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National Research Initiative

ACCESS Arab American Research Initiative

 

The Arab American Research Initiative, a national project of ACCESS launched in 2015, works collaboratively with scholars to develop original research and synthesize existing data on the full range of issues affecting Arab Americans and the community’s position in American society—including health, education, employment, immigration, identity, civil rights and civil liberties, among others. 

 

The long-term goals of the ACCESS Arab American Research Initiative are to:
  1. Support Arab American policy and advocacy work through data and solid analysis from respected researchers.
  2. Offer research-based, informed perspectives on the Arab American experience to media, policy makers, community groups, and other audiences.
  3. Enable community based organizations to develop programs and services that are informed by research.
The primary role of the ACCESS Arab American Research Initiative is to:
  1. Work in partnership with scholars from a wide range of disciplines to secure better data on the Arab American community.
  2. Develop and house a centralized web-based bibliography on all scholarly research published on the Arab American community, through the Arab American National Museum’s Russell J. Ebeid Library & Resource Center catalog.
  3. Facilitate the analysis, synthesis and dissemination of research findings to broader audiences, including policy makers, community groups and media.
  4. Support the development of collaborative research programs among Arab American scholars across the country.
  5. Facilitate research between scholars and Arab American community organizations.
  6. Build cross-disciplinary work between Humanities/Social Sciences & Public Health (using the ACCESS Arab Health Summit as a platform).

In 2019 the ACCESS Arab American Research Initiative published a data-based portrait of the Arab American community by disaggregating Arab Americans from the White racial category in the U.S. Census.

 

The following scholars, researchers and community leaders have been part of the Research Initiative:

Dr. Osama W. Abimershed, Georgetown University

Dr. Nadia Abuelezam, Boston College

Dr. Kaston D. Anderson-Carpenter, Michigan State University  

Dr. Germine Awad, University of Texas–Austin

Dr. Kristine Ajrouch, Eastern Michigan University

Maya Berry, Arab American Institute

Dr. Louise Cainkar, Marquette University

Dr. Flora Dallo, Oakland University

Dr. Hisham Foad, San Diego State University

Molly Green, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Dr. Sally Howell, University of Michigan–Dearborn

Rebecca Karam, City University of New York

Dr. Randa Kayyali, Independent researcher

Dr. Miles McNall, Michigan State University

Rachel Marks, U.S. Census

Dr. Minal Patel, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Dr. Carmel Price, University of Michigan-Dearborn  

Roberto Ramirez, U.S. Census

Dr. Jen’nan Ghazal Read, Duke University

Dr. Ken Resnicow, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Dr. Karen Rignall, University of Kentucky

Dr. Muniba Saleem, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Maxwell Salvatore, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor

Helen Samhan, Independent researcher, formerly AAI and AANM

Dr. Rita Stephan, North Carolina State University

Dr. Rose Wellman, University of Michigan–Dearborn