INVITED LECTURES
Unfortunately, prior to the post-COVID embrace of Zoom across the space of higher education, academic lectures and invited talks tended, more often than not, to be live events without the benefit of either a livestream or a recording. Moving forward, I will definitely request recordings for future in-person events - as always, you know how I feel about public education (at the risk of repetitiveness: it should be free and available for anyone and everyone who wants to learn).
One of the few benefits of the pandemic for academia, in my now-unemployed-as-a-partial-result of COVID opinion, is the increasing ease of access to invited lectures and other events in higher education, as recordings are becoming standard, and enable the broader public to participate like never before. To give you a general idea of the invited talks I’ve done that predate the era of Zoom recordings and COVID, scroll down to see a list of my non-recorded, past conference papers, lectures, and other academic speaking engagements.
For non-academic talks, including television, film, roundtables, radio, and podcasts, visit Media Appearances and Public Events. To access interviews in print media and other written exchanges, see Public Events and Print Media Interviews.. Want me to speak at your university or other public event? I'm always happy to appear any and everywhere I'm needed, schedule allowing - so reach out via email, or contact me through this website.
One of the few benefits of the pandemic for academia, in my now-unemployed-as-a-partial-result of COVID opinion, is the increasing ease of access to invited lectures and other events in higher education, as recordings are becoming standard, and enable the broader public to participate like never before. To give you a general idea of the invited talks I’ve done that predate the era of Zoom recordings and COVID, scroll down to see a list of my non-recorded, past conference papers, lectures, and other academic speaking engagements.
For non-academic talks, including television, film, roundtables, radio, and podcasts, visit Media Appearances and Public Events. To access interviews in print media and other written exchanges, see Public Events and Print Media Interviews.. Want me to speak at your university or other public event? I'm always happy to appear any and everywhere I'm needed, schedule allowing - so reach out via email, or contact me through this website.
Symbiotic Extremisms from Al Qaeda to Atomwaffen
The Matrix: Conversations & Transformations [Fighting White Supremacy & Global Ethno-Nationalism Series] | Occidental College, Departments of Critical Theory and Social Justice - March 18, 2021
CTSJ's the Matrix is joined by Dr. Amanda E. Rogers. Dr. Rogers is a Fellow at The Century Foundation, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Rogers is an activist, artist, academic, and internationally recognized expert on transnational Non-State Armed Groups, political violence and propaganda, from ISIS to Neo Nazis. Her photojournalism, political commentary and analysis has been featured in a number of forums, including Al-Jazeera, the New York Times, the Atlantic Council, The Intercept, London’s Frontline Club, VICE, HBO, CNN, and the BBC, among others. She is currently working on a book project that examines the role of military and law enforcement infiltration within the modern white supremacist movement, 1970 – 2020.
Conditional Citizenship and Belonging: Britain’s ‘Muslim Question’ After the Shamima Begum Ruling
Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR) | The University of Sussex - May 3, 2019
In late February, Home secretary Sajid Javid decided to strip Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, citing her as a “dangerous dual national” whose choice to leave the UK and become an ‘ISIS bride’ betrayed her hatred for the country and its values. The ensuing debate on this ruling has been fierce and polarized, much like popular images of Begum herself, which depict her as either a naive teenage runaway or a threatening terrorist sympathizer. Yet, beyond its immediate emotional resonance, the ruling is critical to understanding contemporary framings of citizenship, identity and integration in the UK, especially in relation to the country’s growing Muslim population. This panel discussion hopes to understand the Shamima Begum ruling within this broader context by asking:
- To what extent is citizenship conditional on individual heritage and the fulfillment of reciprocal duties towards the state?
- How does the construction of particular communities as threats to the public good impact on individual citizenship and belonging?
- How do patriarchal, orientalist and racist discourses in mainstream media and politics shape the embodiment of threat within particular individuals and communities?
- How are the issues of integration and deradicalization framed in relation to particular individuals and communities?
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PART I
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PART II
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PART III
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Black Flags, ISIS Swag & Jihadi Rap: Marketing Militancy after the Arab Spring
University of Kentucky, The Chellgren Center | Visual Studies Forum - November 17, 2014
This lecture identifies a distinctive genre of cultural production / propaganda disseminated by the so-called "Islamic State, different from that of the "Beheading Series" " featuring Western journalist and aid workers—yet no less disturbing. Marketing’s analytical frame, strategic deployment of popular culture, and the intended audience of young, digitally networked “global citizens” best contextualizes the ISIS phenomenon: a propaganda blitzkrieg rooted in corporate models of strategic, multi-media publicity campaigns, immersive entertainment cultures, and commodified rebellion’s consumption (Che t-shirts)—not theology. ISIS exemplifies the paradoxical power of cultural production in contemporary geopolitical combat theater—war’s increasingly symbolic terrain.
