Hend Alawadhi
Kuwait University, Architecture, Faculty Member
- Rochester Institute of Technology, School of Design, Graduate StudentUniversity of Rochester, Visual and Cultural Studies, Graduate Studentadd
- Middle East Studies, Disability Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Arab Cinema, Postcolonial Studies, HIV/AIDS, and 19 moreArt History, Film Studies, Cultural Theory, Intersectionality, Visual Studies, Design, Educational Technology, Feminist Theory, Art and Design Education, Cyber Aesthetics, Film Theory, Documentary Film, Women and Gender Issues in Islam, Women of Color Feminism, Popular Culture, Arab Spring (Arab Revolts), Experimental Cinema, Found Footage, and Middle East Historyedit
- Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture, Kuwait University Ph.D., Visual & Cultural Studies, University ... moreAssistant Professor in the College of Architecture, Kuwait University
Ph.D., Visual & Cultural Studies, University of Rochester (2017)
M.A., Visual and Cultural Studies, University of Rochester (2015)
Graduate Certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies, Susan B. Anthony Institute (2013)
M.F.A., Computer Graphics Design, Minor: Art History, Rochester Institute of Technology (2010)
Former Managing Editor at InVisible Culture: An Electronic Journal for Visual Cultureedit
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Published in International Journal of Comic Art (Vol. 16, No.1)
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Published in IAFOR Journal of Media, Communication & Film (Summer 2013).
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Research Interests: Social Movements, Women's Studies, Translation Studies, Feminist Theory, Arabic Language and Linguistics, and 10 morePopular Culture, Comics Studies, Media Activism, Feminist activism, Comics and Graphic Novels, Arab Women's Studies, Culture Jamming, Arab Spring (Arab Revolts), Social Networking & Social Media, and Arabic Language and Literature
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This paper analyzes cinematic representations of HIV/AIDS in the Arab world, focusing specifically on Egyptian director Amr Salama’s feature film Asma’a (2011). Based on true events, Asma’a explores the traumatic ordeals that Asma’a, an... more
This paper analyzes cinematic representations of HIV/AIDS in the Arab world, focusing specifically on Egyptian director Amr Salama’s feature film Asma’a (2011). Based on true events, Asma’a explores the traumatic ordeals that Asma’a, an HIV-positive woman, has to contend with in contemporary Egypt. When she develops a gallbladder infection, she finds that no doctor is willing to operate on her due to misinformed fears of contamination and cultural contempt. By focusing on an HIV-positive, working-class woman who willingly becomes infected, the film attempts to dispel the connection between serostatus and moral judgment—or, to phrase it differently, between innocent HIV/AIDS and that which is divine punishment. Asma’a also demonstrates how the state renders bodies marked with stigma—in this case HIV/AIDS—as disabled and relegates them to the outskirts of society.
The first section of the paper provides a diegetic analysis of the film, focusing on the main events in the narrative vis-à-vis select accounts from contemporary media for contextualization. Additionally, I attempt to locate similarities between the implications of contemporary sociopolitical attitudes towards PLWHA in the Arab world and the West, especially the United States, drawing on both queer studies and feminist disability studies.
The second section is dedicated to the cinematic techniques and genre conventions that Asma’a utilizes to clearly establish its departure from previous representations of HIV/AIDS in Egyptian cinema. Additionally, this section offers analyses of four films from the late 1980s and 1990s that also represented HIV/AIDS in their narratives, relying on biased and stigmatizing “outbreak narratives.” Apart from Asma’a, there have been next to no unbiased representations of PLWHA in Arab mainstream media, particularly in feature films. Thus, I argue that Asma’a is uniquely positioned to change public awareness by subverting common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.
The first section of the paper provides a diegetic analysis of the film, focusing on the main events in the narrative vis-à-vis select accounts from contemporary media for contextualization. Additionally, I attempt to locate similarities between the implications of contemporary sociopolitical attitudes towards PLWHA in the Arab world and the West, especially the United States, drawing on both queer studies and feminist disability studies.
The second section is dedicated to the cinematic techniques and genre conventions that Asma’a utilizes to clearly establish its departure from previous representations of HIV/AIDS in Egyptian cinema. Additionally, this section offers analyses of four films from the late 1980s and 1990s that also represented HIV/AIDS in their narratives, relying on biased and stigmatizing “outbreak narratives.” Apart from Asma’a, there have been next to no unbiased representations of PLWHA in Arab mainstream media, particularly in feature films. Thus, I argue that Asma’a is uniquely positioned to change public awareness by subverting common misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.
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This course is designed to introduce pre-college students to a wide range of pop culture from the Middle East, such as novels, theater productions, soap operas, TV shows, feature length films, and graphic novels.
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Experimental "On Film" series, 2013-2017. Semesterly film program at University of Rochester with guest filmmakers/scholars.