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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
Muslim Women and the Media Training InstituteApril 9, 2021
Funded by the generous support of: Henry Luce Foundation, and the UC Davis Office of Graduate Studies
MWM Director: Suad Joseph, https://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/encyclopedia-women-and-islamic-cultures
https://sjoseph.ucdavis.edu/muslim-women-and-media-training-instituteLast Update: 03/12/2021
Table of Contents2018 Fellows...................................................................................................................................2
2019 Fellows...................................................................................................................................7
2020 Fellows.................................................................................................................................19
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
2018 FellowsHanan Abdel-Khalek, M.A.Journalist, Writer, and Communication SpecialistYoung [email protected]
Eryn Mathewson, M.A.Associate Producer, CNN [email protected]
Mira Nabulsi, M.A.Researcher and Audio ProducerVoices of the Middle East and North AfricaJadliyya’s “Status” [email protected]
Amy NelsonUN-Chapel [email protected]
Layla QuranForeign Affairs Reporter/Producer, PBS [email protected]@gmail.com
Pooja Singh, M.A.JournalistColumbia University [email protected]
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
Hanan Abdel-Khalek, M.A.Journalist, Writer, and Communication SpecialistYoung [email protected]
Hanan Abdel- Khalek, an English Literature, and French graduate, has a Masters in Media in the Middle East from SOAS university in London, which examined political theory in the Middle East and North African region, her specialty focused on sexual violence against Muslim women in Cairo. Her passion, to raise awareness to end sexual violence was elicited, after covering the Global summit against sexual violence in conflict regions, chaired by William Hague and Angeline Jolie when she was a correspondent at the East London Newspaper. She is a journalist, published writer, and communication specialist, published in the Huffington Post, Muslim girl, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Previously, editor in chief of Amaliah, a media organisation that amplifies the voices of Muslim women. Her passion lies in raising awareness about the fast fashion
industry and its involvement with modern slavery, unethical labour, and global warming which is where her project for the MWM EWIC cohort in 2018-19 stemmed. Most recently she was a guest designer for Nike in the summer of 2020, leading to her current project working on a film that will highlight Nike's influence in the Fast Fashion industry. She currently spearheads her own sustainable accessories brand, Young Nevertiti, featured in GQ magazine in 2020. Her brand examines identity by submerging ancient Egypt and Western pop art, using her own multiple identities as an Irish and Egyptian Muslim woman, as inspiration to showcase the iconography of both historical backdrops. She also hosts her own podcast under the umbrella of Young Nevertiti to which she discusses sexual violence against women, business, entrepreneurship, global warming, financial literacy, art, and popular culture.
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesEryn Mathewson, M.A.Associate Producer, CNN [email protected]
Eryn Mathewson graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she received a BA in Spanish and Anthropology and focused on the impact of prisons and chronic health problems on African American communities. Later she earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism where she covered conflicts involving race, class, and gender in the US and Abroad.
Currently, Eryn works as an associate producer with CNN Audio, where she produces the daily podcast, Coronavirus: Fact Versus Fiction with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as well as the seasonal podcast, Silence is Not an Option, hosted by Don Lemon. This show discusses the history of racism in America and how it influences the way racial issues are playing out in the US today. She’s also written several stories, including a feature on the history of activism in the WNBA as well as a list of the best podcasts about race in
2020. Prior to joining CNN, Eryn spent three years working with The Undefeated - ESPN’s platform for race sports and culture. There, she managed a program that trained students at historically Black colleges and universities to become sports journalists. She also served as the lead producer of HBCU 468: The Rhoden Fellows podcast, which discussed the sports and culture issues that mattered to HBCU students, and wrote several stories, including profiles on former college basketball star, Bilqis Abdul Qaadir and former NFL players, Hamza and Husain Abdullah. Eryn is dedicated to highlighting voices and stories from diverse communities as often as possible.
Mira Nabulsi, M.A.Researcher and Audio ProducerVoices of the Middle East and North AfricaJadliyya’s “Status” [email protected]
Mira Nabulsi is a researcher and audio producer. Born and raised in Nablus, Palestine she first moved to the US in 2009 to work as a Research Associate at the Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED) Initiative at San Francisco State University (SFSU). She has an MA in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies and another in Communication Studies. She worked at
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesApple Podcasts, the Pacifica KPFA Radio in Berkeley, California, and is a contributor to the radio show "Voices of the Middle East and North Africa" and Jadaliyya's Status podcast. She is interested in social movements, news, rhetoric, digital media, and more.
