POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT THROUGH NONFORMAL EDUCATION AMONG ARAB AMERICANS: THE ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE

Hanine C. HOUT

The Arab American Institute’s (AAI) role to achieve political empowerment for Arab Americans through political and citizenship education was investigated. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the AAI’S various educational activities in order to evaluate its role as a nonformal educator of the Arab American community in particular and the American people in general.

The data were collected from the Institute’s literature, unstructured interviews with AAI staff members and Arab American community members, and the researcher’s participant observation. The analysis showed that the AAI is playing an effective role in the political empowerment of Arab Americans.