The Strategic Success of ISIS Propaganda
Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison - October 24, 2014
To borrow the words of Judith Butler, “if we are interested in arresting cycles of violence to produce less violent outcomes, it is no doubt important to ask what, politically, might be made of grief besides a cry for war.” For reasons that will readily become apparent, the present lecture derives not simply from my professional area of expertise, but also from an uncomfortably personal connection. Of course, the spheres of personal experience, political convictions, and academic work are never as separate as one might like to believe, imagine, or pretend. On rare occasions, however, these closely related arenas intersect more fully—one might even say violently. “Strategic Success of ISIS Propaganda,” was, in fact, prompted by precisely such a brutal collision—provoking painful self-examination, at levels personal and cultural.
This analysis of ISIS propaganda is limited to a singular genre of production that I title: “The Beheading Series.” This infamous video set, comprised of four installments, depicts the decapitations of Western journalists and aid workers, including—at the time of writing—James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, and Alan Henning. These political snuff films have prompted a heightened level of global hysteria, media hyperbole, and inflammation of viral fear that comes closest in intensity to the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001. But on that day, an atrocity was committed on American soil, and claimed thousands of casualties. Here, however, pixelated screens mediate and distort the atrocity, in terms of both space and time (“over there” seems yet “over here”); the death toll of U.S. citizens numbers merely two. What makes ISIS propaganda more horrifying than its terroristic predecessors? Stated differently, how does it succeed—and why? Further, the necessary questions are not simply “what” is different, nor “why,” but also—how? And—for whom?
I argue that the “Beheading Series” is not a recruitment attempt. Rather, this set of films is best understood as an advertisement campaign for apocalyptic war (or, “reverse recruitment”)—an extremely effective use of viral marketing techniques, that draws from horror films, video-game-style “immersive media,” and models of public diplomacy’s “soft power” arsenal—i.e., the “branded nation.” “The Beheading Series” belongs to a particular genre of propaganda, produced for a specific body of consumer-spectators, coded “the West.” Successful PR, after all, requires “knowing the audience.” And ISIS knows quote-unquote “us” very, very well. I demonstrate that the group’s media sophistication includes the deliberate exploitation of Islamophobia (with which Western cultures currently wrestle), and thrives within the (now) invisible distinctions between the spheres of entertainment, politics, and news.
Finally, against this lecture’s thematic backdrop, I also argue for the cultivation of visual literacy as an increasingly urgent tool for critical political analysis. This essential skill enables recognition of an influential connection rarely—if ever—voiced in public forums, such as the global mass media. I refer here to the intertwined relationship between the intense power of emotional affect, and the nebulous sphere of “geopolitics,” a connection that is particularly pronounced in our collective transnational context—i.e., consumer capitalism’s globalized marketplace. By purchasing ISIS advertising as if an “impulse buy,” the political arena and news media—however unwittingly—serve as (to borrow a term from security studies) “collective force multipliers.” The ad campaign, literally, goes viral—and most ominously, entirely by design.
This analysis of ISIS propaganda is limited to a singular genre of production that I title: “The Beheading Series.” This infamous video set, comprised of four installments, depicts the decapitations of Western journalists and aid workers, including—at the time of writing—James Foley, Steven Sotloff, David Haines, and Alan Henning. These political snuff films have prompted a heightened level of global hysteria, media hyperbole, and inflammation of viral fear that comes closest in intensity to the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001. But on that day, an atrocity was committed on American soil, and claimed thousands of casualties. Here, however, pixelated screens mediate and distort the atrocity, in terms of both space and time (“over there” seems yet “over here”); the death toll of U.S. citizens numbers merely two. What makes ISIS propaganda more horrifying than its terroristic predecessors? Stated differently, how does it succeed—and why? Further, the necessary questions are not simply “what” is different, nor “why,” but also—how? And—for whom?
I argue that the “Beheading Series” is not a recruitment attempt. Rather, this set of films is best understood as an advertisement campaign for apocalyptic war (or, “reverse recruitment”)—an extremely effective use of viral marketing techniques, that draws from horror films, video-game-style “immersive media,” and models of public diplomacy’s “soft power” arsenal—i.e., the “branded nation.” “The Beheading Series” belongs to a particular genre of propaganda, produced for a specific body of consumer-spectators, coded “the West.” Successful PR, after all, requires “knowing the audience.” And ISIS knows quote-unquote “us” very, very well. I demonstrate that the group’s media sophistication includes the deliberate exploitation of Islamophobia (with which Western cultures currently wrestle), and thrives within the (now) invisible distinctions between the spheres of entertainment, politics, and news.
Finally, against this lecture’s thematic backdrop, I also argue for the cultivation of visual literacy as an increasingly urgent tool for critical political analysis. This essential skill enables recognition of an influential connection rarely—if ever—voiced in public forums, such as the global mass media. I refer here to the intertwined relationship between the intense power of emotional affect, and the nebulous sphere of “geopolitics,” a connection that is particularly pronounced in our collective transnational context—i.e., consumer capitalism’s globalized marketplace. By purchasing ISIS advertising as if an “impulse buy,” the political arena and news media—however unwittingly—serve as (to borrow a term from security studies) “collective force multipliers.” The ad campaign, literally, goes viral—and most ominously, entirely by design.
