BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae Brigid Maher E-mail: [email protected] School of Communication Phone: 202-885-2664 American University Cell: 202-674-0678 4400 Massachusetts Ave. Washington, DC 20016 POSITION Associate Professor with Tenure, Film and Media Arts Division, School of Communication at American University, Washington, DC Co-Director of the Center for Media and Social Impact, School of Communication at American University Associate Director, Film and Media Arts Division, School of Communication at American University EDUCATION MFA, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Radio/Television/Film Department BA, The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO Philosophy/International Affairs, Minor: Cinema Studies ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 2011 to present Associate Professor with Tenure, Film and Media Arts Division, American University, Washington, DC 2011 to 2015 Program Director, Digital Media Skills Graduate Certificate at American University Fall 2004 to 2011 Assistant Professor, Film and Media Arts Division, American University, Washington, DC Spring 2005 Fulbright Senior Scholar, Notre Dame University, Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon 2001 to 2004 Artist in Residence, Film/Video Department, Columbia College, Chicago, IL 2002 to 2004 Motion Graphics Coordinator, Columbia College, Chicago, IL 2000 to 2001 Part-Time Faculty, Columbia College, Chicago, IL 1998 to 2000 Adjunct Professor, School of Continuing Education, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL SIGNIFICANT MEDIA WORK THE MAMA SHERPAS (2015) Producer and Director VEILED VOICES (2009) Producer and Director SHEIKHA STORIES (2009) Producer and Director A.W.O.L. (2005) Producer, Writer, and Director ADRIFT IN THE HEARTLAND (2002) Producer, Writer, and Director THE KING, THE LAWYERS, AND THE CHEESE (2003) Producer and Director FAIR USE AND FREE SPEECH (2006) Producer and Director STORIES UNTOLD (2004) Producer, Director, and Editor The New “F” Word aka FEM·I·NISM (2007) Co-Producer and Co-Director DECONSTRUCTING KATRINA (2006) Co-Producer and Co-Director FILMOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY (with selected screenings, reviews, and awards) THE MAMA SHERPAS (2015). Producer and Director. HD. The Mama Sherpas is a feature-length documentary that will provide a personal glimpse into what midwives can bring to the birthing process in the BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 2 hospital system. The film is executively produced by Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein and distributed by Bond Influence. Selected Award June 2015 American College of Nurse-Midwives Media Award, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC Grant August 2014 Coalition for Breech Birth, Ottawa, CA October 2013 Lintilhac Foundation, Burlington, VT October 2012 Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. VEILED VOICES (2009). Producer and Director. HD. The hour-long documentary investigates the role of Muslim women leaders in contemporary Islam in the Arab world. Distributed by Typecast Releasing. Television Broadcasts August 2010+ Al Jazeera Network (Middle East and North Africa). Ongoing. June 2010+ Free Speech TV (DISH Network and Direct TV and part-time on 200 cable affiliates in 39 states). Broadcasts to 35 million U.S. homes. Ongoing. March 2010+ Public Television Syndication: Broadcast throughout the United States: 322 telecasts, 176 stations, reaching 181+ million potential audience and 70+ million potential households. Ongoing. March 2010 Simulcast on LinkTV (DirectTV and Dish Network) and Bridges TV (cable and Fios in 29 markets) at 8:30 p.m. (EST) for International Women’s Day with repeated broadcasts March 2010+ Bridges TV. Broadcasts to a potential audience of 4 million viewers in the United States and Canada. Ongoing. Sept. 2009+ Link TV (DirectTV and Dish Network). Broadcasts to 32 million U.S. homes. Ongoing. Selected Festivals Nov. 2010 Invited, “Best of Religion Today Film Festival” to tour in select cities in Poland Nov. 2010 Invited, Middle Eastern Visions II Film Festival, Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, MI Nov. 2010 Invited, The UTSC Arab Film Festival, Toronto, Canada October 2010 Juried, Religion Today Film Festival, select cities, Italy July 2010 Juried, Islamic Society of North America’s Film Festival and Annual Conference, Chicago, IL April 2010 Juried, Al Jazeera International Documentary Festival, Doha, Qatar March 2010 Juried, Women of Color Arts and Film Festival, Atlanta, GA March 2010 Juried, Los Angeles International Women’s Film Festival, CA March 2010 Juried, Women’s International Film and Arts Festival, Miami, FL Nov. 2009 Curated, Middle East Association Film Fest, Boston, MA Nov. 2009 Juried, New Orleans