This event will provide a platform for prominent voices of Muslim women of color in Journalism and Broadcast Media to discuss the intersections of their Muslim identity, gender and race in relation to their careers. More often than not, the topic of Muslims in the media is centered on post-9/11 rhetoric that essentializes and vilifies Muslims, failing to center the conversation around the experiences of their nuanced, multidimensional experiences. Rather than generating a conversation about the pervasiveness of Islamophobia, racism and harmful stereotypes in the media, we aim to shift the focus to the raw experiences of Muslim women who find themselves in the middle of news-making spaces, writing their own story through their work and experiences.
This discussion will consist of a facilitated panel with speakers Azmat Khan and Malika Bilal. It will be free and open to the public and will be publicized widely to the campus community, as we hope to foster a shared appreciation for the Media Arts, as well as look critically at the challenges and opportunities they pose.
Sponsored by the Muslim Students' Association, the Department of American Culture, the Arab and Muslim American Studies Program, the Department of Communications, the Department of Screen Arts and Culture, and Michigan Public Media.