Semiotics of Rebellion from Morocco to Egypt: Media Myths and the Arab Spring
Carleton College | Departments of History, African Studies & African American Studies - October 23, 2012
PROFESSIONAL TALKS
KEYNOTE LECTURES AND PLENARY ADDRESSES
2019. “The Affective Politics of Citizenship from Christchurch to Shamima Begum: Globalization’s Nation-State in Crisis,” (Keynote Address, Conditional
Citizenship and Belonging? Britain’s ‘Muslim Question’ After the Shamima Begum Ruling). Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR), University of
Sussex (May).
2016. “Communications Strategies of Emergent Nation-States: The ISIS Corporate Insurgency,” (Keynote Address, Pan Canadian Defense Review) Centre for Security, Intelligence, and Defense Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
(August).
2016. "Breaking the Frame of Art History: Disciplinary Futures / Critical Interventions Beyond the Walls of the Museum” (Keynote Address, Annual Art History Honors Symposium). Department of Art History, Kennesaw State University (May).
INVITED LECTURES (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL)
2022. Panelist, “The Transnational Crisis in Citizenship.” The Century Foundation, Century International, The Carnegie Corporation of New York and Open
Society Foundation (April).
2022. “Critical Approaches to Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Media,” National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha (March).
2021. “Tom Metzger’s Operation Appleseed: 50 Years of White Supremacist Infiltration Strategy,” Moonshot CVE, London (September).
2021. "Terror/Counter-Terror Histories and Logics of Asymmetric Warfare: The American White Supremacist Movement in Transnational Contemporary
Context.” Peace and Conflict Studies (PCON), Colgate University (April).
2021. “Parasitic Isolationism, Transnational Populism, and Symbiotic Extremisms: The Relationship between Armed White Supremacist and Islamist Groups.” Interdisciplinary University Studies, Middle East & Islamic Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies, Colgate University (March).
2021. “The Challenge of Pluralism, 10 Years After the Arab Spring: Revolt, Terror and Technologies of Surveillance in the Middle East and North Africa.” Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College (March).
2021. “Parasitic Isolationism, Transnational Populism, and Symbiotic Extremisms: The Relationship between Armed White Supremacist and Islamist Groups.” Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College (March).
2020. “Representation and the Intimacy of Conflict: Personal, Professional, and Political Convergence.” Inescapable Truths: The James Foley Legacy & The
Challenges of War Zone Reporting in the Middle East (panel in conjunction with Bradley McCallum’s opening, “Inescapable Truths: Works in Progress”). Wagner Gallery, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, New York University (February).
2019. “The Affective Politics of Citizenship from Christchurch to Shamima Begum: Globalization’s Nation-State in Crisis.” Center for Research in
the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH), University of Cambridge (Cambridge, United Kingdom) (March).
2017. “Ocular Politics and the Visual Economy: Contingent Media in Contemporary Algeria.” Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University (November).
2017. “Viewing Non-State Armed Groups from a Brand Marketing Perspective: A Case Study of the Islamic State.” United Nations University (UNU), Peacekeeping Operations (January).
2016. “ISIS and the Stakes of the Nation-State: Deconstructing and Contextualizing the Narratives of ‘Islamic State,’ United States Embassy, Ottawa, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Vancouver, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Montreal, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. "Inside the Boardroom-Battleground of the Islamic State”: Nation-Branding, Viral Marketing, and the Future of Transnational Conflict,” The Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. “Looking Legitimate: Deconstructing the ISIS’ Brand Hijacking Techniques for Outreach to Digitally Networked Teens,” Japanese Cultural Center, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. “ISIS Beyond the Violence: Contextualizing Recruitment Appeals in an Age of Memes, Multi-Media, and Instant Gratification,” Edmonton Federal Building, Edmonton, Canada (August).
2016. “ISIS Beyond the Violence: Contextualizing Recruitment Appeals in an Age of Memes, Multi-Media, and Instant Gratification,” Calgary Police Headquarters, Calgary, Canada (August).
2016. “Imperial Blowback: The Evolution of Political Islam.” Political Science Department, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies Campus. SciencesPo
(Institut d'études politiques de Paris). Menton, France (April).
2016. "State-Building and Strategy in ISIS Messaging: Islamophobia, Civilians, and Refugees.” Department of Religion. Wofford College (March).
2016. “Tattoos, Terrorism, and Revolution: Gender, Religious Nationalism, and the Politicization of Moroccan Cultural Production.” Department of African Studies, Department of Art History, and the Middle Eastern and North African Program. Wofford College (March).
2016. “The Fundamentals of Field Research: From Grant Proposals and IRB Clearance to the Honors Thesis and Beyond.” Intercultural Studies & Middle Eastern and North African Program, Wofford College (March).
2016. “Symbiotic Terrorism and the Paris Attack(s): October 17, 1961, and the Legacy of State Violence.” Department of French and German, Agnes Scott College (February).
2016. “Syria’s Refugee Crisis and the ‘Islamic State’ Propaganda Machine.” Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory University (January).
2015. “The War Within: Islamic ‘Extremism’ from Sayyid Qutb to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.” Department of History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario:
Canada (March).
2015. “Prototypes for Web 2.0’s Caliphal (Trans)Nationalism: GCC Media Pioneers, Immersive Technologies, and Nation Branding the so-called ‘Islamic State.’”Middle East and North African Studies Program, Northwestern University
(February).
