Who We Are

The Center for Arab Narratives (CAN) is an institution of ACCESS, facilitates, cultivates, and spotlights community-informed research. CAN's team of interdisciplinary professionals works closely with a network of researchers, organizations, and community advocates.

CAN’s approach brings together sociological, anthropological, public health, psychological, and historical viewpoints to fully understand and address the needs of the Arab and MENA communities. We foster a just and equitable representation and understanding of Arab and MENA populations while facilitating reciprocal relationships between researchers and the community.

With its strong commitment to community empowerment and its innovative approach to research, the Center for Arab Narratives is working toward a brighter future for Arab American and MENA communities.

CAN currently operates out of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, MI, and has an office in Washington, DC.

CAN grew organically from ACCESS’s push to get better data on the Arab and MENA communities in the United States.

Although ACCESS and its national institutions, particularly the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), have long worked in tandem with the U.S. Census Bureau, state data leaders, and university-based scholars to push for, and produce, better data, ACCESS took a more proactive approach beginning in 2015.

In December 2015, ACCESS convened about 30 scholars and community leaders at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. The convening was designed to engage in a meaningful discussion about the state of current research on Arab Americans, the most pressing research questions, data and methodology, an institutional structure for collaborative research among scholars, and ACCESS’ potential role in building a comprehensive scholarly research program.

ACCESS continued to convene scholars while building the program that would be the Center for Arab Narratives.

◾️ Maximize the impact of research through community-informed research methods

◾️ Enhance community attitudes towards research by making academic research more accessible.

◾️ Offer informed perspectives on the Arab and MENA experience to media policymakers, community groups, and other audiences.

◾️ Build, convene, and maintain interdisciplinary research networks, including our national cohort of scholarly Affiliates.

◾️ Advocate for and produce high quality, accurate, and representative data on Arab and MENA populations.

About Us

Our Goals

Meet our team

Our Affiliates

Our Partners