She co-authored “Teen Lives around the World: A Global Encyclopedia”. Edited by Karen Wells. ABC-CLIO 2019 and “Wired Citizenship: Youth Learning and Activism in the Middle East." Edited by Linda Herrera. Routledge 2014.
Amy NelsonJournalistUN-Chapel [email protected]
Amy Nelson is a Muslim mother, educator, journalist and filmmaker which has long influenced her interest in the representation and misrepresentation of Muslims in American Media. Her background includes eight years as a reporter in public radio, nine years as a Montessori educator, and two years as a Fellow and master’s
candidate at UNC’s School of Media and Journalism. She looks forward to connecting with this team of experts and their collective body of knowledge to help shape, inform, and improve her work as a journalist.
Layla QuranForeign Affairs Reporter/Producer, PBS [email protected]@gmail.com
Layla Quran is a journalist and producer with the PBS Newshour in Washington, DC, where she works on the Foreign Affairs and Defense unit. At the Newshour, Layla produces long-
form feature and daily video stories including on Saudi Arabia’s surveillance of students in the US, Uighur forced labor camps, and anti-authoritarian protests in Belarus.
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Prior to the Newshour, Layla worked with WNYC NY Public Radio, Al Jazeera English at the UN, and the Associated Press in Amman, Jordan. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and New York University.
Pooja Singh, M.A.JournalistColumbia University [email protected]
Pooja Singh is a journalist with over 13 years of experience. She's currently the national features editor of Mint, India's leading business newspaper, where she writes on gender, arts, politics, culture, fashion, business and human rights. She also hosts a weekly podcast, The Millennial Mind, which explores the world of Gens Y and Z. Before this, she was heading the Asia-Pacific edition of US magazine Entrepreneur. She completed her master's in arts and culture from Columbia University's School of Journalism in 2018.
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2019 FellowsOlushola Aromona, M.A.PhD CandidateJournalism and Mass CommunicationUniversity of [email protected]
Yasmin Bendaas, M.A.Proposal Writer, Global Clinical Trials, PRA Health SciencesMass Communication: Science & Medical JournalismUNC Chapel [email protected]
Sara Gama, M.A.Writer, DirectorSchool of Communications: Film and VideoAmerican University [email protected]
Amanda Jacquel, M.A.Freelance Reporter(writing, filming, photography)[email protected]
Debra Kelley, PhDCommunications Consultant & Media [email protected]@umn.edu
Aina KhanMasters of Arts CandidateReligion in Global PoliticsSchool of Oriental and African Studies UK Features and News WriterAl Jazeera, ITV National [email protected]
Aysha KhanFreelance JournalistMasters of Theological Studies Student at Harvard Divinity School [email protected]
Ada Mullol, M.A.Journalist and ResearcherArab world and International RelationsGeorgetown [email protected]
Ana Maria Ortega Perez, M.A.PhD CommunicationsUniversity of Sevilla (Seville)Associate Instructor SpanishPhD graduate student University of California, [email protected]
Marjan Riazi, M.A.Production and Impact CoordinatorLevel ForwardVisual JournalistJournalism: News and DocumentaryNew York University [email protected]
Paromita Saha, M.A.PhD StudentMass Communication and Public AffairsManship School of Mass CommunicationLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge [email protected]
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesCristina Sala i Soler, PhD candidatePart-time lecturer of International RelationsPompeu Fabra University, Barcelona (UPF)Communications AssistantBarcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)[email protected]
S hara Taylor, M.A., M.S.General Assignment Television News Reporter: Fox61 NewsJournalism, Reporting the Nation: New York UniversityEducation, Sport Management: Old Dominion UniversityManagement Assistant: Cushman and [email protected]
Elisa Pont Tortajada, M.A.Comparative Studies of Literature, Art and PhilosophyPompeu Fabra University, Barcelona (UPF)Assistant Press OfficerEuropean Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed)[email protected]
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesOlushola Aromona, M.A.PhD CandidateJournalism and Mass CommunicationUniversity of [email protected]
Olushola Aromona is a doctoral student at the William Allen White School of Journalism, University of Kansas. Shola’s research interests are political communication, gender and sexuality, and social media for advocacy and social change. She has lived and academic experiences working with girls and young women in Northern Nigeria. She is presently
interested in the interaction of gender in the political communication and campaigns. Shola joined the Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative at the University of Kansas in Fall 2018 as a Graduate Research Assistant where she investigated the interplay of religion and trafficking in the Midwest. In addition, Shola currently serves as the Professional Freedom and Responsibility Chair of the Graduate Students Interest Group of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).
