Waleed F. Mahdi is an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma. He conducts research at the intersection of area studies and ethnic studies as he pursues transnational inquiries into cultural representation and identity politics in US, Arab, and Arab American contexts. The guiding premise of his various research projects is to examine contemporary Arab and Arab American narratives and explore the limitations of US and Arab state nationalist discourses. Waleed is a recipient of several national and international awards. His peer-reviewed work appears in top-tiered journals, including American Quarterly, Journal of American Ethnic History, and Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. Waleed’s current book project, “From Drones to Travel Bans: US Violence and Yemeni Visual Narratives of Resistance,” offers a multi-faceted analysis of the US violations of Yemeni lives and lands in the name of security and the aesthetics of Yemeni and Yemeni American visual artists’ responses. His first book, Arab Americans in Film: From Hollywood and Egyptian Stereotypes to Self-Representation (Syracuse University Press, 2020), examines how Arab American belonging is constructed, defined, and redefined across Hollywood, Egyptian, and Arab American cinemas. He also guest-edited two special issues and completed a multi-institutional research collaboration with Columbia University, the University of Jordan, and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies about the 2011 Arab revolutionary public spheres. Waleed has been elected president of the Arab American Studies Association (AASA) for a two-year term starting in November 2023. The AASA is a premier association of scholars and other persons interested in the study of Arab American history, ethnicity, culture, literature, art, music, politics, religion, sociology, and other aspects of the Arab American experience.

Media Arts

Ethnic American Studies

Cultural Studies

Pop Culture

Cinema/Film

Arab Studies

Middle East/Near East Studies

North America

Arab States

Yemen

Egypt

Morocco

US-Arab Cultural Politics

Arab American Identity

Yemeni And Yemeni American Agency

Arabic (native)

English (fluent)