In Conversation with Dr. Sahar Khamis

In Conversation with Dr. Sahar Khamis Isra Brifkani INTRODUCTION Dr. Sahar Khamis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an expert on Arab and Muslim media, and the former Head of the Mass Communication and Information Science Department in Qatar University. Dr. Khamis holds a PhD in Mass Media and Cultural Studies from the University of Manchester in England. She is a former Mellon Islamic Studies Initiative Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago. She is the co-author of the books Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Egyptian Revolution 2.0: Political Blogging, Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), and the co-editor of the book Arab Women's Activism and Socio-Political Transformation: Unfinished Gendered Revolutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). Additionally, she authored and co-authored numerous book chapters, journal articles, and conference papers, regionally and internationally, in both English and Arabic. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious academic and professional awards, as well as a member of the editorial boards of several journals in the field of communication, in general, and the field of Arab and Muslim media, in particular. In addition to being an award-winning academic, Dr. Khamis is a media host and an international media commentator and analyst, a public speaker, and a former human rights commissioner in the Human Rights Commission in Montgomery County, Maryland. Dr. Khamis is the current President of AUSACE (Arab-US Association for Communication Educators) and the current Chair of the Spiritual Communication Division at NCA (National Communication Association). Isra Brifkani: Please tell us about yourself and your academic journey. What inspired you to pursue a career in communications and media, with a special focus on Muslim and Middle Eastern contexts? End Page 164 Sahar Khamis: I am an Egyptian-American scholar, born and raised in Egypt and educated at the American University of Cairo. I always had an interest in writing and researching, and I have been an avid reader with much passion for knowledge and scholarship. Naturally, being someone who comes from the Arab and Muslim world, I did have this interest in discovering more, especially about the shifting identities in this part of the world, particularly as it relates to young people and the usages of social media and digital media. I wanted to understand how their usage of new technology, social media, and digital media intersects with their identities and their understanding of themselves and the world around them. That is why, in my first co-authored book, Islam Dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace, I had much interest in exploring the notion of how everyday Muslims are using the internet, especially different online discussion boards, to communicate with each other and with other Muslims and non-Muslims as well, and to understand some of the debates and controversies that have been emerging in cyberspace, as a result of these digital engagements. IB: In your work, you discuss the importance of academics adopting the role of public intellectuals. Can you expound on what it means to be a public intellectual and how that is reflected in your work? SK: As academics, we must not confine our role to scholarly writing, researching, and teaching. Much education happens outside of the classroom and the traditional formal styles of learning within a particular academic institution. It is essential for us as scholars and academics to play a public role, through community engagement and activism. That's why I have been very active in many domains, including interfaith dialogue, public service, and community engagement, including serving as a human rights commissioner with the Human Rights Commission in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, where I live. I have also been a public speaker, nationally and internationally, as well as an international media host, commentator, and analyst. It is our responsibility, as academics, to use our knowledge and expertise to serve humanity, at large, and to serve the public good, which I am very passionate about. I also have a radio program, which I have been hosting for the last ten years. It is called "The Bridge" on "US Arab...