Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) celebrates Arab American Heritage Month 2022 by honoring and highlighting the diverse culture, heritage, and contributions of the Arab American community throughout history. We encourage our community to study, observe, and celebrate this community and its rich heritage. "Immigrants with origins from the Arab world have been arriving to the United States since before our country's independence and have contributed to our nation's advancements in science, business, technology, foreign policy, and national security." – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
STEM Scholar Highlights:
- Mostafa A. El-Sayed (Physical Chemist)
- Dr. Rana el Kaliouby (Computer Scientist and Entrepreneur))
- Dr. Hayat Sindi (Medical Scientist)
Read, Watch, Listen
- Explore the Gordon Library’s Arab American Heritage Month collection
- Explore National Arab American Heritage Month online
- Explore the 2022 Arab American Heritage Month Educators Tool Kit
- Read Biden celebrates April as Arab American Heritage Month online written by Mirna Alsharif, CNN
- Read ‘It matters’: US marks Arab American Heritage Month online written by Ali Harb, Aljazeera
- Read "The Story of Arab Americans’ Beginning in America – And the Quest for Fair Representation," written by Rita Stephan, Ph.D., USAID, U.S. Department of State
- Read “Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in the United States,” written by Laura Harjanto and Jeanne Batalovava, Migration Policy Institute
- Read literature featured in the National Endowment for the Humanities Virtual Bookshelf
- Watch Voices from the Holy Land Online Film Salon: "Of Land and Bread" online webinar
- Sunday, April 10, 2022 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST
- Watch Freedom Fields online via Gordon Library
- Directed by Naziha Arebi, Produced by Flore Cosquer, Scottish Documentary Institute, HuNa Productions (Paris, Ile-de-France: Wide House, 2018), 1 hour 38 minutes
- Watch Art of Persia: Series 1, Episode 1 online via Gordon Library
- Directed by Richard Downes, Narrated by Samira Ahmed, Produced by Matthew Springford, Richard Downes, BBC Studios, In The Persians: A History of Iran, Series 1, Episode 1 (London, England: BBC Worldwide, 2020), 51 minutes
- Watch King Bibi online via Gordon Library
- Directed by Dan Shadur, Performed by Benjamin Netanyahu, Alon Aboutboul, Narrated by Alon Aboutboul, Produced by Liran Atzmor, Atzmor Productions, yesdocu. (Sausalito, CA: Ro*Co Films, 2018), 59 minutes
- Listen to the Abbasid History Podcast
- Listen to the See Something Say Something Podcast
Take Action
- Share your story: "National Arab American Demographics," Arab American Institute
- Support the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee
- Support the Arab America Foundation
- Support the Arab American Institute
- Register to Vote -OR- Check Your Voter Registration
- Everything you need to vote. Vote.org
“Celebrating the rich and diverse culture and contributions of the diverse population of Arab Americans, National Arab American Heritage Month has been observed during the month of April since 2017. An estimated 3.7 million Americans have Arab roots, according to the Arab American Institute, with ancestries traced to 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and others. The initiative for official national designation of the month was launched in 2017 by the nonprofit media and education organization Arab American Foundation and its sister organization Arab America. It began with support from a few states, but gained momentum each year. In 2019, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan.) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), introduced a resolution to Congress to proclaim April as National Arab American Heritage Month. “It is my hope as a strong and proud Arab American in Congress that our nation can uplift our contributions in the United States by supporting Arab American Heritage Month,” Tlaib, a first-generation American, said about the resolution. The bill remains pending.”
Learn More: https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/arab-american-heritage-month