1. NRHC Proposal 2016
Presenter 1 First Name:_Isabel Santos____________________________________________
Presenter 1 Last Name:_________________________________________________________
Presenter 2 First Name:_________________________________________________________
Presenter 2 Last Name:_________________________________________________________
Type of Presentation:
__ Paper Presentation
__ Poster Presentation
_X_ Roundtable Discussion
Paper/Workshop Strand (Please pick a field that best describes what your paper or
workshop is about)
_X_ Arts and Humanities
__ Business and Technology
__ Education
__ Natural and Applied Sciences
__ Social Sciences
Your Major: History and English__________________________________________
Will you need A/V equipment?: _No______________________________________________
If yes, why will you need A/V equipment?: ________________________________________
Title of Presentation: _Being Middle Eastern in America____________________________
Abstract (150-250 words):
The topic will focus on what it means to be Middle Eastern in America.
For those who are of Middle Eastern descent or have immigrated to America from the
Middle East have faced difficulties to not only assimilating into America but, being accepted in
America.
Today, especially in mass media, majority of Americans have a negative perspective of
those from Middle East. Due to the issues in the region the people have been defined by the
turmoil.
The worst aspect of this image is that it reflects the bigotry of how little Americans
actually know about region or the people on a historical and cultural level. These misconceptions
brew bitterness between the West and those from the Middle East.
The roundtable is meant to highlight important topics to produce substantial knowledge
of the region as whole to bring insight to the ills that plague the American framework to the
Middle East. The topics are as followed:

2.  Identifying the American perspective
 Brief History of the Middle East
 Orientalism/Colonialism
 International relations/foreign policies
 Ethnicity/Culture
 Religion
 Terrorism
 Modern/Current events (Syrian Revolution, Iran, & Palestine-Israel)
 Immigration-Bringing the Middle East
The topics are important to understand the depth of the people and the complexity of the
region to truly understand what they bring as a people to America.