Middle East Film Festival, New Orleans, LA Oct. 2009 Juried and International Premiere, International Festival of Muslim Cinema “Golden Minbar”, Kazan, Russia July 2009 Juried and Sneak Preview, Islamic Society of North America’s Film Festival and Annual Conference, Washington, DC Selected Awards BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 3 October 2010 Religion Today Festival, Italy. Nominated for two awards at the festival: One in the Official Documentary Competition" decided by an International Jury and "Women and Religion" decided by a popular jury. October 2009 International Festival of Muslim Cinema “Golden Minbar”, Kazan, Russia Received “Special Prize for Spectator Sympathies” Selected Screenings March 2013 Invited, Saint Lawrence University, Canton, New York June 2011 Invited, El Sawy Cultural Wheel, Cairo, Egypt April 2011 Invited, Islamic Studies Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA March 2011 Invited, Women in Islam, New York, NY March 2011 Invited, U.S. Consulate, Casablanca, Morocco February 2011 Invited, United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC Dec. 2010 Invited, Faithworks Inaugural Documentary Screening, Johannesburg South Africa October 2010 Invited, Duke University, Durham, NC Sept.2010 Invited, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY April 2010 Invited, Muslim Film Festival, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA April 2010 Invited, New School, New York, NY April 2010 Invited, 9th Annual Critical Islamic Reflections Conference, Yale University, New Haven, CT April 2010 Invited, The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO March 2010 Invited, “Scribe Video Center Producers’ Forum” International House, Philadelphia, PA March 2010 Invited, Middle East Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY February 2010 Invited, Human Rights Film Series, University of California, Merced, CA Nov. 2009 Invited, George Mason University, Middle East Film Club, Arlington, VA October 2009 Invited, Conference: Women, Leadership, and Mosques: Contemporary Islamic Authority, Oxford University, UK Distribution August 2010 TVF International. Exclusive agreement for distribution in all territories not covered by previous distribution agreements. June 2010 Al Jazeera Network. Exclusive agreement for distribution in the Middle East and North Africa. March 2010 Released to home video by Typecast Releasing/Arab Film Distribution Dec.2009 Public Television distribution through the National Education Television Association Dec. 2009 Participated in the Dubai Film Market as part of the Dubai International Film Festival, UAE June 2009 Typecast Releasing/Arab Film Distribution. Exclusive agreement for domestic distribution. Press/Reviews January 2011 Review, Video Librarian (print) November 2010 Interview and panel member, Living Islam in America on Mhz Networks (broadcast on Dish Network and cable stations in the DC area) September 2010 Review, Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO) August 2010 Interview, BBC World News America (broadcast and online) August 2010 Article, American Magazine (print and online) August 2010 Article, Illume Magazine (online) August 2010 Interview, Muslimas Oasis (online) BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 4 July 2010 Review, Muslimas Oasis (online) June 2010 Review, Bitch Magazine (print) May 2010 Review, Heeba Magazine (online) May 2010 Interview, WGVU Morning Show (public radio) April 2010 Review, Feminist Review Blog April 2010 Review, Elevate Difference (online) April 2010 Article, Bainbridge Review (print and online) March 2010 Review, Digigods Podcast by film critic Wade Major March 2010 Review, Common Ground News Service, Reprinted by multiple international news sites including iloubnan (Lebanon), Bikya Masr (Egypt), Daily News Egypt, Pakistan Christian Post, Daily Mail News (Pakistan), World News Network, and States Times (U.S.) March 2010 Story, Voice of America, English (international radio) March 2010 Review, BlogHer (online) February 2010 Interview. Islam Online Radio (international) February 2010 Interview. Voices in Our World Radio show (national) January 2010 Mention, Sacramento Bee Sept. 2009 Review, Muslimah Media Watch (online) Sept. 2010 Blog, The Chicago Reader September 2010 Story, The Kitsap Sun (online) The Bainbridge Review (printed) May 2009 Interview, Voice of American, Urdu (international radio) March 2007 Article, American Weekly (Print and Online) Select Permanent Collections (Held in over 50 university libraries and over 100 public libraries in the United States.) American University, American University in Cairo, Capital University, Carleton College, University of California (Merced), University of California (Santa Barbara), University of Cincinnati, Colorado College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dalhousie