Yasmin Bendaas, M.A.Proposal Writer, Global Clinical Trials, PRA Health SciencesMass Communication: Science & Medical JournalismUNC Chapel [email protected]
A North Carolina native, Yasmin Bendaas received her master’s degree in Science & Medical Journalism at UNC Chapel Hill, where she was a Park Fellow. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in anthropology in 2013 from Wake Forest University
and double-minored in journalism and Middle East and South Asia studies. As a journalist, Bendaas has been funded twice by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for fieldwork in Algeria — first to cover a disappearing indigenous tattoo tradition, and again to examine how climate change affects rural sheepherding practices. She previously worked as a science reporter covering student health and science education. Outside of her current job as a proposal writer for
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Culturesglobal clinical trials at PRA Health Sciences, she hosts a podcast called Me & My Muslim Friends.
Sara Gama, M.A.Writer, DirectorSchool of Communications: Film and VideoAmerican University [email protected]
Sara T. Gama is an American of Arab heritage who was born in Beirut, Lebanon and has lived in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from American University in Washington D.C. with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Visual Media and a minor in Art History. She also earned a Postgraduate Diploma in 16mm and 35mm Filmmaking from the London Film School, and a
Master of Arts in Film and Video from American University. Sara’s thesis film Drive about a Muslim-American teenage punk has screened in film festivals in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Filmed in partial fulfillment of her Master’s degree, Sara wrote, directed and co-produced the short film set in the Washington D.C. area. In addition to being a screenwriter and narrative filmmaker, Sara writes poetry and is a Fine Arts photographer. Her poetry has appeared in the Bethesda Writer’s Center and Corcoran School of Art’s joint multimedia exhibition and publication Ekphrasis, in the Bethesda Writer’s Center Writer’s Guide, and in We’Moon. Her photography most recently appeared in the online arts journal Jahanamiya’s Movement issue.
Amanda Jacquel, M.A.Freelance Reporter(writing, filming, photography)[email protected]
My name is Amanda Jacquel. I am a 29 year-old reporter and camerawoman. I graduated from the journalism school "CELSA-Paris Sorbonne" in 2017 and from the Institute of political sciences “Sciences Po Lyon” in 2015.
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesI did work with mainstream medias (such as a camerawoman for the continuous-news channel BFMTV and as a reporter and camerawoman during two years in India for a channel called "France 2". I am also part of an independent photographers group called "LaMeute", based in Paris and specialized in covering social movements in France. It was created in 2016 during the protest against the labor reforms.
I did co-realized a web-serie called Médias: les quartiers vous regardent (“Medias : the neighborhoods are watching you” ). It was broadcasted on the “pure-player” media called “Mediapart”. This serie was a way to explore the mistreatment of the French neighborhoods/working-class areas by the media for years and to bring solutions coming from the inhabitants.
Through my experience as a journalist and a news consumer, I feel that it is more and more important to know from where we are talking (social / economical / cultural, etc background, gender, age, political views) when we produce journalistic pieces that aims at being broadcasted to a wide audience. Therefore, I decided to work as a freelance journalist since September 2018; I needed to be able to make my own choices while digging and building stories. Above all, as a freelance, I feel that my work is more transparent and reflect more who I am, what I am fighting for… to put it in one word : I can assume my subjectivity without it tarnishing my meticulousness.
