In addition to hitting the road for a multi-stop Heartland Muslim book tour in 2022, I really enjoyed spending time talking with other professors about the book on a variety of podcasts this year. I wrote Muslims of the Heartland for public, Midwestern audiences, the people who, like me, are descendants of the first Arabic-speaking people who settled here before World War I and for … Continue reading Podcasting “Muslims of the Heartland”
More than any other factor, the reason why I became a professional scholar of Islam and Muslim cultures is because of my undergraduate adviser, Prof. Vernon Schubel of Kenyon College. As a first-year student at Kenyon in the fall of 1989, I enrolled in a course on classical Islam. Vernon, as he invited us to call him, used Marshall Hodgson’s magisterial Venture of Islam to … Continue reading Why My New Edited Volume Features Students of Vernon Schubel
Originally from Belt Magazine: April 24, 2023 By Edward Curtis IV Around 1899, my great, great-grandfather, a man named Hanna Samaha, left his beautifully green three-thousand-foot-high village located in contemporary Lebanon where, on a clear day, you could see the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean. He landed at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the town of Cairo [pronounced “Care-oh”], Illinois. He … Continue reading Moses of Cairo (Illinois)
While I was still writing Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest (NYU Press, 2022), I became determined to take the book back to the places where its stories unfolded from the 1890s to the 1940s. At first, I thought that perhaps I should do one big road trip and invite people to come along as I visited … Continue reading Heartland Muslim Book Tour
20 Community Orgs To Get $250 Each Indiana Humanities, a statewide nonprofit that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk, is offering stipends to nonprofit organizations across the state to host screenings and discussions of the film Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History. Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History, hosted by author and IUPUI Professor Edward E. Curtis IV, directed and produced by local filmmaker Becky Fisher … Continue reading Indiana Humanities offers funding to host “Arab Indianapolis”
Indianapolis — Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History has been chosen for inclusion in the 31st annual Heartland International Film Festival. The documentary will be shown on October 11 at Living Room Theaters and on October 12 at Glendale Landmark Theater. It will also stream from October 6 – 16 on the Heartland Film website. Tickets are available here. The documentary, directed and produced by local … Continue reading “Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History” Selected for 31st Annual Heartland Film Festival
From IU Research: Edward Curtis is one of eight Indiana University faculty members who have been awarded the inaugural IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship in 2022. The program aims to accelerate and amplify the work of outstanding IU faculty poised to become national and international leaders in their fields. The first cohort of fellows includes Heather Akou, Edward Curtis, Stephanie DeBoer, Robert Horvath, Lasana … Continue reading Curtis wins IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Fellowship
DR. EDWARD E. CURTIS IV joined us on the heels of the release of his book Arab Indianapolis and documentary Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History, which recently aired on WFYI, to discuss the film. Dr. Curtis takes a scholarly look at the often-neglected history of Arab Americans in Indianapolis, who have made significant impacts on the region since the late 1800s. Continue reading “Indianapolis Monthly”: Dr. Edward Curtis On Amplifying Indy’s Arab Voices
I was thrilled when Rashika Jaipuriar’s beautifully-written article on the Arab Indianapolis History Project, its origins, and its impact on IUPUI student Sierra Martin’s family made the front page of the Indianapolis Star on July 23, 2022. The article was also published online here. Continue reading Arab Indianapolis Gets the Front Page
By Katiera Winfrey (@Katiera_Winfrey), WISH-TV, Jun 6, 2022: Lucas Oil Stadium sits near Capital and South Street now, but 120 years ago, it was home to one of Indy’s first Arabic-speaking communities. An IUPUI professor is leading efforts to bring that history to light with a new book and documentary. In the early 1900s, not too far from Peyton Manning’s statute, sat the entrance of … Continue reading WISH-TV Coverage of Arab Indianapolis
Edward E. Curtis IV 
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