University (Canada), Davidson College, University of Denver, University of Florida, Department of Foreign Affairs (Canada), DePauw University, Dickinson College, Duke University, Elon University, George Washington University, George Mason University, Grinnell College, University of Iowa, Harvard University, Henry Ford Community College, High Point University, Houston Community College System, James Madison University, Johnson County Community College Library, Marist College Library, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, University of Montana, Niagara University, College of New Jersey, University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), North Carolina State University, Northwestern University (Qatar Library), Northampton County Area Community College, Northeastern University, Nova Southeastern University, Oklahoma State University, University of Ottawa, University of Pennsylvania, Pomona College, Princeton University, University of Queensland (Australia), University of Richmond, Rutgers University, Saint Joseph University, University of San Francisco, Stanford University, SUNY College in Brockport, Tarrant County College, University of Texas, Texas A & M, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Tufts University, United States Naval Academy, University of Washington, Western Michigan University, Willamette University, University of Wisconsin, Yale University, York University Presentations April 2010 Presentation at Colorado College, Colorado Springs February 2010 Presentation at Islam, Muslims and the Media Symposium, Michigan State University, East Lansing November 2009 Presentation at United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC September 2009 Presentation at Chai Time, Potomac, MD BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 5 Grants Spring 2008 Faculty Development Award, American University, Washington, DC Spring 2006 Development Grant from Humanities Council of Washington, DC Spring 2006 Faculty Development Award, American University, Washington, DC SHEIKHA STORIES (2009). Producer and Director. HD. 36 minutes. The compilation DVD contains five short films about Muslim women leaders and institutions that support women in the Arab world. Titles include: The Modern Sheikha, Magda’s Calling, Socratic Sheikha, Ladies of Brilliance and Mosque of Light. March 2010 Released to home video by Typecast Releasing with Veiled Voices Nov. 2009 Middle East Association Film Fest, Boston, MA Sept. 2009 Shorts premiered on LinkTV website August 2009 Distributed on DVD by Arab Film Distribution as an individual title for institutional use FAIR USE AND FREE SPEECH (2006). Producer and Director. DVCAM. The seven-minute documentary is a follow up video to Stories Untold. The video discusses what happened after the release of the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, which was produced by the Center for Social Media in the School of Communication at American University. The Rockefeller Foundation funded the project. Four thousand copies have been produced for distribution in a range of events, some of which are listed below. Selected Conference and Festival Screenings June 2007 “Fair use,” Internet & Society Conference, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA June 2007 OneWorld's Peer Training--Demystifying Fair Use, Washington, DC May 2007 “Fair Use and Free Speech: Operationalizing the Best Practices Model Among Documentary Filmmakers,” User Rights in the UGC Era: Media Literacy, Copyright, and Fair Use, International Communications Association Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA March 2007 “Fair Use and Copyright,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, Chicago, IL Nov. 2006 Copyright and Fair Use Panel, International Documentary Festival at Amsterdam (IDFA) Oct. 2006 Media Literacy and Copyright Workshop, Action Coalition for Media Education, Burlington, VT Sept. 2006 Panel on Copyright and Fair Use, Independent Feature Project Market, New York, NY August 2006 Panel screening at the UFVA Annual Conference, Chapman University, Orange, CA A.W.O.L. (2005). Producer, Writer, and Director. DVCAM. The eighteen-minute fictional short about an encounter between an army deserter and a desert family in Iraq, evokes a wealth of cross-cultural ambiguities and tensions generated by the war. Distributed by Third World Newsreel (www.twn.org). Selected Festivals March 2010 Curated, Society for Photographic Education, Women's Film Festival, Philadelphia, PA March 2009 San Francisco Women’s Film Festival's Indie-Fest Online Film Competition. Presented in partnership with IndieFlix Sept. 2007 Curated, National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Festival of Film & Media Arts, Washington, DC Sept. 2007 Juried, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, Brooklyn, NY