In March 2021, “Arrête-toi!” (“Freeze!”) my first book, co-written with Makan Kebe, will be published. This book tells the life of Makan Kebe, a young black man coming from a Parisian working-class area : in 2013, the police brutally arrested Makan, “mistaking” him for another man. His brother, Mohamed, run to Makan and the policemen : he wanted to know what was happening. Mohamed was severely beaten and a policeman shot him at the face with a flashball. Some minutes later that evening, Fatouma Kebe, their mother, went also out to understand what was the problem : a policemen threw a dispersal grenade and Fatouma Kebe lost her eye. Through this book, Makan tells how they decided to fight for Justice against the French police for seven years. He tells how police brutality reverberates on their daily-family life, how it infiltrates his work, his love stories, his mental health.
But also, that book comes back to the roots of all this: Makan talks about his family, the migration of his parents from Senegal to France, what it means to grow up as a kid coming from a place so stigmatized in the public opinion (how he did feel the effects at school, in the relationship with the police, later as a young man).
Debra Kelley, PhD
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesCommunications Consultant & Media [email protected]@umn.edu
Debra Kelley excels at leading organizations, innovation/design thinking and building comprehensive branding and communications programs. She has more than 30 years’ experience gained in government agencies, professional services firms, nonprofits, corporations, medical/healthcare and educational institutions. Her strengths include research, planning, strategy, content analysis and developing effective multifaceted branding/identity programs and communications and marketing media. She quickly understands organizational dynamics, facilitates the planning process, and produces results-oriented communication and marketing programs. She co-founded and managed the nationally-recognized firm, Hall Kelley, which received more than 100 awards for communications and design excellence.
She is a former adjunct and graduate instructor at the University of Minnesota with expertise in digital media, social media, strategic communication, design, diversity/equity and communication research. She received her doctorate degree in June 2019 from the University of Minnesota, Hubbard School of Journalism & Mass Communication in Minneapolis. Her graduate research was focused on immigrant identity and media use. Her dissertation, “Immigrant news-attending patterns and trust in news sources” documents biased media coverage of Somali Muslim immigrants and provides insight into immigrant media needs and uses. She is certified in Diversity and Equity from the University of Minnesota office of
Her clients and former clients include: BridgeHealth, University of Minnesota Medical School, Hippocrates Café, University of Minnesota Drug Design Center, Mayo Clinic, City of St. Paul, State of Minnesota, Hennepin County Medical Center, University of Minnesota Foundation, Macalester College, North Hennepin Community College, Ameriprise Financial, Ellerbe Becket, Oppenheimer law firm and Bush Foundation, among others.
Aina KhanMasters of Arts CandidateReligion in Global PoliticsSchool of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)UK Features and News WriterAl Jazeera, The [email protected]
Aina J Khan is a London-based journalist who has written for Al Jazeera English, Vogue
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesArabia, The Guardian, VICE, The Independent, and Middle East Eye. She has worked in broadcast and on numerous documentaries examining topical social issues in the U.K. such as integration, social mobility, and feminism with ITN Productions, Channel 4, and BBC Three.
Aysha KhanFreelance JournalistMasters of Theological Studies Student at Harvard Divinity School [email protected]
Aysha Khan is a Boston-based reporter covering U.S. Muslim communities. Her work has appeared in the Religion News Service, Associated Press, the Washington Post, NBC News and other national outlets. She has reported from London to Las Vegas, covering stories such as a federal
anti-extremism program targeting Boston's Somali youth and a Uighur woman's battle to release her father from Chinese imprisonment. She has been awarded fellowships with the GroundTruth Project, the Journalism & Women Symposium, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education and more. She is currently a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School.
Ada Mullol, M.A.Journalist and ResearcherArab world and International RelationsGeorgetown [email protected]
Ada Mullol is a journalist and researcher specialized in the Arab World and International Relations. She holds an MA in International Relations (IBEI, Spain), with an exchange at Sabanci University (Turkey), and an MA in Arab Studies (Georgetown University, USA). Ada has recently been a Schuman Trainee in the European Parliament, where she has conducted research on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Previously, she was a Junior Research Fellow at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), in the Arab and Mediterranean World department, and a Research
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesAssistant at Georgetown University. Ada has conducted research and published on a broad range of topics related to the MENA region, including sociopolitical developments, security, conflict resolution, foreign policy, political Islam, human rights, Muslim communities, gender issues, and media analysis. She is the Coordinator and author of a publication on political Islam, which will be released in summer 2021. Ada has been awarded with research and reporting fellowships focusing on human rights and multiculturalism by the College of Europe, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the United Nations Foundation.
