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ARAB AMERICAN IDENTITIES AND THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN

Kiskowski, William L
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-6139
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1500911360671252

Abstract Details

2017, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Geography.
Dearborn Michigan is perhaps the most notable Arab American community in the United States. This dissertation examines how Arab Americans in Dearborn have altered landscapes to suit their needs and tastes. Using qualitative approaches to landscape observation and participant engagement, I have explored the Dearborn community and neighborhood, focusing on the visual built environment to identify alterations to the landscape affected by Arab Americans. Informants also offered varied perceptions of the neighborhood’s ongoing redevelopment and Dearborn’s symbolic position as an Arab American enclave. In the context of Dearborn’s ethnic enclave and two of its major Arab American Organizations, the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and the Arab American National Museum (AANM), I discuss the development of Arab American identities. The relationship between the various subgroups in the Arab American community is complex, and Dearborn is not perceived as an in-group enclave by all Arab American groups. It appears that the sense of pan-Arabism fostered by major organizations has yet to become salient among the majority of Arab Americans. There is, however, a growing level of comfort for Arabs, non-Arab Muslims, and other Middle Easterners within the Dearborn neighborhood and the surrounding area. Dearborn offers an inviting setting for visitors and students who wish to practice traditional culture without drawing notice.
David Kaplan, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Sarah Smiley, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jacqueline Curtis, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Landon Hancock, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
288 p.
Geography
Ethnicity; Immigration; Arab; Enclave

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kiskowski, W. L. (2017). ARAB AMERICAN IDENTITIES AND THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1500911360671252

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kiskowski, William. ARAB AMERICAN IDENTITIES AND THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN. 2017. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1500911360671252.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kiskowski, William. "ARAB AMERICAN IDENTITIES AND THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1500911360671252

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1500911360671252
1,139
© 2017, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License ARAB AMERICAN IDENTITIES AND THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN by William L Kiskowski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.