Opening Plenary
Friday, September 13 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Welcome to the Opening Plenary of ArabCon, where we kick off a transformative weekend dedicated to advancing the voices and rights of the Arab American Community. ADC’s National Executive Director, Abed Ayoub will join scholars Khaled Beydoun, Dr. Hatem Bazian, and Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi as we set the stage for a weekend of impactful discussions and collective action, emphasizing the vital role of ArabCon in fostering solidarity and driving meaningful change.
Dr. Hatem Bazian is a Decolonial scholar that centers Islam’s epistemology in all his work and examines the contemporary world through a global south lens. Dr. Bazian is Known as organic intellectual, a term used for scholars who directly connect their work and scholarship to people and not confined to academia’s constructed walls of separation. Dr. Bazian is an author of five books, numerous chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, hundreds of press articles, and constant academic contributions and engagement across the globe. Dr. Bazian is a leading scholar in the Islamophobia Studies field having founded the Islamophobia Studies Center, Editor-in-Chief of the Islamophobia Studies Journal and co-founder and current President of the International Islamophobia Studies and Research Association (IISRA).
Dr. Bazian co-founded Zaytuna College, the 1st Accredited Muslim Liberal Arts College in the United States. Dr. Bazian is a senior lecturer in the Departments of Middle East Languages and Cultures and Asian Diaspora Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Bazian between 2002-2007, also served as an adjunct professor of law at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to Berkeley, Prof. Bazian served as a visiting Professor in Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California 2001-2007 and adviser to the Religion, Politics and Globalization Center at UC Berkeley.
At the community level, Dr. Bazian is the President of the Northern California Islamic Council, co-founder and national chair of American Muslims for Palestine, and chairman of the Muslim Legal Fund for America.
Khaled Beydoun is a renowned author, legal scholar, and public intellectual known for his incisive work on civil rights, Islamophobia, and the intersection of law and race in America. A professor of law at Wayne State University, Beydoun has authored several influential books, including the critically acclaimed “American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear”. His scholarship and commentary have been featured in leading media outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera.
With a passion for justice and equality, Beydoun’s work extends beyond the classroom. He is a prominent voice in public discourse, offering expert analysis on issues related to race, religion, and identity. His contributions have significantly shaped the national conversation on civil rights and the Muslim experience in the post-9/11 era.
Beydoun holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan. He continues to inspire through his writing, teaching, and activism, advocating for marginalized communities and championing the cause of social justice.
Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi is the founding Director and Senior scholar of the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies Program at San Francisco State University (SFSU). She is a co-founding Editorial Board member of the Islamophobia Studies Journal, a lead editor of book volumes and author of over 80 articles and book chapters in seven languages. She received her Ph.D from Yale University (2000) and scholarly awards and community honors, including the Sterling Fellowship, New Century Scholarship, best non-fiction book award, and American Association of University Professors, National Women’s Studies Association. She is compiling critical oral histories of Palestinian activism and editing an anthology on Teaching Palestine, roundtables on Black Liberation, Abolition and Reparations, and Whose Narrative? Gender, Justice and Palestine.
She is the recipient of several awards by the AAUP, ADC, IFCO, Al-Awda, American Muslims for Palestine, and Arab Feminist Union, and was named Bay Area Visionary by the National Women’s Studies Association. She serves on the Board of Afro-Middle East Center (Johannesburg, South Africa), International Advisory Board of World Congress of Middle East Studies, and co-chairs Feminists for Justice in/for Palestine, NWSA. She serves on the Executive Committee of California Scholars for Academic Freedom, the Advisory Board of the US Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and the recently formed CSU Coalition to Disarm and Defund. She has been a faculty advisor to the Afghan Student Association, General Union of Palestinian Students, Muslim Student Association, and Muslim Women Student Association. She co-organized and led several delegations to Palestine, including the Indigenous and Women of Color Feminist Delegation, US Prisoner, Academic, Labor Solidarity, and Teaching Palestine, including Birzeit, Al-Najah, Seville, and South Africa.
With a passion for justice and equality, Beydoun’s work extends beyond the classroom. He is a prominent voice in public discourse, offering expert analysis on issues related to race, religion, and identity. His contributions have significantly shaped the national conversation on civil rights and the Muslim experience in the post-9/11 era.
Beydoun holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan. He continues to inspire through his writing, teaching, and activism, advocating for marginalized communities and championing the cause of social justice.
Abed Ayoub serves as ADC’s National Executive Director. He previously served as the ADC National Legal and Policy Director from 2011 to 2022. As the National Executive Director, Ayoub is responsible for the organization’s day-to-day operation and works with the National Board of Directors to develop and implement strategies that will continue ADC’s growth in the years to come.
Throughout his career, Ayoub has worked to address issues impacting Arabs and Muslims in the United States, including matters related to discrimination, immigration, hate crimes, surveillance, and profiling. Under his leadership, the ADC Legal Department has successfully assisted and provided pro bono support to thousands of impacted community members across the country.
Ayoub regularly advocates on behalf of the community with lawmakers and government agencies and works to enhance the community’s economic empowerment and access to education. He is a regular commentator on national and international media and has developed a strong reputation for his commitment to social justice and access to justice for all.
Ayoub was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan. He currently resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Meriana Ayoub, and their two daughters, Izzy and Lily Ayoub. He graduated from the University of Michigan and the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2005.
She is the recipient of several awards by the AAUP, ADC, IFCO, Al-Awda, American Muslims for Palestine, and Arab Feminist Union, and was named Bay Area Visionary by the National Women’s Studies Association.
She serves on the Board of Afro-Middle East Center (Johannesburg, South Africa), International Advisory Board of World Congress of Middle East Studies, and co-chairs Feminists for Justice in/for Palestine, NWSA. She serves on the Executive Committee of California Scholars for Academic Freedom, the Advisory Board of the US Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, and the recently formed CSU Coalition to Disarm and Defund. She has been a faculty advisor to the Afghan Student Association, General Union of Palestinian Students, Muslim Student Association, and Muslim Women Student Association. She co-organized and led several delegations to Palestine, including the Indigenous and Women of Color Feminist Delegation, US Prisoner, Academic, Labor Solidarity, and Teaching Palestine, including Birzeit, Al-Najah, Seville, and South Africa.
With a passion for justice and equality, Beydoun’s work extends beyond the classroom. He is a prominent voice in public discourse, offering expert analysis on issues related to race, religion, and identity. His contributions have significantly shaped the national conversation on civil rights and the Muslim experience in the post-9/11 era.
Beydoun holds a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Michigan. He continues to inspire through his writing, teaching, and activism, advocating for marginalized communities and championing the cause of social justice.
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