Ana Maria Ortega Perez, M.A.PhD CommunicationsUniversity of Sevilla (Seville)Associate Instructor SpanishPhD graduate student University of California, [email protected]
Ana María Ortega Pérez is a Journalist and has a masters in International Relations. She finished her PhD in Communication at University of Seville (2020). Currently, she is an Associate Instructor and she is doing a PhD in Linguistics at University of California, Davis. She has worked as a journalist in Diario de Jerez, La
Comarca de Puertollano, Confidencial Andaluz and Noches del Sur. She is passionate about writing and researching about gender and Islam.
Marjan Riazi, M.A.Production and Impact CoordinatorLevel ForwardVisual JournalistJournalism: News and DocumentaryNew York University [email protected]
Marjan Riazi is the Production and Impact Coordinator at Level Forward. She's a visual journalist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received a Master’s in News and Documentary Film Production from the
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesArthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and a Bachelor’s in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she taught alcohol and drug prevention education. She was a Muslim Women in the Media Fellow and Journalism in the Era of Disinformation Fellow. You’ll find her work in the award-winning documentary High Hopes exploring racial equity in the modern cannabis industry and BET’s Smoke: Marijuana and Black America.
Paromita Saha, M.A.PhD StudentMass Communication and Public AffairsManship School of Mass CommunicationLouisiana State University, Baton Rouge [email protected]
Paromita Saha is from the United Kingdom with twelve years of industry experience working as a news journalist /producer for major British broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV
news. She has also worked as a strategic communications lead on major public campaigns for the British government and non-profit sector. She is due to complete her PhD in Spring 2021 at the Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University. Her research interests include newsroom diversity and media leadership from the standpoint of intersectionality, critical race theory and organizational behavior. She also teaches classes in media ethics and philosophy; media writing; and multiculturalism and the media.
Cristina Sala i Soler, PhD candidatePart-time lecturer of International RelationsPompeu Fabra University, Barcelona (UPF)Communications AssistantBarcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB)[email protected]
Cristina Sala i Soler is a journalist and an International Relations scholar specializing in the Middle East and North Africa. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations by the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and is currently pursuing a PhD on the role of religious transnational actors in world politics at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). She has also completed a part of her studies at the American University
in Cairo (AUC). Her areas of interest include religion and politics, narrative production, peace studies and conflict resolution, political Islam and political transformation in the Arab World.
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesShe is currently in charge of the communication and dissemination of the outputs of the H2020 BRIDGES project on migration narratives in Europe at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). She has previously coordinated the activities of a network of think tanks from all over the Euro-Mediterranean region at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and has participated in a number EU-funded projects as research and communications assistant.
Shara Taylor, M.A., M.S.General Assignment Television News Reporter: Fox61 NewsJournalism, Reporting the Nation: New York UniversityEducation, Sport Management: Old Dominion UniversityManagement Assistant: Cushman and [email protected]
Shara Taylor participated with the Muslim Women and the Media Training Institute in 2019. The enriching experience led to her article that was published by the New York Daily News entitled, The Ibtihaj effect.
Shara champions her education, experience in television journalism, and an interest in diversity topics, which influenced her decision to pursue the MWM Training Institute. She is fascinated by topics that explore culture, health, and sports and enjoys sharing these stories through her reporting. She believes
the Muslim Women and the Media Training Institute helped her to become a better journalist.
Shara received a master’s degree in Journalism in 2013 from New York University. There she received training as a Multimedia Journalist in the Reporting the Nation/Reporting New York program. She developed skills in reporting, anchoring, photography, videography, writing, and video editing through course work. She also received training as a Graduate Assistant in the Journalism Video Equipment Room, and through internship work experience.
Shara gained invaluable experience as an intern in New York City, while pursuing her degree. She worked in high-pressure newsrooms, with strict deadlines at several different television news stations. Her responsibilities included assisting in the newsroom and in the field with research, interviewing, shot adjustments, logging, and editing. She had the opportunity to intern at NBC Universal, with WNBC Sports Anchor Bruce Beck and with Al Sharpton and the Politics Nation show at MSNBC. She also worked as an intern with Fox 5 WNYW's Investigative Unit and NY1’s Living Unit and volunteered with both sports departments during this time. These various experiences allowed her to gain insight in different areas of journalism.
