Jack Shaheen

Jack George Shaheen Jr. (; September 21, 1935 – July 9, 2017) was an American writer and lecturer specializing in addressing racial and ethnic stereotypes. He authored Reel Bad Arabs (adapted to a 2006 documentary), The TV Arab and Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture (1997).

Early life and education Shaheen was born in Pittsburgh to Lebanese Christian immigrants, and grew up in Clairton, Pennsylvania.

Shaheen graduated from Clairton High School in 1953. In 1957, he graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 1964, he received a master's degree from Pennsylvania State University. In 1969, Shaheen received a PhD from the University of Missouri.

Career Shaheen's work focused on racism and orientalism, particularly in popular culture such as Hollywood films. He delivered over 1,000 lectures on the issue across the United States and on three continents.

Honors Shaheen received two Fulbright teaching awards

Personal life Shaheen was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, often walked along the beaches of Hilton Head Island and was a former member of the Hilton Head Orchestra board of directors. People who praised his work include Ralph Nader, who said that Shaheen "provided the incriminating evidence directly from the biased media, unedited", and Ali Mirsepassi, director of New York University's Iranian Studies Initiative, wrote in 2012 that "Jack Shaheen approaches his critical work with little personal or intellectual bitterness, moral arrogance or intellectual superiority."

Works and publications

– originally published in 2001