Akram Fouad Khater (NHC Fellow, 2005–06; Professor of History; Director, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, North Carolina State University)
January 27, 2026
Advisor(s): Hannah May, NHC Teacher Advisory Council
Arabs have largely been ignored in narratives of American history, appearing only at its margins. Nineteenth-century Orientalist representations, a subsequent century of Hollywood images, public policies, and coordinated media campaigns, as well as recent decades of militarized encounters in the Middle East have formed and fed a concept of the “Arab” as the “Other”: someone who is physically and morally alien to America, harboring and villainously acting upon beliefs contrary to American core values. Yet Arab Americans have been part of the United States for over 150 years, and their experiences are intimately woven into the narrative of modern America.
This webinar will provide a brief overview of how Arab Americans were involved in the industrial transformation of the US, from working in its factories to being on the frontlines of labor activism. Equally, this webinar highlights this history by focusing on the story of early Arab American labor, and how to teach this elided narrative in a K–12 curriculum.
Subjects
History / Education Studies / Arabs / Labor History / Curriculum / Racism / Collective Memory /
Rights
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