Marwa Abdalla

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Bio

Marwa Abdalla teaches undergraduate courses in the Department of Theater, Television, and Film and the School of Communication at San Diego State University as well as in the Department of Communication at UC San Diego. Her courses focus on foundational concepts in communication, media, and cultural studies, the histories and spread of mis- and disinformation, and the ways minoritized families and communities navigate racism and discrimination. As an educator, she aspires to honor students’ unique positionalities while challenging herself and her students to examine dominant representations and understandings of race, gender, religion, class, and sexuality that might otherwise get taken for granted. 

 In addition to teaching, Marwa is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at UC San Diego and recipient of the Jacobs Fellowship from the Division of Social Sciences. Her dissertation explores the representation of Islam and Muslims across news media, popular media, and social media sites. In particular, she analyzes how terms such as “moderate Muslim” function in The New York Times and Washington Post to reinforce the demonization of Muslims writ large, how seemingly positive portrayals of Muslims on contemporary streaming platforms rely on logics of exception rooted in Islamophobic stereotypes, and how social media sites such as TikTok obscure Islamophobia through the affordance of their platforms. Marwa’s research has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, the 2024 edited volume, Communication and Organizational Changemaking for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: A Case Studies. Approach (Routledge), and has been recognized with several top paper awards including the Young Scholar Award for Outstanding Research on American Muslims and the National Communication Association’s John T. Warren Award. 

 Outside of her work in higher education, Marwa has almost two decades of experience as a community educator, panelist, and presenter working to challenge racial and religious discrimination.  She worked as a certified educator with The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a Washington-D.C.-based research and education organization with whom she co-authored the Covering American Muslims Objectively and Creatively guide for media professionals.