For decades, UC Davis anthropology professor Suad Joseph has studied media representations of Muslim women, work that led to her founding an award-winning encyclopedia on Islam and women that today is the only reference of its kind in the world.
Suad Joseph, Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies, is among a cohort of three interdisciplinary teams awarded $45,000 each from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to advance public understanding of global religions. The new award builds on an ongoing UC Davis project on Muslim women and the media, as well as a New York Times media project, both led by Joseph. “Decolonizing the Representation of Muslim Women in the Media: Training Next Generation Journalists” is an extension of Joseph's 25 years as general editor of "Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures."
Negative media portrayals of Muslim Americans can have adverse effects on how they view themselves as citizens and their trust in the U.S. government. In fact, these effects may be stronger than the impact caused by personal discrimination, according to a new study co-authored by Magdalena Wojcieszak, a UC Davis associate professor of communication who researches the effects of media on tolerance, perceptions and polarization.
With hate crimes against Muslim Americans on the rise—and Muslim women in headscarves a frequent target—a UC Davis professor is launching a program to better educate future U.S. journalists about Islamic cultures and Muslim women.