Arabic and Islamic Studies Blog

Last week, IU Indianapolis Arabic and Islamic Studies Program Director Edward Curtis, the Gail M. and William M. Plater Chair of the Liberal Arts, took home the Chancellor’s Award for Civic Engagement, and then five days later, he received the Asian Student Union’s Faculty Leader of the Year Award. “I knew that the Chancellor’s Award …

Indianapolis, Indiana — The 2024 retirement of Dr. Amira Mashhour, Senior Lecturer Emerita of Arabic, left the Arabic Studies program without a full-time instructor in Arabic language. The program sought to address this challenging situation (1) by making available intermediate and advanced level classes via IU Bloomington’s Summer Arabic Workshop and Study Abroad and (2) …

The first Arabic and Islamic studies minor scholarships have been awarded to a diverse group of students, including a professional cook, a future physician, an art historian, an aspiring elementary education teacher, a social worker, and a Qur’an reciter. Salma Abdelhamid was raised in Egypt. A native speaker of Arabic who enjoys sharing her heritage …

Eating is required in at least one IU Indy Arabic Studies course this fall: Syrian-Lebanese Food and Cooking. But we have other online, one-credit appetizer courses on offer as well, including an Introduction to the Qur’an and a course on Islamophobia, or anti-Muslim bias. A feast for the mind can be had in the debut …

Congratulations to Sarah Bennett, who has been named 2025 Arabic Studies Program intern. As program assistant, Sarah will spend the spring semester working on behalf of the program with both students and community members. Her focus will be recruiting Arabic and Islamic studies minors. We interviewed Sarah to find out a more about her. Q. …

Alfawares Dabka Troupe from Detroit headlined the community fair at the Indianapolis Global Village held on April 12, 2025, from 12 Noon to 4pm. Hundreds of community members attended, enjoying the poetry of Sajjad Jawad, the food of Al Rayyan Restaurant, the music of the Salaam Band from Bloomington, and an original art exhibit. The …

Arabesque: The Art of Storytelling Submission Deadline: March 15, 2025 Exhibition Dates: April 5-April 26, 2025 Opening Reception: April 12, 2025 Venue: Indy’s Global Village Welcome Center About the Exhibition As part of this year’s Arab American Heritage Month celebrations, the Indiana chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in partnership with the Indy’s Global …

*NELC 261 — Class No. 29583 — Intro to Arab American Studies (3 credits) with Edward Curtis, T/H 10:30-11-45: We’ve been given a $4,000 grant to work with Indianapolis’ Arab American community to reduce discrimination and violence against Arab Americans. You will first study the history and the contemporary lives of Arab Americans in Indiana and the United States–from immigrants in the …

Raneem Hijazi has been hired to intern as the digital archivist for a unique collection of Arab American historical sources. Raneem is working with Anna Proctor of the IU University Library to digitize the archives of the Midwest Federation of Syrian and Lebanese American Clubs, which was established in 1936 at the Syrian American Brotherhood …