2015. “Nation Branding the “Islamic State”: Cartographic Politics, Globalization and Shifting Power Centers after the Cold War.” Department of Art History,
Northwestern University (February).
2015. “Breaking the Frame: Doctoral Futures and Critical Interventions Beyond the Boundaries of Discipline,” Department of Art History, Department of
Anthropology, and the Graduate School at Northwestern University (February).
2014. “Black Flags, ISIS ‘Swag,’ and Jihadi Rap: Marketing Militancy after the Arab Spring.” Visual Studies Forum – Visual Studies and Politics Series, University of Kentucky (November).
2014. “On Personal Grief and the Strategic Success of ISIS Propaganda,” Middle East Institute and Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University October).
2012. “Visualizing Consciousness: Roots of Egyptian Feminist Struggle from Independence Commemorations to Post-Revolution Graffiti,” Department of
Women’s Studies University of Minnesota (October).
2012. “The Arab Spring in the Country of a Million Martyrs: Image Politics in Contemporary Algeria,” Department of African Studies and Department of
History, Carleton College (October).
2012. “al-ḥenna’ wa at-tadayyīn an-nissa’ ‘abr shamāl īfrīqīyya.” (Arabic lecture: “Henna and Women’s Practices of Body Adornment Across North Africa”),
Department of Archeology and Department of Religion. l’université d’Alger II, Algiers: Algeria (March).
2012. “Image Warfare and the Arab Spring: What’s Next?” Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester (March).
2011. “Rap Music and Revolution: Soundtracks of Rebellion from Tunisia to Egypt.” Department of History and Department of African Studies, Carleton College (March).
2008. “Body Adornment and Women’s Culture in North Africa,” Department of Art History, Kennesaw State University (January).
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2022. Talk Title TBD, White Supremacy, Misogyny, and the ‘New’ Terrorism. Department of Philosophy, Syracuse University (June).
2017. “ISIS and the Stakes of the Nation-State: Deconstructing and Contextualizing the Narratives of ‘Islamic State,’ International Studies Association, Annual Conference Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland (February).
2016. “The Aesthetic Politics of Caliphal Legitimacy in a Globalized Marketplace: ISIS, Competitive Identity, and the Corporate Techniques of Public Diplomacy,” Panelist: Mobilizing Media: A Deep and Comparative Analysis of Magazines, Music, and Videos in The Context of Terrorism. VOX-Pol Project: Taking Stock of Research on Violent Online Extremism. Dublin City University, Dublin: Ireland (June).
2016. Invited Paper, “Captive Witness: John Cantlie’s Strategic Value for ISIS Propaganda.” Annual Muslim Studies Conference: Defining the Islamic. Muslim
Studies Program, Michigan State University (April).
2014. “Algerian Martyrdom and Cultures of Remembrance,” Arts Council of the African Studies Association Triennial Conference (ACASA). Brooklyn Museum, New York (March).
2011. “Henna, Fatima’s Palm, and Memorializing the Casablanca Bombings of 2003,” Traces of Violence in Africa. School of African Studies, University of Beyreuth: Germany (July).
2011. “Art Historiography and the War on Terror: Foregrounding the Symbolic in Debates on Religious Extremism,” Chios Institute for Mediterranean Affairs.
Kadir Has University, Istanbul: Turkey (April).
2008. “Answering Riverbend: Abu Ghraib and the Rupture of the Orientalist Image,” Reconsidering the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ in the 21st Century. State
University of New York, Brockport (April).
2007. “Legitimizing Popular Islam: Bilal, Blackness and the Gnawa Brotherhood,” Sufi Arts, Rituals and Performance in Africa. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (February).
2006. “Odalisque to Abu-Ghraib: Sexualization, Control and Visual Colonialism,” Morocco in Western Art Symposium. International Fulbright Alumni
Association, Marrakech: Morocco (November).
2006.“’Liberalization’ of the Female Body: Media, Fashion and ‘Corporeal Colonialism,’” The Gender Question in Human Development. Sidi Mohamed
Ben Abdellah University, Fes: Morocco (April).
2006. “Blood, Art and Sexuality: Biological Underpinnings and Social Function of Body Adornment,” Thirteenth Annual Maghrebi Area Studies Symposium. Moroccan American Commission for Cultural Exchange, Rabat: Morocco (March).
2006. “Moroccan Henna and the Socialization of Gender Roles,” International Conference on Minorities and Minority Literatures. Mohamed I University,
Oujda: Morocco (March).
DISCUSSANT/RESPONDENT
2020. Moderator and Panel Discussant, “Curating the Black Lives Matter Video Playlist.” 'Trump, Television and the Media. London Metropolitan University
(October).
2016. Invited Facilitator & Discussant. Dialogue with Sohail Daultatzai, “Screening Terror: The Living Legend of the Battle of Algiers.” Department of Religious Studies and Middle East Institute, Georgia State University (March).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), COLGATE UNIVERSITY
2020. “From ISIS to the Abortion Wars: The Accidental Terrorism Expert.” Hancock Commons Faculty Speaker Series (March).
