. The venerable institution has recently added a new course for the Spring 2015 semester, entitled, “Arab Americans and the Law”.

Teaching it will be Amer Zahr; and, while Zahr is often first thought of as a comedian, Zahr is also a keen observer of cultural and political issues and has also has earned a Juris Doctor (JD) Degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

 The course will explore the journey of Arab-Americans through the American legal system from the beginnings of Arab immigration to the United States in the 19th century until the present day. Included will be study of legal cases involving Arab Americans in the realms of identity, “whiteness,” immigration, terrorism, and discrimination, among other topics. In addition, Zahr will delve into questions such as these:

• How did Arabs become “white” and why did they fight for such a designation?
• What reasoning(s) did judges use to declare Arabs white or non-white?
• What short and long terms effects did this have on Arab American identity and legal status?
• How did Arab Americans, through the law, attempt to become a recognized minority, and how successful were their attempts?
• What unique immigration questions did cases concerning Arab Americans pose?
• How did Arab Americans attempt to combat discrimination through the legal process, given the lack of any minority status?
• How did the “war on terror” manifest itself into the law and legal rulings after 9/11 and landmark legislative actions like the Patriot Act?

Biography

Amer Zahr – amerzahr.com – is an Arab-American intellectual, speaker, writer and comedian. Drawing on his experiences growing up as a child of Palestinian parents – who are Muslim and Christian – he is noted for finding the humor, irony and poignancy in history and in today’s news.

He has produced and headlined in three of his own comedy tours, “1001 Laughs Comedy Tour,” “We’re Not White!” and “In 1948.” He is also the producer of the annual “1001 Laughs Dearborn Comedy Festival” in Dearborn, Michigan at the Arab American National Museum.

Amer recently completed production on his first documentary film, “We’re Not White,” a comedic and educational approach to the Arab-American effort to get an ethnic identification box on the United States Census Form.

He is also the author of the well-read blog “The Civil Arab,” as well as his first book, “Being Palestinian Makes Me Smile,” a collection of his writings related to being Palestinian.

Amer holds an MA in Middle East Studies and a JD (law degree), both from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Amer is also an Adjunct Professor for Law at the University of Detroit, where he teaches a course on “Arab-Americans and the Law”.

He writes and speaks widely on a variety of contemporary matters, and has appeared on radio and television, including ABC’s “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher.” Some of his writings have been featured in major publications, including Time magazine.

Amer has performed throughout North America & the Middle East, including in front of numerous university audiences. His discussions and seminars have been hosted by – among others – Jewish-American and African-American organizations; local, county, state and Federal agencies, as well as corporations interested in his balanced humanitarian perspective on social, political and cultural issues of the day.