May 2007 Juried, Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival, Ankara, Turkey May 2007 Juried, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle, WA April 2007 Curated, French Cultural Center Festival, Cairo, Egypt BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 6 March 2007 Juried, Reel Women International Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA March 2007 Juried, Women in Film and Video Film Festival, Vancouver, BC March 2007 Juried, DC Independent Film Festival, Washington, DC March 2007 Juried, The Women of Color Arts and Film Festival, Atlanta, GA March 2007 Juried, Heritage Film and Video Festival, Greenbelt, MD February 2007 Juried, Through Women’s Eyes (festival sponsored by UNIFEM), Sarasota, FL February 2007 Juried, Al Sakia Film Festival, Cairo, Egypt February 2007 Invited, Contemporary Image Collective Cairo, Egypt Sept.2006 Juried, Urban Literary Film Festival, Greensboro, NC August 2006 Invited, Respondent Screening at the UFVA Annual Conference, Chapman University, Orange, CA April 2006 Juried, Brooklyn Arts Council 40th International Film and Video Festival, Brooklyn, NY April 2006 Juried, Bair Bones Independent Film Festival, Muskogee, OK March 2006 Juried, Arizona Black Film Showcase, Phoenix, AZ March 2006 Juried, Durango Independent Film Festival, Durango, CO March 2006 Juried, Cine Noir Film Festival, Wilmington, NC Dec. 2005 Preview at American University, Washington, DC October 2005 Preview at Notre Dame University, Lebanon Awards April 2006 Bare Bones Independent Film Festival, Muskogee, OK Nominated for Best Foreign Film. Honorable Mention for Outstanding Works March 2006 Cine Noir Film Festival, Wilmington, NC Received 2nd place award for Best Short. STORIES UNTOLD (2004). Producer, Director, and Editor. DVCAM. The eight-minute documentary outlines the critical issues that documentary filmmakers face when clearing copyrights to distribute their work. The project was produced by the Center for Social Media in the School of Communication at American University and funded by The Rockefeller Foundation. Two thousand copies have been produced for distribution in a range of events, some of which are listed below. Selected Conference and Festival Screenings March 2006 “Fair Use for Filmmakers,” Take the Law into Your Own Hands panel, South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, TX March 2006 National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture Online Salon, Copyright and Fair Use (Online). Sept. 2005 International Council on Archives, Panel Discussion (location) August 2005 Respondent Screening and Panel Screening at the UFVA Annual Conference (location) August 2005 Visible Evidence Conference VII, screened as Part of a Panel Discussion, Montreal, Canada June 2005 SilverDocs Film Festival Screened as part of a panel discussion, Silver Spring, MD April 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, Screened as part of a panel discussion, New York, NY April 2005 Hot Docs!, Screened as part of a panel discussion, Toronto, Canada Dec. 2004 DVD distributed to 2000 institutions across the U.S. Nov. 2004 Premiere of the documentary at the Washington College of Law, Washington, DC BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 7 THE KING, THE LAWYERS, AND THE CHEESE (2003). Producer and Director. DVCAM The 45-minute documentary follows an underground artist’s legal fight against Kraft Foods to keep his nom de plume. Selected Festivals Dec. 2004 Juried, Portland Underground Film Festival May 2004 Juried, DC Underground Film Festival April 2004 Curated, Independent Film Showcase, Local Cable Station in Minneapolis, MN March 2004 RAWK Show, Austin, TX Nov. 2003 Juried, Detroit Docs Festival, Detroit, MI October 2003 Invited, Appetite for Distraction Festival, Chicago IL Sept. 2003 Invited, Banned Book Week, Illinois State University, Normal, IL August 2003 Juried, Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL Press/Reviews August 2003 Review: Jonathan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader ADRIFT IN THE HEARTLAND (2002). Producer, Writer, and Director. 