2019. “This Revolution will be Remixed: Rap Music’s Soundtrack of Rebellion in the Contemporary Middle East,” Model Arab League Student Association, Colgate University. (November).
2019. Participant and Presenter, “Data to Dome” Conference and Workshop. Ho Tung Visualization Lab (International Planetarium Society (IPS), Colgate
University Libraries, South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation & National Research Foundation, The Iziko Planetarium and International
Planetarium Society) (October).
2019. “Exploring Teaching in the Ho Tung Visualization Lab.” Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research (CLTR) (April).
2019. “What It Means to be a Scholar: Conversations on the Public Intellectual.” Alumni Memorial Scholars Faculty Lunch Series, Undergraduate Scholars
Program (April).
2019. “’al-djaza’ir, saga’ ‘alaik: al-mudthāharāt dhid būtafliqa.” (Arabic lecture: Algeria, ‘Too Cool for You’: The Protests Against Bouteflika”), Arabic Program
– Advanced Arabic seminar (March).
2018. “Warding off Terrorism and Revolution: Moroccan religious pluralism, national identity and the politics of visual culture.” Department of Religion
(November).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
2016. “How ISIS Sees Itself.” GSU and Emory on ISIS, Global Studies Institute & Middle East Center (September).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON
2015. “The ‘Art’ of Ideology: Insurgent Propaganda, ISIS, and the Censorship Debate,” Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (April).
2014. “Beyond ‘Propaganda’: The Role of Cultural Production in ISIS Nation Building Strategies.” Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (December).
2014. “’States of Exception’ in the Modern Middle East: The Politics of Heritage, Culture, and Tourism from Israel to the Gulf Cooperation Council,” Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison (October).
2014. “Digital Mythologies of the so-called “Arab Spring.’” Department of Communication Arts, Media Studies, and Digital Humanities, University of
Wisconsin, Madison (April).
2013. “Visualizing Egyptian Politics: Processual Revolution or Military Resurgence?” Humanities NOW, Madison Public Library and the Center for Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison (November).
2013. “Algeria: Artistic Production and the Politics of Patience after the Arab Spring. Faculty Colloquium, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (March).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), EMORY UNIVERSITY
2009. "The Hand of Fatima as a Shared Protective Emblem,” Arabic and Hebrew Programs, Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory
University (November).
2009. “Popular Arts in North Africa: A Brief Overview,” Arab Cultural Association, Emory University (November).
2009. “al-qawmīyya al-āmāzīghīyya wa as-sīyāsat al-hawīyya fil’maghrib.” (Arabic language lecture: “Berber Nationalism and the Politics of Identity in Morocco”). Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory University (April).
2009. “Palestinian Colloquial Arabic and Arab Identity in Liberation Hip-Hop,” Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies Department, Emory
University (March).
2009. Invited Colloquium Presentation, “Representing Difference/Constructing Ethnicity: The Berber Cultural Movement, Language and Algerian Opposition Politics,” Department of Art History, Emory University (February).
2008. “The Political Power of Femininity: Colonialism, Mimesis and Queen Victoria in the Sande Society of Sierra Leone,” Department of Women’s Studies, Emory University February).
2007. “Women and the Development of Islamic Law,” Interdisciplinary Freshmen Honors Seminar, Emory University (November).
SYMPOSIA & WORKSHOP ACTIVITY
2009 – present. Workshop Organizer and Panelist, Interdisciplinary Grant Writing Workshop. Laney Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Emory University.
2019. Invited Workshop Participant, Panelist, and Discussant. “Events of Citizenship” (John Harvard Seminar Series), University of Cambridge (March).
2019. Participant and Presenter, “Data to Dome” Conference and Workshop. Ho Tung Visualization Lab (International Planetarium Society (IPS), Colgate University Libraries, South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation & National Research Foundation, The Iziko Planetarium and International Planetarium Society) (October).
2019. “Exploring Teaching in the Ho Tung Visualization Lab.” Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research (CLTR) (April).
2016. Panelist, “Activism, Academia, and Reclaiming Hijacked Discourses on Social Media: Introducing ISIS and Islamophobia as Symbiotic Extremisms,” Panel: Being Social on Social Media: Academia, the Digital Humanities, and the Middle East. Annual Conference Meeting, Middle East Studies Association, Boston: Massachusetts (November).
2016. Invited Workshop and Presentation, “The Boardroom-Battleground of Islamic State: Nation-Branding, Corporatized Insurgencies, and the Future of Global Conflict.” War Seminar 2.0: Doxologies of War. Peace and Conflict (PCON) Studies, Colgate University (September).
2015. MENA Studies Graduate Symposium on Research Methodologies. “Strategies for MENA Fieldwork: Confronting Region-Specific Challenges. Middle Eastern and North African Studies Program, Northwestern University (November).
2008. Invited Panelist, “Field Work and Ethnography: A Primer for Field Research,” Institute for African Studies, Department of African Studies, and Department of Anthropology, Emory University (January).
KEYNOTE LECTURES AND PLENARY ADDRESSES
2019. “The Affective Politics of Citizenship from Christchurch to Shamima Begum: Globalization’s Nation-State in Crisis,” (Keynote Address, Conditional
Citizenship and Belonging? Britain’s ‘Muslim Question’ After the Shamima Begum Ruling). Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR), University of
Sussex (May).
