Papers:

• “Precarious Citizens? Representations of the Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Minority Community in U.S. News Coverage of the “Honor Killing” of Noor Almaleki.” Paper presentation.

Abstract: The news is a powerful institution that shapes our understanding of everyday social and political events and frames our organization of social actors involved (van Dijk 1991). This presentation employs critical discourse analysis to examine how U.S. news coverage of the 2009 “honor killing” of Noor Almaleki (re)produces discriminatory discourses about Muslims, Middle Easterners, and South Asians. In mapping out the discursive constellations of power present within news narratives of Noor’s murder, this study exposes the relationship between violence against “other” women’s bodies and the precarious state of this minority community’s national belonging in the United States.

• “Hegemonic Masculinity and Precarious Representations of Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian Men in U.S. News Coverage of the 2009 “Honor Killing” of Noor Faleh Almaleki.” Paper presentation.

Abstract: This paper examines U.S. news coverage of the 2009 “honor killing” of Noor Almaleki as a site for the construction stigmatizing discourses about the Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian men. Using critical discourse analysis, this paper applies Edward Saїd’s theory of Orientalism and R.W. Connell’s and James W. Messerschmidt’s theory of hegemonic masculinity to demonstrate how the news represents the masculinity of these men as inferior to U.S. hegemonic norms of masculinity.  In doing so, this paper reveals how discursive practices within this coverage intensify the marginalization of this already vulnerable group.

 Roundtable:

Abstract: In this roundtable, four women from diverse backgrounds and institutional locations explore the structural barriers and implicit biases that impede women’s full participation in the academy.  We share how feminist theory serves as a powerful analytic lens for comprehending our everyday experiences of precarity.  Then, in collaboration with the audience, we exchange insights and perspectives on ways to operationalize feminism as a tool for negotiating, contesting, and resisting the obstacles we face in the classroom and other academic settings to survive and thrive within the academy.

• “Precarious Terrain: Surviving and Thriving as Diverse Women of the Academy.” Roundtable Discussant.