16mm A feature film about a young Palestinian woman and an African American woman who overcome their stereotypes to form a friendship through jazz and classic movies. Selected Festivals May 2008 Juried, Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle, WA March 2008 Juried, Arizona Black Film Showcase, Phoenix, AZ March 2008 Juried, Cine Noir Film Festival, Wilmington, NC July 2005 Invited, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL May 2004 Juried, Girl Fest, Honolulu, HI March 2003 Juried, Women of Color Film Festival, Berkeley, CA Sept. 2002 Invited, Crossing Boundaries Festival, Des Moines, IA August 2002 Honorable Mention, UFVA Juried Screening, 2002 Conference (location?) March 2002 Invited, Wednesday Night Screening Series, Columbia College, Chicago, IL January 2002 Invited, Featured Chicago Artist, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago, IL March 2001 Invited, City of Chicago, Harold Washington Library, Celebration of Arab Cinema Nov. 2000 Invited, City of Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, Arab Heritage Month Awards March 2008 Cine Noir Film Festival, Wilmington, NC 2nd Place Award for Best Feature Press/Reviews Jan. 2002 Review: Fred Camper, The Chicago Reader Nov.2000 Article: Cara Jepsen, The Chicago Reader NEW MEDIA/GRAPHICS A MOSQUE OF HER OWN (ongoing). Interactive Documentary. Executive Producer and Creative Director (in collaboration with Nick Ray and Meng Wang). The interactive documentary (i-Doc) explores an all women mosque in the Hui community of Kaifeng, China. Selected Exhibitions BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 8 Nov. 2014 iDEAs Exhibit, International Digital Media Arts Association Annual Conference, Utah Valley University, UT August 2014 University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, Montanan State University, MT Selected Awards August 2014 Honorable Mention, Peer Reviewed Jury. University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, Montanan State University, MT FRAMED FAMILY (2012). Co-Producer and Co-Director. New media installation. The framed, “cinemagraph”, installation explores the private side of family portraits. Selected Exhibitions Nov. 2012 Juried, International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, Miami, FL August 2012 University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, Columbia College, IL Selected Awards Nov. 2012 Award of Merit. Juried, International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, FL TONGUE TIES (2008). Producer and Director. Interactive installation. The installation explores Brigid’s discovery of her biological past through her son’s daily development. Selected Exhibitions Nov. 2008 Juried, International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, Savannah, GA August 2008 University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, Colorado College, CO The New “F” Word aka FEM·I·NISM (2007). Co-Producer and Co-Director. New media installation. The installation explores the changing definition of feminism across generations and ethnic backgrounds. Selected Exhibitions March 2008 Visions in Feminism Conference, American University, Washington, DC Nov.r 2007 Juried, International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA Sept. 2007 Juried, National Museum of Women in the Arts’ Festival of Film & Media Arts, Washington, DC August 2007 University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, University of North Texas, Denton, TX DECONSTRUCTING KATRINA (2006). Co-Producer and Co-Director. New media installation. The five- panel video installation investigates the messages produced by mainstream media-makers during the disaster through examples from newspapers, magazines, television and the web. Selected Exhibitions August 2006 University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, Chapman University, CA April 2006 Juried, International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, Miami University, OH PUBLISHED PAPERS AND REVIEWS BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 9 Fall 2014 Contributed to section, “Ethnographic Film and the Emerging i-Doc” to Chapter, “New Storytellers: Documentary Filmmaking in the 21st Century” for the book The 21st Century Film and TV School, published by CILECT. Accepted. Spring 2013 “Emotional Multiplicities in Multi-sourced Work,” D|N|A Symposium Conference Journal. Online. Fall 2010 Published “What is Smart Montage?,” International Digital Media Arts Association Journal, Volume 7.1. Print and Online Sept. 2010 Published, “Out of the Ash Cloud: An Al Jazeera Festival Premiere,” Women’s Media Center. Online. July 2010 Published, Viewpoints: The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume V. The Middle East Institute. Online. Nov.2008 “New Distribution and Narrative Shifts in Time and Place,” CILECT Congress 2008, Conference Materials, Beijing, China. Print and Online. Nov. 2007 Published, “Visual Literacy in the Vertical Age,” International Digital Media Arts Association Journal, Volume 4.2. Print and Online Winter 2005 Review for UFVA Journal. “With a Crooked Stick—The Films of Oscar Micheaux,” Indiana University Press, edited by Ronald Green. Journal of Film and Video, Volume 57, No. 4: 49-50. Print. GUEST LECTURER/PRESENTER/PANEL PARTICIPANT Nov. 2014 Keynote, “Burning Issues in Digital Media”, Co-presented with Professor Jennifer Proctor (University of Michigan, Dearborn). International Digital Media Arts Association Annual Conference, Orem, `UT August 2014 Paper