Professor
Social and Cultural Sciences
2021 Recipient of Marquette University Community Engaged Teaching Award
Education
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Research Interests
Dr. Cainkar studies the intersection of race, gender, policy, and ideology on the quality of human life. She has conducted research on Palestinians in the US, Arab and Muslim Americans after 9/11, the social experiences of Muslim women in the US, Islamophobia and hate crimes, citizenship and belonging among transnational Arab American youth living in Yemen, Palestine, and Jordan, the impact of economic sanctions on women and children in Iraq, and the forced migration of Palestinians and Jordanians from Kuwait.
Community Service
MENA/Arab American Briefs for the Illinois MENA Committee of the MENA Governmental Advisory Council of Illinois
Professional Affiliations
- Association of Middle East Women’s Studies. Board Member & Treasurer. 2012-present.
- Arab American Studies Association. Past President, President, and Board Member. 2014-19.
- Review of Middle East Studies. Associate Editor. 2017-2020.
- Sociology of Religion. Associate Editor. 2017-2020
- Committee on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Sociology, American Sociological Association. Appointed by President. 2016-2018. Re-appointed, 2018-2020.
Professional Interests
Teaching interests:
- Arab American studies
- Muslims in diaspora
- International migration
- Social justice
Publications
Book
2022
- Louise Cainkar, Pauline Homsi Vinson, and Amira Jarmakani, eds. Sejjilu Arab American: A Reader in SWANA Studies. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press).
2021
- Michael Suleiman, Suad Joseph, and Louise Cainkar, eds. Arab American Women: Representation and Refusal (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press).
2009
Selected Articles
2021
2019
- “Hegemonic Femininity and Hijab as a Human Right.” in Arabs at Home and in the World: Human Rights, Gender Politics, and Identity, edited by Karla McCanders. (New York: Routledge). Pp 3-24.
- “Islamophobia and the US ideological infrastructure of White Supremacy.” in Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia. Irene Zempi and Imran Awan, eds. (London: Routledge). Pp 239-251.
2018
- “Fluid Terror Threat: A Genealogy of the Racialization of Arab, Muslim, and South Asian Americans.” Amerasia Journal. Vol. 44 (1): 27-60.
- “Review of Race Scholarship and the War on Terror.” Journal of the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity; Vol. 4 (2): 165-177.With Saher Selod.
2017
- “The Arab American Experience: From Invisibility to Heightened Visibility” in The Routledge Handbook of Asian American Studies. (New York: Routledge). Cindy I-Fen Cheng, editor.
2015
- “Race and Racialization: Demographic Trends and the Process of Reckoning Social Place” in Handbook of Arab American Psychology. (New York: Routledge). Mona Amer and Germine Awad, editors.
Honors and Awards
Marquette University Community Engaged Teaching Award, 2021
Additional Information
Dr. Louise CainkarMarquette University
