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Saginaw Valley State University

Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series on Islam and Culture

Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series

The Dr. Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series on Islam & Culture in partnership with The SVSU Edwards Lecture in Philosophy and Religion and The Dow Visiting Scholars and Artists Endowment presents . . .

The Beauty and the Horror!” Sensing the Muslim as Enemy and as (Super)Hero in Post-9/11 Film 

Wednesday, September 18, 6:30 p.m.
Malcolm Field Theatre (Entrance inside Groening Commons)
This event will be simulcast online via Zoom. To watch online, please register here

Guest Speaker Fareed Ben-Youssef

Fareed Ben-Youssef PortraitWhere is our Western cinematic mythology about Muslims taking us? In his book “No Jurisdiction,” Dr. Fareed Ben-Youssef examines Hollywood post-9/11 genre films as the key to grasping a crisis-filled world shaped by the global War on Terror. Hollywood adapts tales of the cowboy, the femme fatale and the superhero for its chief enemy — the Muslim and Arab other.
More recently, these maligned figures have given way to some positive depictions, even the Muslim as hero or superhero. Yet these more positive efforts are not without their flaws according to Ben-Youssef. His lecture will draw upon influential post-9/11 films, up to very recent examples like “The Marvels” and “Dune.”

Dr. Ben-Youssef is assistant professor in film & media at Texas Tech University. He has a Ph.D. in film and media from the University of California, Berkeley. His book, “No Jurisdiction: The Law and Post-9/11 Genre Film,” explores issues of state violence and human rights abuse in post-9/11 cinema. His journal publications on global cinema are extensive. Ben-Youssef has also organized many university film series and hosted master classes with award-winning directors such as Ari Folman and Ryûsuke Hamaguchi.

Fareed Ben-Youssef Poster 2024 (779KB)

The Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture on Islam & Culture was established in 2011 by Dr. Waheed Akbar in memory of his wife Raana, a former member of the SVSU Board of Control, physician and community leader. "Dr. Raana Akbar was a dedicated physician, a respected community leader and a beloved wife, mother and friend. She held passionately to a hope that the faith and culture that inspired and comforted her would be better understood and appreciated by others. Islam is the faith that gives purpose and meaning to some 1.8 billion human souls, nearly one quarter of the human race. And this lecture series, now in its tenth year, is an enduring expression of Raana's hope and of her firm belief that, in the end, we are all just fellow searchers for truth, fellow seekers after God. Salam alaykum . . . Peace be upon you." --Eric Gilbertson, SVSU President Emeritus

 

Past Lectures