Distinguished Visitors Talk by Ghassan Zeineddine, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Oberlin College and Conservatory 

Talk on Tuesday, April 1, at 4:30pm in Hilles 109 (tea at 4:15pm)

“Exploring the Arab American Community in Dearborn, Michigan” 

Commonly referred to as the “Capital of Arab America,” Dearborn, Michigan, is home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country. Although Arab migrants made their way to the Detroit Metropolitan area as early as the late nineteenth century, many more were lured to Michigan when the Ford Motor Company started paying their employees five dollars a day in 1914. Dearborn’s Arab Immigration history and sociopolitical backdrop, and its transnational connections to the Middle East, have shaped its unique identity. In His talk, Ghassan Zeineddine will discuss the process of writing about the diverse range of the city’s Arab American community in his story collection Dearborn (Tin House, 2023). 

Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the John B. Hurford '60 Center for the Arts and Humanities in conjunction with the Distinguished Visitors Program.