Dear friends of CAAS.
I am happy to report that our return to campus has gone quite well thus far. Faculty and students are both reporting a very positive experience in the classroom and the vaccine and mask mandates we have in place are keeping our community safe. It is wonderful to be able to engage with students and colleagues again in the classroom and I hope your experiences this fall have been equally rewarding.
In this newsletter, we are happy to shine a spotlight on our colleague Dr. Rose Wellman, whose book Feeding Iran came out earlier this year. Please check out our interview below.
And stay tuned for the roster of courses we'll be offering next semester. Yes, it is almost time to register for new classes!
All best,
Sally
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Q&A with Dr. Rose Wellman
Congratulations on the recent publication of your book, Feeding Iran: Shi`i Families and the Making of the Islamic Republic. I haven't yet had the pleasure of reading it, but it looks like a fascinating inside look at how some Iranian families contribute to the Islamic identity of the country through their everyday domestic rituals and chores. I am curious about the linkages you draw between homelife, food traditions, and state power. Can you explain?
Thank you for your question, Sally! My book is about how families and state elites in Iran are employing blood, food, and prayer – the “stuff” of kinship – in commemorations for martyrs in Islamic national rituals to create the right kind of citizens who embody familial piety, purity, and closeness to God. I have always been fascinated by kinship. It is one of those things that is more than it seems. I question the idea that kinship is only about genealogy or blood ties. I also question the idea that kinship is only relevant at home, or wtihin domestic spaces. Instead, I contend that kinship in Iran, elsewhere in the Middle East (and its diaspora), and beyond is relevant to politics, gendered hierarchies, and state power. It is a source of state legitimacy and naturalizations.
How do you share this research with students in the classroom? What is their response? What other texts do you enjoy teaching here in Dearborn?
I share my research with my students in the classroom almost every day. Sometimes, I give my students a first-hand view of the theories I work with – whether the focus is kinship, religion, Islam, or global power relations. I don’t use textbooks but instead give students a lot of diverse articles to read and think about. Authors we read include Edward Said, Talal Asad, Lara Deeb, Moustafa Bayoumi, Lila Abu-Lughod, Janet Carsten, Philip Bourgois, Seth Holmes, and many others. Often, I provide examples from my experiences conducting fieldwork in Iran, a country predominantly composed of Shi’i Muslims. These experiences have led me to develop area specific courses for the Dearborn campus, including the Anthropology of the Middle East (ANTH 373) and Islamophobia (ANTH 312). My classrooms are always participatory and collaborative. And I often include fieldwork and other anthropological research methods. Students hone their cross-cultural competence and observational skills. They often tell me that this is extremely helpful in their careers, whether they are pre-health, pre-business, or future anthropologists!
I know you are developing a new research project set here among the local Iraqi community. How is that going? What are the main questions you are asking? How does this project connect to your work in Iran?
My future research draws from my previous studies of Shi`as in Iran to explore Iraqi Shi`i refugees in Greater Detroit. This project was one of my foremost motivations for joining the faculty at UM-Dearborn, and I’m thrilled to be getting it off the ground. In particular, I am interested in exploring how Iraqi refugees, displaced from their war-torn homeland, are making home and making kinship as against the backdrop (and trauma) of displacement, American Islamophobia, foreign policy in the Middle East, and state securitization efforts. (Shi`i Iraqis in Greater Detroit number in the tens of thousands and maintain more than 15 active mosques). I’m excited to pursue this new project!
And you are also working on a project in Wayne County that encourages school districts to finally count their Arab American students using the proposed Middle Eastern/North African census category. How is this work going? Why is this important?
In 2019, I began participating in a forum of interdisciplinary researchers who aim to disaggregate, create, and standardize a better MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) identity category. Our aim is to help school districts in southeastern Michigan count and better serve their diverse student populations, including their MENA and Arab students. In partnership with ACCESS and a team of researchers specializing in MENA research, we hope to explore current data collection methods and barriers to data collection in our area. The goal is to develop and pilot a new identity tool that standardizes and disaggregates an Arab and MENA identity category in local school districts. We hope that this tool will eventually be adopted state-wide and that it will aid in the identification of vulnerable populations, allowing school districts to better plan for and meet the needs of their student populations. Our work is currently underway, and we are in conversation with 9 districts across Wayne County who hope to spearhead the use of a MENA category in their enrollments.
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October 1-31, 2021
Presented by the Global Islamic Studies Center (GISC) at the University of Michigan, Halaloween screens horror films from across the globe that were made by, for, or about Muslims with the hopes of understanding ‘What scares Muslim audiences? Are horror movies halal?' This year, the festival is entirely online and GISC will be screening one film a week for the month of October. For the full festival line up and more event details, visit here!
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Thursday, October 14 at 5pm
Join Arab and Muslim American Studies and Assia Boundaoui for a screening of her film, The Feeling of Being Watched. For event details and registration, visit here!
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Thursday, October 14 at 6pm
Join AANM for their annual Solidarity Town Hall. This year, the Town Hall is themed Imagining Decolonized Futures, highlighting futurist and sci-fi narratives as we imagine a world without colonial concepts. For event details, visit here!
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Saturday, October 16 at 6pm
Presented by the Friends of AANM, the Grand Gala celebrates AANM’s singular role as the first and only museum dedicated to telling the Arab American story. This year, the National Arab Orchestra, featuring vocalists Usama Baalbaki and Nibal Malshi, are entertainment for the evening. For event details and ticket purchase, visit here!
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October 19-21, 2021
Registration for the 2021 Arab Health Summit is now open. For details on the summit's panels, talks, and conversations about advancing health equity for women visit the event page here.
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Wednesday, October 20 at 7:30pm
Join multimedia artist Alia Ali and musician/composer Tarek Yamani as the two artists interview one another and discuss each of their newest projects commissioned by UMS and AANM. For event details, visit here.
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Saturday, October 23 & November 20 at 2pm
Zahra Almajidi invites members of the community to attend a 2-part storytelling session and workshop centered around the mementos, family heirlooms, amulets and charms taken up by those in our local communities. For more information, visit here.
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Wednesday, October 27 at 7:30pm
As the culmination of their 2020/21 UMS Digital Artist Residency, the Spektral Quartet performs the world premiere of a new four-movement suite composed by Tarek Yamani. For more information, visit here.
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Thursday, October 28 at 9:30am
High school classrooms and students are invited to join a conversation on what gender equity looks like through Arab American eyes. For more details, vist here!
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Teen Grantmaking Initiative
Applications accepted until end of October
CAAP is now accepting applications for this year's Teen Grantmaking Initiative! TGI is the only Arab American youth-led philanthropy group in the country that teaches young people how to empower organizations with grantmaking. Apply here!
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Applications accepted until end of October
The Dr. Philip M. Kayal Fund for Arab American Research supports young Arab American scholars & social science research on the Arab American community. Apply here!
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Application open until position is filled
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Human Services. For details regarding job description and qualifications, check out the job posting here.
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Participation is ongoing
Asma Baban, CAAS staff member, is conducting an independent reseach study exploring the experiences of Muslim women in Southeast MI. To participate in the study, fill out this form.
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