The mission of the Palestinian American Research Center (PARC), formed in 1998, is to improve scholarship about Palestinian issues, expand the pool of experts knowledgeable about the Palestinians, and strengthen linkages among Palestinian, American, and foreign research institutions and scholars. Pre- and post-doctoral fellowship awards underwrite research by both American and Palestinian scholars in a wide range of fields, including history, literature, anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, and health sciences. PARC also organizes an annual, 10-day Faculty Development Seminar to the Jerusalem and the West Bank for U.S. professors interested in learning more about higher education in Palestine.
The field office in Ramallah conducts a fellowship competition for Palestinian scholars, cosponsors conferences and seminars with Palestinian universities and research institutions, and provides a support base for visiting U.S. and other scholars. The Ramallah office also houses the PARC/Institute for Palestine Studies library, which focuses on the social history of Palestine and on the preservation of Palestinian intellectual and cultural production.
The U.S. office, based just outside of Washington, DC, coordinates the fellowship and Faculty Development Seminar competitions for U.S. citizens, cosponsors conferences and seminars with U.S. universities, arranges for a yearly PARC panel at the Middle East Studies Association's annual meeting, and produces the twice-yearly newsletter that highlights the achievements of current and past grantees and other PARC activities.
PARC’s website is a virtual library that contains detailed chronologies, an annotated bibliography, links to relevant organizations and research sources, and important information for researchers on the archives of Jerusalem. The website also provides information on grantee’s research as well as PARC fellowships and other programs.
PARC is supported by individual and institutional memberships and donations, in addition to grants from private foundations and the federal government.
