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UID:33707@arabamerica.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20241107T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20241107T173000
DTSTAMP:20241030T004555Z
URL:https://www.arabamerica.com/events/making-mena-histories-of-the-middle
 -east-race-and-the-us-census/
SUMMARY:Making “MENA”: Histories of the “Middle East\,” Race\, and 
 the US Census
DESCRIPTION:Ann Arbor\, Mi\n\nAbstract: This year\, the White House unexpec
 tedly announced major revisions to its race and ethnicity standards – th
 e first in 27 years – most notably including a Middle Eastern or North A
 frican (MENA) category. These standards are already being rolled out in fe
 deral policy\, and have the potential to make a major impact on US society
 \, not least of all higher education. However\, these recommendations flew
  in the face of expert and community stakeholders and historical precedent
  by excluding transnational\, indigenous groups like Armenians\, many Arab
  groups coded as “Black\,” and other Muslim groups on the region’s g
 eographic and epistemic peripheries. This talk will therefore examine the 
 “Middle East” as a recurring site of ambiguity and anxiety within fore
 ign policy\, academic disciplines\, and domestic legislation that congeal 
 around diaspora communities. Taking a deconstructive and intersectional ap
 proach to race science\, discriminatory US policies\, and community voices
 \, the talk will interrogate the historical record while affirming the nec
 essity -- and pitfalls -- of a MENA category.\n\nBio: Thomas Simsarian Dol
 an has just begun a position as Lead Historian at the Armenian General Ben
 evolent Union\, founded in Cairo in 1906 and still the largest Armenian ph
 ilanthropy. A faculty affiliate in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies 
 at Emory and the Center for Arts\, Migration\, and Entrepreneurship at the
  University of Florida\, his research focuses on MENA migrations across th
 e Atlantic World\, and especially the racialization of these migrants in a
 cademia\, popular culture and the law. His work has been supported by a ra
 nge of national research organizations\, including the Bentley Historical 
 Library and Center for Arab American Philanthropy\, and he previously comp
 leted a year as a Fulbright US Teaching Scholar History at American Univer
 sity in Cairo\, after earning degrees from George Washington University\, 
 NYU\, and Yale.
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LOCATION:University of Michigan\, 500 S State St\, Ann Arbor\, MI\, United 
 States
GEO:42.2762375;-83.74131030000001
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 :42.2762375,-83.74131030000001
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