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Events

The Second Annual IPFW Trip to Arab Detroit

Led by Dr. Erik S. Ohlander of the Religious Studies Program and Christine Azzi (International Language and Culture Studies), the “Second Annual IPFW Tour of Arab Detroit” took ten IPFW students and three faculty members on a fascinating journey through the multifaceted Arab-American community of Southeast Michigan, providing them with a first-hand introduction to the largest and most vibrant Arab community in the United States. Centered around guided visits to Dearborn’s recently opened Arab American National Museum and the Islamic Center of America the tour exposed participants to the history, people, places, food, language, art, and culture of a truly unique community where Middle Eastern traditions meet and meld with those of the American Midwest into a unique mosaic of both the new and the familiar. In anticipation of an upcoming “Third Annual IPFW Tour of Arab Detroit” in April, 2007, Dr. Ohlander has prepared a report on the main highlights of the trip.

Departing IPFW at 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, we arrived in Dearborn a bit before noon and had a leisurely lunch of lamb and chicken shawirma, fattoush, and lentil soup at the old Cederland Restaurant on Warren Avenue. Students enrolled in Professor Azzi’s Arabic language course got to practice their skills by ordering their lunches in Arabic, thus providing us with much needed fuel for the second activity of the day.

After lunch, we proceeded to the recently opened Arab American National Museum for a tour of a truly fascinating two-floor set of exhibits which chronicle the experience of Arabs in America from the first initial waves of immigration in the 1880s all the way up the present. This is indeed a fantastic museum and we would certainly encourage any and all to put it on their list should one ever be in the Detroit metro area. We were very fortunate that our visit coincided with a special exhibit of the paintings of the celebrated Lebanese Arab-American poet and artist Gibran Khalil Gibran (d. 1931) on loan from the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Georgia.

After a well-deserved rest at our hotel near the famous Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, we gathered together and proceeded to the justly famous family-run Lebanese restaurant Al-Ameer in the heart of Arab Dearborn. Here, we shared a meal of truly monumental proportions: ordering three huge 'family-style' dinner trays of lamb, chicken, falafel, fattoush, tabbuleh, hummus, freshly baked pitas and other such bits of 'down-home' Arab cooking which, despite the sixteen of us, we could not finish. For those who could handle it, we closed this feast with piping hot pots of traditional cardamom flavored Arabic coffee - something which provided much needed fuel for the final activity of the evening.

From Al-Ameer, we traveled en masse to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to attend “Arab Expressions”, the annual ‘Arab Comedy and Poetry Jam’ sponsored by the U-M Arab Students Association. Arriving at the Michigan Union Ballroom around 9:00 p.m., over the next two hours enjoyed the music of the Arab-American hip-hop artist The Iron Sheik (Will Youmans), the performance art of Noura Erakat, an Arab fashion show, and the comedy stylings of Arab-American comedians Amer Zaher and Aron Kader. Needless to say, along with the rest of the some 200 students and others in attendance, our sides were aching by the end of the evening.

The following morning we visited the recently opened $12- million dollar Islamic Center of America, an absolutely stunning mosque and community center complex complete with a large central dome and two slender minarets situated on Ford Road's 'Altar Row' in Dearborn. Meeting us at the mosque, the interfaith director of the Islamic Center, Mr. Eide Alawan, took us on a comprehensive tour of the complex (which is stunning indeed!), telling us all about the community and its new mosque as well as answering many questions from both students and faculty. We were also invited to attend the weekly Sunday morning breakfast as well as attend the weekly Sunday sermon of Imam Sayyid Hasan al-Qazwini, a well-respected Iraqi-born Shi'i cleric who, among many other things, has met with Presidents Clinton and Bush on a number of occasions. Needless to say, as the largest mosque in the entire United States which houses a truly vibrant and diverse community, this was an especially fascinating event for the students enrolled in my "Introduction to Islam" course, providing a rare opportunity for them to couple their learning in the classroom with the realities of Islam as lived in the 'real world'.

Leaving the mosque around noon, we proceeded to Dearborn's South End, specifically that portion of Dix Avenue near the Ford Rouge plant, the old center of Arab Detroit and still the 'port of arrival' for many new immigrants from the Arab world. Here, we visited the Arabian Village Market (across the street from the new Dix Mosque), a large grocery, butcher, and sundry store catering to the primarily working-class Yemeni and Iraqi residents of the South End. Here, we were able to peruse a truly colorful stock of foodstuffs and sundries from throughout the Arab world, many students (and professors!) being able to stock up on those essentials not readily available in Fort Wayne (the most popular items which students bought included Arabic coffee pots and coffee, date cookies, olive oil, fresh pita bread, and falafel mix).

From the South End we proceeded back up to Warren Ave. in order to visit what is quickly becoming an institution in Arab Dearborn, the truly inviting Shatila Bakery and Café. Here we were able to enjoy freshly made baklava of various sorts as well as spend an hour or so engaging in that wonderful Arab pastime of sitting down for sweets, coffee, tea, and, of course, plenty of pleasant conversation. Needless to say, watching the crowds of Arab-American families come and go while enjoying each other's company over mouthwatering pastries was a truly wonderful way to end the day. While there, a number of students enrolled in IPFW’s Arabic language course accompanied Professor Azzi and Dr. Ohlander to an Arabic bookstore down the street where, among other things, we found a great selection of Arabic books and other materials of interest to both students and professors alike.

Happily exhausted from our whirlwind tour of Arab Detroit, we departed Dearborn at around 3:00 in the afternoon and arrived back on campus around 6:00 in the evening. Overall, the “Second Annual IPFW Tour of Arab Detroit” was a wonderful experience for all involved, and it is our sincere hope that next year’s adventure will be even better!

The ‘Second Annual IPFW Tour of Arab Detroit’ was made possible by the generous support of the IPFW Diversity Council, the Department of International Language and Culture Studies, the Office of Academic Affairs, the International Studies Certificate Program, and the School of Arts and Sciences.