A community-engaged scholar of Black, Muslim, and Arab American history and life, Edward Curtis is the William M. and Gail M. Plater Chair of the Liberal Arts and Professor of World Languages & Cultures at the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts in Indianapolis, where he also directs the Arabic and Islamic studies program. Curtis is the author or editor of 15 books and the founder of the journal, Arab Americana. His research has been supported by fellowships from Carnegie, Fulbright, Mellon, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Curtis’ works include Muslims in America: A Short History (Oxford University Press), named one of the best 100 books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly, and Muslims of the Heartland: How Syrian Immigrants Made a Home in the American Midwest (New York University Press), winner of the 2023 Evelyn Shakir Book Award from the Arab American National Museum. Co-founder of the Journal of Africana Religions, he has also penned scholarly articles for the Journal of American History, American Quarterly, and the Journal of the American Academy of Religion.

Dr. Curtis engages both national and local audiences in his public scholarship and teaching. The winner of two Emmy awards as executive producer and writer of Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History (2022), he has also consulted on and appeared as on-air talent in the Great Muslim American Road Trip and American Muslims: A History Revealed. Curtis has contributed interviews and articles to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, and the Associated Press, among other media outlets.

Professor Curtis enjoys collaborating on public history projects with several community partners, including the Nur Allah Islamic Center and the Midwest Federation of American Syrian Lebanese Clubs. He is the former director of the Arab Indianapolis Commmunity History Project, which produced a book, an Indiana state historical marker, community dialogues, PBS Learning Media, a heritage trail, an educator workshop, and a website. Curtis has also helped community college instructors and K-12 teachers integrate information about religion and Muslim American history and life across the curriculum, and most recently, served as lead scholar of New York City public schools’ Muslim American history curriculum. These efforts have been recognized by an IU Indianapolis Chancellor’s prize for community engagement, the Asian Student Union’s APIDA Faculty of the Year prize, and an IUPUI Joseph Taylor prize for diversity.

Edward Curtis holds a doctorate in religious studies from the University of South Africa, a master’s in history from Washington University, and a B.A. in religion from Kenyon College. He grew up in Southern Illinois, where his Arabic-speaking ancestors settled in the late 1800s.