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This study analyzes the effects of language differences on healthcare services for Arab Americans. The research specifically investigates the subpopulation of ESL (English Second Language)/bilingual Arab Americans, in order to learn about the effect of a lack of interpretation services and therefore the use of family translators on healthcare treatment. There has been a lack of research on this growing population in the United States. Language barriers can hinder the already difficult process of healthcare. These barriers, combined with other barriers, such as cultural factors, can negatively affect healthcare treatment and outcomes. This study uses surveys to reach people in the community. Surveys were chosen since they can be sent out electronically and do not require much commitment from the participant. Limitations of this study include the small response size, as the target population is extremely specific, and exclusion of unilingual Arab Americans from the sample population. However, the quotations provided from the participants provided insight into the use of informal interpreters and the lack of translation services for Arab Americans in healthcare. Many participants expressed issues with the limited use or availability of interpretation services in healthcare. Some participants also commented on the issues with using informal interpreters, due to availability or specific cultural dynamics. The survey results were clinically significant and suggested that this culture is a unique group with language needs not currently being met in healthcare, resulting in barriers to care.

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Master of Arts / Department of English / Gregory J. Eiselein / In her collection of poems The War Works Hard (2005), Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail presents her readers with unembellished insight into the Iraqi war from a woman's perspective. This perspective is rarely voiced in Iraqi war literature which is dominated by male writers concerned with men's heroism at the battle front and boundless patriotism. At the same time, these male authors rarely depict Iraqi women's experiences of war beyond the battle grounds. Even when women are present in such literature, they often share their men's point of view on war and voice only their acceptance of it. Mikhail, however, contemplates a counter narrative to this stereotypical female role by presenting women who protest war and the destruction it causes. Her poems portray mothers, lovers, sisters and daughters who protest war's brutality and injustice. Some of the women in Mikhail's poems protest war by directly or indirectly criticizing its institutions and condemning the leaders who promote it. While other women in her work find that their protest lies in their de-fragmentation of the destruction and loss caused by war, thus refusing its power over them and their loved ones. Yet, the most important form of women's protest of war in Mikhail's work is recollection. Through the recollection of their fragmented memories and lives, Mikhail's women manage to survive and find a spark of optimism in the darkness that war has unleashed. Their survival and their ability to re-establish their lives apart from war and the presence of men constitutes a powerful and dramatic protest of war's control over their lives.

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Discrimination occurs against underrepresented and misrepresented cultures in the United States of America. Hate crimes, racism, and stereotyping are not only against adults but also students in the educational system. These actions are causing division within our nation. There is a movement for transforming the classroom into one that is culturally inclusive for everyone. These Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) methods can help to unite our nation by celebrating diversity. One very effective method to achieve this is by using multicultural literature in classrooms as a way for students to see themselves as if looking in mirrors, understand their peers as if looking through windows, and empathize with other cultures as if stepping through a sliding glass door into the other culture (Bishop, 1990). Arab Americans too often are experiencing discrimination at the same or worse levels than other underrepresented and misrepresented cultures. The goal of this study was to find quality books by and about Arab Americans as multicultural literature is an effective means for creating a culturally inclusive classroom. My first step was to locate any and all books I could find that were written by or about Arab Americans. Then using specific parameters, I narrowed my findings to list only the quality literature I found within the last ten years. These findings are listed for teachers to use and access with ease. While reading these books in the classroom, it is important to initiate conversations with and among the students. Therefore, I created a list of general guiding questions that pair with the literature for teachers to use in their classrooms to get their students talking and thinking about the multicultural books they are reading. These discussions can help move classrooms into ones that celebrate individual cultures, embrace diversity, and instill empathy among the students.