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic CulturesFollowing graduation, Shara produced freelance news stories on sports topics such as the New York Liberty and NFL players' career transitions. She also volunteered as a freelance guest host for events and radio. Shara later worked as a general assignment television reporter for NBC affiliate news stations in Wyoming, Illinois, and Wisconsin. In addition to breaking news, she covered a variety of topics including sports, court cases, health, environmental topics, community events, and legislation. She also explored cultural topics including stories with the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Native American Tribes, on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming; a community event to explore the culture of Muslim women in Rockford, Illinois; and a law suit brought forth by Muslim employees with a company in Wisconsin.
Shara also has experience working in print and digital. She wrote sports articles for the New York Beacon between 2018 and 2021. Her article, The Ibtihaj effect published with the New York Daily News told the story of a teenage girl inspired to learn fencing after watching Ibtihaj Muhamad. She also published an article about the importance of flu shots during the COVID-19 with CBS News in 2020.
Today she works as a general assignment television news reporter for Fox61 News in Hartford Connecticut.
Shara has volunteered with community churches, voter registration and with groups to mentor and encourage teens including the nonprofit, Keeping Family and Communities Together (KFACT).
Additionally, Shara received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Hampton University and a Master’s degree in Sport Management from Old Dominion University. She has worked with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, for the New York City government, and utilized her Sports Management degree through employment with the Miami Heat and the Miami Dolphins.
Shara believes her education and career experiences in diverse areas have helped prepare her to become a well-rounded journalist with dynamic thinking. She felt that training offered through Muslim Women and the Media Training Institute helped her develop important skills as a journalist and she looks forward to making significant contributions to future positions.
Elisa Pont Tortajada, M.A.Degree of Journalism, University of Valencia (UV) Comparative Studies of Literature, Art and Contemporary Philosophy, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF)Editor at Junior Report, journal for young people Project manager at Blue Globe Media
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic [email protected]
Journalist specialized in cultural and social fields. Editor at the newspaper for young people Junior Report (LaVanguardia.com). Project manager at Blue Globe Media SL, journalistic content production company. In the past, museum assistant at the CCCB (Barcelona); content writer for different online magazines; assistant press officer at the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed).My background has been related to journalism and communication, as well as project management. During the last decade, I lived in different countries (France, Belgium and Spain).
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2020 FellowsSharmin Akhtar Freelance [email protected]
Kiran Bhatia, M.A.PhD Student, University of Wisconsin-MadisonM.S., University of Baroda, India [email protected]
Shudan HuangDoctoral StudentSchool of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsUniversity of South Carolina [email protected]
Barikisu IssakaGraduate StudentA.Q. School of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsKansas State [email protected]
Sabena Qayyum Chaudhry, M.A.Journalist M.A. New York [email protected]
Marta Saiz, M.A.Journalist [email protected]
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Sharmin AkhtarFreelance Journalist [email protected] m .
Sharmin Akhtar is a British journalist who was inspired to get into media after her degree in International Relations. Sharmin takes an interest in international news and current affairs, particularly British and American Muslim narratives and how Muslims are generally reflected in the media. Sharmin has worked for British newspaper, The Express as an Online TV Reporter and has written about Modest Fashion, the challenges faced by European Muslims, social media and politics and Islam for Huffpost, Dazed Digital, The Independent and Minstpress News. Her current project looks at the Muslim women's radicalisation and representation on mainstream
media. She is currently a freelance journalist.
Kiran Bhatia, M.S. PhD Student, University of Wisconsin-MadisonM.S., University of Baroda, [email protected]
Kiran Vinod Bhatia is enrolled in the doctoral program at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She examines how Hindu and Muslim adolescents in India use social media networks to practice their religious identities. Her research focuses on unpacking online practices through which young individuals create archives to re-narrativize histories of religious communities in India. She problematizes the modernists techno-centric discourses around the potential of new media technologies to argue that in the absence of critical thinking skills, young individuals who inhabit situations of political
and religious radicalization use digital networks to further deepen the social segregation existing in societies.