2016. “Communications Strategies of Emergent Nation-States: The ISIS Corporate Insurgency,” (Keynote Address, Pan Canadian Defense Review) Centre for Security, Intelligence, and Defense Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
(August).
2016. "Breaking the Frame of Art History: Disciplinary Futures / Critical Interventions Beyond the Walls of the Museum” (Keynote Address, Annual Art History Honors Symposium). Department of Art History, Kennesaw State University (May).
INVITED LECTURES (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL)
2022. Panelist, “The Transnational Crisis in Citizenship.” The Century Foundation, Century International, The Carnegie Corporation of New York and Open
Society Foundation (April).
2022. “Critical Approaches to Terrorism and Counterterrorism in Media,” National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) and School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Nebraska Omaha (March).
2021. “Tom Metzger’s Operation Appleseed: 50 Years of White Supremacist Infiltration Strategy,” Moonshot CVE, London (September).
2021. "Terror/Counter-Terror Histories and Logics of Asymmetric Warfare: The American White Supremacist Movement in Transnational Contemporary
Context.” Peace and Conflict Studies (PCON), Colgate University (April).
2021. “Parasitic Isolationism, Transnational Populism, and Symbiotic Extremisms: The Relationship between Armed White Supremacist and Islamist Groups.” Interdisciplinary University Studies, Middle East & Islamic Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies, Colgate University (March).
2021. “The Challenge of Pluralism, 10 Years After the Arab Spring: Revolt, Terror and Technologies of Surveillance in the Middle East and North Africa.” Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College (March).
2021. “Parasitic Isolationism, Transnational Populism, and Symbiotic Extremisms: The Relationship between Armed White Supremacist and Islamist Groups.” Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College (March).
2020. “Representation and the Intimacy of Conflict: Personal, Professional, and Political Convergence.” Inescapable Truths: The James Foley Legacy & The
Challenges of War Zone Reporting in the Middle East (panel in conjunction with Bradley McCallum’s opening, “Inescapable Truths: Works in Progress”). Wagner Gallery, Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, New York University (February).
2019. “The Affective Politics of Citizenship from Christchurch to Shamima Begum: Globalization’s Nation-State in Crisis.” Center for Research in
the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH), University of Cambridge (Cambridge, United Kingdom) (March).
2017. “Ocular Politics and the Visual Economy: Contingent Media in Contemporary Algeria.” Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University (November).
2017. “Viewing Non-State Armed Groups from a Brand Marketing Perspective: A Case Study of the Islamic State.” United Nations University (UNU), Peacekeeping Operations (January).
2016. “ISIS and the Stakes of the Nation-State: Deconstructing and Contextualizing the Narratives of ‘Islamic State,’ United States Embassy, Ottawa, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Vancouver, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Montreal, Canada (August).
2016. “What’s in a Name? Transnational Community, the Apparatus of Statehood, and ISIS’ Propaganda Machinery,” United States Consulate, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. "Inside the Boardroom-Battleground of the Islamic State”: Nation-Branding, Viral Marketing, and the Future of Transnational Conflict,” The Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. “Looking Legitimate: Deconstructing the ISIS’ Brand Hijacking Techniques for Outreach to Digitally Networked Teens,” Japanese Cultural Center, Toronto, Canada (August).
2016. “ISIS Beyond the Violence: Contextualizing Recruitment Appeals in an Age of Memes, Multi-Media, and Instant Gratification,” Edmonton Federal Building, Edmonton, Canada (August).
2016. “ISIS Beyond the Violence: Contextualizing Recruitment Appeals in an Age of Memes, Multi-Media, and Instant Gratification,” Calgary Police Headquarters, Calgary, Canada (August).
2016. “Imperial Blowback: The Evolution of Political Islam.” Political Science Department, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies Campus. SciencesPo
(Institut d'études politiques de Paris). Menton, France (April).
2016. "State-Building and Strategy in ISIS Messaging: Islamophobia, Civilians, and Refugees.” Department of Religion. Wofford College (March).
2016. “Tattoos, Terrorism, and Revolution: Gender, Religious Nationalism, and the Politicization of Moroccan Cultural Production.” Department of African Studies, Department of Art History, and the Middle Eastern and North African Program. Wofford College (March).
2016. “The Fundamentals of Field Research: From Grant Proposals and IRB Clearance to the Honors Thesis and Beyond.” Intercultural Studies & Middle Eastern and North African Program, Wofford College (March).
2016. “Symbiotic Terrorism and the Paris Attack(s): October 17, 1961, and the Legacy of State Violence.” Department of French and German, Agnes Scott College (February).
2016. “Syria’s Refugee Crisis and the ‘Islamic State’ Propaganda Machine.” Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory University (January).
2015. “The War Within: Islamic ‘Extremism’ from Sayyid Qutb to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.” Department of History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario:
Canada (March).
2015. “Prototypes for Web 2.0’s Caliphal (Trans)Nationalism: GCC Media Pioneers, Immersive Technologies, and Nation Branding the so-called ‘Islamic State.’”Middle East and North African Studies Program, Northwestern University
(February).
