The Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice Noted Scholars Series presents
Palestine as Praxis: Information and Intersectionality in the Age of Genocide
Dr. Adel Iskandar
WHEN & WHERE
Wednesday, October 9th, 12:00-1:00pm
Buchanan Tower 225/Zoom
Please RSVP below in advance
A light lunch will be served at 1:00pm.
ABSTRACT
In this lecture Adel Iskander argues that in our contemporary moment, it is no longer possible to undertake critical theoretical research that claims to situate itself at the intersections of emancipatory causes without engaging comprehensively with the perennial paradox of Palestinian suffering. Whether it’s climate justice, disarmament, anti-racism, decolonization, 2SLGBTQI+ rights, healthcare inequality, food insecurity, economic scarcity, displacement, or any of the myriad conditions currently afflicting communities worldwide, not centering Israel’s ceaseless genocide, occupation, apartheid, erasure, and silencing of Palestinians undermines the credibility of the work being undertaken.
ABOUT Dr. Adel Iskander
Adel Iskandar is an Associate Professor of Global Communication and the Director of the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS) at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver/Burnaby, Canada. The author, co-author, and editor of several works including Egypt In Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution (AUCP/OUP); Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism (Basic Books); Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation (University of California Press); Mediating the Arab Uprisings (Tadween Publishing); and Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring (Palgrave Macmillan). Iskandar’s work deals with media, identity and politics and he has lectured extensively on these topics at universities in over 25 countries. Iskandar’s engaged participatory research includes supporting knowledge production through scholarly digital publishing such as co-editing the popular online publication Jadaliyya and producing academic podcasts such as Status الوضع. His community research agenda involves showcasing grassroots participatory creative production by communities in the Middle East to confront intolerance, documenting the Syrian newcomer experience in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland, and supporting local MENA/SWANA artists through curated performances and exhibitions. Prior to his arrival at SFU, Iskandar taught at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) and the Communication, Culture, and Technology (CCT) Program at Georgetown University as well as the Radio-Television and Film (RTF) Department at the University of Texas-Austin. Iskandar is the recipient of numerous awards including the SFU Teaching Excellence Award (2020), and the Faculty of Communication, Arts and Technology (FCAT)’s Research Mentorship Award (2018), and the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award (2021). He is currently serving as the Chair of Graduate Studies in the School of Communication and is undertaking two forthcoming publications—one on the political role of memes and digital satire and the other about contemporary forms of imperial transculturalism.
