Akram Khater

Dr. Akram Khater is Alumni Distinguished University Professor (CHASS), Professor of History at North Carolina State University, Director of Middle East Studies Program, and Director of the Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies. A native of Lebanon, he earned a B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from California Polytechnic State University and holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of California, Berkeley, respectively. His books include Inventing Home: Emigration, Gender, and the Making of a Lebanese Middle Class, 1861–1921; A History of the Middle East: A Sourcebook for the History of the Middle East and North Africa; and Embracing the Divine: Passion and Politics in the Christian Middle East. He has just completed a PBS documentary on the history of the Lebanese community in North Carolina and is the senior curator for a museum exhibit on the same topic that will open in early 2014. He has published a substantial number of articles and reviews and has made conference presentations throughout the United States and internationally. Dr. Khater has been awarded a number of teaching accolades and grants during his tenure at N.C. State and has also obtained fellowships from the National Humanities Center, American Philosophical Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright Foundation, and Council of American Overseas Research Centers.

Ten Things I Can’t Do Without

1. My wife, Jodi, and children
2. My faith
3. My bicycle
4. Fairuz, Umm Kulthum, and Arabic Hip Hop
5. Green olives from Lebanon
6. My phone where my life resides in bits and bytes
7. Mountains
8. Passport
9. Road trips
10. Downtown Abbey