2015. “Nation Branding the “Islamic State”: Cartographic Politics, Globalization and Shifting Power Centers after the Cold War.” Department of Art History,
Northwestern University (February).
2015. “Breaking the Frame: Doctoral Futures and Critical Interventions Beyond the Boundaries of Discipline,” Department of Art History, Department of
Anthropology, and the Graduate School at Northwestern University (February).
2014. “Black Flags, ISIS ‘Swag,’ and Jihadi Rap: Marketing Militancy after the Arab Spring.” Visual Studies Forum – Visual Studies and Politics Series, University of Kentucky (November).
2014. “On Personal Grief and the Strategic Success of ISIS Propaganda,” Middle East Institute and Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University October).
2012. “Visualizing Consciousness: Roots of Egyptian Feminist Struggle from Independence Commemorations to Post-Revolution Graffiti,” Department of
Women’s Studies University of Minnesota (October).
2012. “The Arab Spring in the Country of a Million Martyrs: Image Politics in Contemporary Algeria,” Department of African Studies and Department of
History, Carleton College (October).
2012. “al-ḥenna’ wa at-tadayyīn an-nissa’ ‘abr shamāl īfrīqīyya.” (Arabic lecture: “Henna and Women’s Practices of Body Adornment Across North Africa”),
Department of Archeology and Department of Religion. l’université d’Alger II, Algiers: Algeria (March).
2012. “Image Warfare and the Arab Spring: What’s Next?” Department of Anthropology, University of Rochester (March).
2011. “Rap Music and Revolution: Soundtracks of Rebellion from Tunisia to Egypt.” Department of History and Department of African Studies, Carleton College (March).
2008. “Body Adornment and Women’s Culture in North Africa,” Department of Art History, Kennesaw State University (January).
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2022. Talk Title TBD, White Supremacy, Misogyny, and the ‘New’ Terrorism. Department of Philosophy, Syracuse University (June).
2017. “ISIS and the Stakes of the Nation-State: Deconstructing and Contextualizing the Narratives of ‘Islamic State,’ International Studies Association, Annual Conference Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland (February).
2016. “The Aesthetic Politics of Caliphal Legitimacy in a Globalized Marketplace: ISIS, Competitive Identity, and the Corporate Techniques of Public Diplomacy,” Panelist: Mobilizing Media: A Deep and Comparative Analysis of Magazines, Music, and Videos in The Context of Terrorism. VOX-Pol Project: Taking Stock of Research on Violent Online Extremism. Dublin City University, Dublin: Ireland (June).
2016. Invited Paper, “Captive Witness: John Cantlie’s Strategic Value for ISIS Propaganda.” Annual Muslim Studies Conference: Defining the Islamic. Muslim
Studies Program, Michigan State University (April).
2014. “Algerian Martyrdom and Cultures of Remembrance,” Arts Council of the African Studies Association Triennial Conference (ACASA). Brooklyn Museum, New York (March).
2011. “Henna, Fatima’s Palm, and Memorializing the Casablanca Bombings of 2003,” Traces of Violence in Africa. School of African Studies, University of Beyreuth: Germany (July).
2011. “Art Historiography and the War on Terror: Foregrounding the Symbolic in Debates on Religious Extremism,” Chios Institute for Mediterranean Affairs.
Kadir Has University, Istanbul: Turkey (April).
2008. “Answering Riverbend: Abu Ghraib and the Rupture of the Orientalist Image,” Reconsidering the ‘Orient’ and the ‘Occident’ in the 21st Century. State
University of New York, Brockport (April).
2007. “Legitimizing Popular Islam: Bilal, Blackness and the Gnawa Brotherhood,” Sufi Arts, Rituals and Performance in Africa. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (February).
2006. “Odalisque to Abu-Ghraib: Sexualization, Control and Visual Colonialism,” Morocco in Western Art Symposium. International Fulbright Alumni
Association, Marrakech: Morocco (November).
2006.“’Liberalization’ of the Female Body: Media, Fashion and ‘Corporeal Colonialism,’” The Gender Question in Human Development. Sidi Mohamed
Ben Abdellah University, Fes: Morocco (April).
2006. “Blood, Art and Sexuality: Biological Underpinnings and Social Function of Body Adornment,” Thirteenth Annual Maghrebi Area Studies Symposium. Moroccan American Commission for Cultural Exchange, Rabat: Morocco (March).
2006. “Moroccan Henna and the Socialization of Gender Roles,” International Conference on Minorities and Minority Literatures. Mohamed I University,
Oujda: Morocco (March).
DISCUSSANT/RESPONDENT
2020. Moderator and Panel Discussant, “Curating the Black Lives Matter Video Playlist.” 'Trump, Television and the Media. London Metropolitan University
(October).
2016. Invited Facilitator & Discussant. Dialogue with Sohail Daultatzai, “Screening Terror: The Living Legend of the Battle of Algiers.” Department of Religious Studies and Middle East Institute, Georgia State University (March).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), COLGATE UNIVERSITY
2020. “From ISIS to the Abortion Wars: The Accidental Terrorism Expert.” Hancock Commons Faculty Speaker Series (March).
