Nominees for BRISMES Vice President (2024-2027)
Fatima el Issawi
Fatima el Issawi is a Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on the nexus of journalistic practices, media policy and democratisation or political transformations/conflicts in the Global South, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She led several externally funded research projects investigating the interplay between journalism, activism and political change in the MENA. Most recently, she served as the Principal Investigator for the research project “Media and Transitions to Democracy: Journalistic Practices in Communicating Conflicts- the Arab Spring” funded by the British Academy Sustainable Development Programme, looking at media’s impact on communicating political conflicts in post uprisings in North Africa.
Reasons for Nomination
With her expertise and background in journalism, bringing critical and practice-based knowledge, Prof el Issawi’s profile and activities will help increasing BRISMES visibility and global reputation, amid extremely difficult times in the MENA region. Her connections to Arab and international media and her presence in leading academic international platforms will strengthen BRISMES’s voice and increase its impact. Her record in leading large research projects, including providing mentorship for research assistants and doctoral students, makes her contributions important in supporting early career researchers working on the MENA region. Her interdisciplinary academic and policy profile will boost collaboration across disciplines and feed the annual conferences with ideas and directions. She is a strong supporter of academic freedom, and she is engaged in related conversations as part of her responsibilities at the University of Essex as Research Director for her department (Literature, Film and Theatre Studies) as well as through her involvement in several academic and policy bodies.
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