This volume expresses a range of perspectives through twenty-eight papers organized into seven thematic sections: American's Orient, Gendered Encounters, the Middle East in America, US Power and US Policies, Messianic Encounters, Encounters in Writing and Landscape, and Faces of American Studies. This book results from the proceedings of the First International Conference Sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research at the American University of Beirut.