2019. “This Revolution will be Remixed: Rap Music’s Soundtrack of Rebellion in the Contemporary Middle East,” Model Arab League Student Association, Colgate University. (November).
2019. Participant and Presenter, “Data to Dome” Conference and Workshop. Ho Tung Visualization Lab (International Planetarium Society (IPS), Colgate
University Libraries, South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation & National Research Foundation, The Iziko Planetarium and International
Planetarium Society) (October).
2019. “Exploring Teaching in the Ho Tung Visualization Lab.” Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research (CLTR) (April).
2019. “What It Means to be a Scholar: Conversations on the Public Intellectual.” Alumni Memorial Scholars Faculty Lunch Series, Undergraduate Scholars
Program (April).
2019. “’al-djaza’ir, saga’ ‘alaik: al-mudthāharāt dhid būtafliqa.” (Arabic lecture: Algeria, ‘Too Cool for You’: The Protests Against Bouteflika”), Arabic Program
– Advanced Arabic seminar (March).
2018. “Warding off Terrorism and Revolution: Moroccan religious pluralism, national identity and the politics of visual culture.” Department of Religion
(November).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
2016. “How ISIS Sees Itself.” GSU and Emory on ISIS, Global Studies Institute & Middle East Center (September).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON
2015. “The ‘Art’ of Ideology: Insurgent Propaganda, ISIS, and the Censorship Debate,” Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (April).
2014. “Beyond ‘Propaganda’: The Role of Cultural Production in ISIS Nation Building Strategies.” Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (December).
2014. “’States of Exception’ in the Modern Middle East: The Politics of Heritage, Culture, and Tourism from Israel to the Gulf Cooperation Council,” Center for the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison (October).
2014. “Digital Mythologies of the so-called “Arab Spring.’” Department of Communication Arts, Media Studies, and Digital Humanities, University of
Wisconsin, Madison (April).
2013. “Visualizing Egyptian Politics: Processual Revolution or Military Resurgence?” Humanities NOW, Madison Public Library and the Center for Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison (November).
2013. “Algeria: Artistic Production and the Politics of Patience after the Arab Spring. Faculty Colloquium, Department of Art History, University of Wisconsin, Madison (March).
INVITED LECTURES (IN RESIDENCE), EMORY UNIVERSITY
2009. "The Hand of Fatima as a Shared Protective Emblem,” Arabic and Hebrew Programs, Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory
University (November).
2009. “Popular Arts in North Africa: A Brief Overview,” Arab Cultural Association, Emory University (November).
2009. “al-qawmīyya al-āmāzīghīyya wa as-sīyāsat al-hawīyya fil’maghrib.” (Arabic language lecture: “Berber Nationalism and the Politics of Identity in Morocco”). Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Emory University (April).
2009. “Palestinian Colloquial Arabic and Arab Identity in Liberation Hip-Hop,” Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies Department, Emory
University (March).
2009. Invited Colloquium Presentation, “Representing Difference/Constructing Ethnicity: The Berber Cultural Movement, Language and Algerian Opposition Politics,” Department of Art History, Emory University (February).
2008. “The Political Power of Femininity: Colonialism, Mimesis and Queen Victoria in the Sande Society of Sierra Leone,” Department of Women’s Studies, Emory University February).
2007. “Women and the Development of Islamic Law,” Interdisciplinary Freshmen Honors Seminar, Emory University (November).
SYMPOSIA & WORKSHOP ACTIVITY
2009 – present. Workshop Organizer and Panelist, Interdisciplinary Grant Writing Workshop. Laney Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Emory University.
2019. Invited Workshop Participant, Panelist, and Discussant. “Events of Citizenship” (John Harvard Seminar Series), University of Cambridge (March).
2019. Participant and Presenter, “Data to Dome” Conference and Workshop. Ho Tung Visualization Lab (International Planetarium Society (IPS), Colgate University Libraries, South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation & National Research Foundation, The Iziko Planetarium and International Planetarium Society) (October).
2019. “Exploring Teaching in the Ho Tung Visualization Lab.” Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research (CLTR) (April).
2016. Panelist, “Activism, Academia, and Reclaiming Hijacked Discourses on Social Media: Introducing ISIS and Islamophobia as Symbiotic Extremisms,” Panel: Being Social on Social Media: Academia, the Digital Humanities, and the Middle East. Annual Conference Meeting, Middle East Studies Association, Boston: Massachusetts (November).
2016. Invited Workshop and Presentation, “The Boardroom-Battleground of Islamic State: Nation-Branding, Corporatized Insurgencies, and the Future of Global Conflict.” War Seminar 2.0: Doxologies of War. Peace and Conflict (PCON) Studies, Colgate University (September).
2015. MENA Studies Graduate Symposium on Research Methodologies. “Strategies for MENA Fieldwork: Confronting Region-Specific Challenges. Middle Eastern and North African Studies Program, Northwestern University (November).
2008. Invited Panelist, “Field Work and Ethnography: A Primer for Field Research,” Institute for African Studies, Department of African Studies, and Department of Anthropology, Emory University (January).
RETURN TO ACADEMIC WORK.