Presenter, “Preserving a Dying Culture in iDocs,” The University Film and Video Association Conference, Bozeman, MT August 2012 Panel Moderator and Presenter, “Disrupting Traditional Models”, The University Film and Video Association Conference, Chicago, IL March 2012 Online Guest Lecturer, Documentary Workshop in Cairo, Egypt sponsored by the American Embassy in Egypt and the U.S. Department of State June 2011 Guest Lecturer, Documentary Workshops in Egypt sponsored by the American Embassy in Egypt and the U.S. Department of State May 2011 Keynote Presentation for Iraqi Delegation, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Visitor Exchange Program of World Learning May 2011 Presenter, “The Smart Kino: New Media Mashes with the Documentary Form”, DNA Symposium, Concordia University, Montreal, CA March 2011 Guest Lecturer, Animation Workshop, Casablanca, Morocco August 2010 Panel Moderator Paper Presenter, “Mobilizing Documentary and Smart Montage,” The University Film and Video Association Conference, Burlington, VT February 2010 Presenter, “Veiled Voices: Deconstructing Representation,” Islam, Muslims and the Media Symposium, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI Nov. 2009 Paper Presenter, “What is Smart Montage,” International Digital Media Arts Association Annual Conference, Muncie, IN August 2009 Paper Presenter, “Smart Montage: The Mobile Dialectic,” The University Film and Video Association Conference, New Orleans, LA July 2009 Panel Member, “Defining Islam through the Media,” Islamic Society of North America’s Film Festival and Annual Conference, Washington, DC Nov. 2008 Paper Presenter, “New Distribution and Narrative Shifts in Time and Place,” CILECT Congress, Beijing, China BRIGID MAHER Curriculum Vitae 10 March 2008 Panel Member, Visions in Feminism Conference, American University, Washington, DC Nov. 2007 Paper Presenter, “Origins and Present Implications of the Visual Dialectic,” International Digital Media Arts Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA Summer 2007 Paper Presenter, “Philosophical Origins of the Soviet Visual Dialectic,” The University Film and Video Association Conference, Denton, TX. Accepted but withdrew due to medical reasons. Nov.2006 Paper Presenter, “Visual Literacy in the Vertical Age,” International Digital Media Arts Association Annual Conference, San Diego, CA Sept. 2006 Panel Member for Cross Cultural Cinema screening of the Control Room, Arlington Library, VA August 2005 Panel Member for Creative Clearance Consequences at University Film and Video Association’s Annual Conference, Chicago, IL Spring 2005 Fulbright Senior Scholar, Notre Dame University, Lebanon August 2003 Moderator, Panel on the future of documentaries, Chicago Underground Film Festival, IL Fall 2002 Panel Member at Crossing Boundaries Festival, Des Moines, IA Fall 2000 Panel Member at RAWI Writer's/Human Rights Symposium in Chicago, IL Fall 1999 Panel Member at Chicago International Arab Writers Conference, Chicago, IL CONFERENCE/ORGANIZATIONAL WORK August 2014- Conference Host, University Film and Video Association Annual Conference, August 2015 American University, Washington, D.C. November 2014 International Digital Media Arts Association Journal, President-Elect Summer 2014 University Film and Video Association, Conference Vice President-Elect Spring 2014- Executive Editor, Board Member, International Digital Media Arts Association Journal ongoing Nov. 2013 Editor, Board Member, International Digital Media Arts Association Journal Aug. 2014 - Panel and Paper Chair for International Digital Media Association Annual Conference ongoing Nov. 2013 Board Member, International Digital Media Arts Association May 2013 - Associate Conference Journal Editor, International Digital Media Association Conference and Journal August 2012 Panel and Paper Reviewer for International Digital Media Association Annual Conference August 2008 New Media Conference Co-Chair, UFVA (University Film and Video Association) Conference, and and 2007 University of North Texas, Denton, TX Spring 2005 Chaired Organizational Committee for the Cross Cultural Symposium at Notre Dame University, Lebanon GRANTS AND AWARDS June 2015 American College of Nurse-Midwives Media Award, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC Fall 2014 The Milton and Sonia Greenberg Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award, American University Fall 2014 University Research Grant, American University Fall 2014 Faculty Research Grant, School of Communication, American University August 2014 Coalition for Breech Birth, Ottawa, CA Summer 2014 Curriculum Award, Graduate Program Revision, American University Fall 2013 Faculty Research Grant, School of Communication, American University October 2013 Lintilhac Foundation, Burlington, VT October 2012 Humanities Council of Washington, D.C.