Kiran received her BA in English Literature and Literary Criticism and her Master in Communication Studies from the M.S. University of Baroda, India. She worked as a research scholar with MICA, Ahmedabad under their doctoral-level FPM program.
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She was selected as a young researcher from India to present her work at the Global Media Literacy Week organized by UNESCO in Latvia. She was also selected from all over India to participate in the summer school on ICT for social and political development organized by the University of Tampere, Finland. She has presented at several international conferences including the ICA, IAMCR, and others and is the co-author of the book “Challenging Discriminatory Practices of Religious Socialization among Adolescents: Critical Media Literacy and Pedagogies in Practice”. With a regional research focus on South Asia, her published papers strive to unpack the rise of exclusive politics, disinformation, and ethnic nationalism in India. Her work has been published in Journal of Children and Media, Journal of Youth Studies, Journal of Communication Inquiry, Contemporary South Asia, Asian Journal of Communication, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, among others.
A practicing media educator, Kiran’s other research interests include critical pedagogy, youth studies, discourse analysis, religion and conflict, politics of Gujarat and India, and Foucauldian studies.
Shudan Huang Doctoral StudentSchool of Journalism and Mass CommunicationsUniversity of South Carolina [email protected]
Second-year doctoral student of University of South Carolina, major in Mass Communication. She lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her cat Tony. She is interested in health communication, public
relations, advertising and Feminism research.
She was a journalist, news editor and documentary director. She worked at China Arab TV, CCTV and directed a feminism documentary called The Burmese Bride.
She is versatile and embraces all types of art and sports. She is a ballet dancer and a judoka. She has a strong interest in Chinese historical drama, one of her dreams is to be a scriptwriter. She loves animals and nature, she usually does outdoor activities like hiking in Greenville when the weather is good.
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Barikisu IssakaGraduate StudentA.Q. School of Journalism and Mass Communications Kansas State University [email protected]
Barikisu is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and a graduate student in the MA Mass Communication and Journalism program at Kansas State University. She has a bachelor’s in Information Science and Psychology from the University of Ghana. She is an active community member and has volunteered for a number of organizations including the Zurak Cancer Foundation and Muslimah Mentorship Network, a non-profit in Ghana that mentors and empowers young girls in deprived Muslim communities. Barikisu interned at the Ghana Institute of Journalism School and worked as a research assistant at Africa Global Radio, Ghana. She has
managed social media pages for businesses and NGOs, including her own business page. Her research interests include social media, media stereotypes of marginalized communities, gender and the media, community development and health.
Sabena Qayyum Chaudhry, [email protected]
Sabena Chaudhry is a journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her short documentary, Alarm Bells, explores forced child marriage in the United States and the risk to young girls because of laws in several states which permit underage marriages. Earlier in 2020 Alarm Bells was recognized as Best Documentary by FilmCon Awards. Sabena is a graduate of New York University’s Masters program in Journalism; News & Documentary. She is currently working with a local news channel based in New York City. Sabena traces her experience of being reared as a Pakistani-American in one of the most diverse places on the planet; Queens, New York as the path to elevating the stories of South Asian women through her work. When she is not storytelling she
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Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Culturesworks with youth in her community through different projects including leadership and self-development programs.
Marta Saiz, M.A. Journalist [email protected]
Marta Saiz is a Spanish journalist specializing in human rights issues, international conflicts and journalism for peace with a gender focus. She has published in Spanish, and Latin American media. The areas she has covered are Europe, Iran, Colombia and Palestine.
She received a master in communication of armed conflicts, peace and social movements in the Autonomous University of Barcelona, a master's degree in development, cooperation and globalization in the University of Barcelona and a postgraduate degree in narrative journalism also in the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has published about Iranian women and also about the situation of Muslim women refugees in Greece. She visited in August 2019 Palestinian Territories with local women's organizations. During one year (August 2017-August 2018), she carried out international accompaniment to rural communities in Colombia with the International Action For Peace IAP organization. She has also worked in the communication departments of the IAP Catalunya and Center Delàs d'Estudis per la Pau. Her stories are collected in: https://lashistoriasquefaltan.wordpress.com
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